Derry City 1 Shamrock Rovers 1
A Tony Grant goal three minutes from time rescued a late point for Shamrock Rovers at the Brandywell tonight and denied Derry City the chance to move off the bottom of the Premier Division table.
City looked on course to leapfrog UCD and demote the Students to the automatic relegation spot when Gareth McGlynn put the home side ahead on 57 minutes but substitute Grant popped up in the dying minutes to force the draw.
Both sides started brightly and Derry could have gone ahead on 22 minutes but Mark Farren hit his effort straight at Rovers keeper Tony O'Dowd.
That effort served as a wake-up call to the visitors who went close themselves soon after.
Alan Gough brought off a fine save to deny Trevor Molloy and then Billy Clery cleared another Molly strike off the line close to half-time.
The sides took to the dressing rooms on a 0-0 scoreline but it took just 12 minutes of the second period for that to change.
McGlynn raced onto a neat Gary Beckett pass to fire past substitute keeper Shane Davoren and send the home fans wild in the stands.
Beckett himself could and probably should have doubled that lead 10 minutes later but he shot wide with the goal at his mercy.
However, credit Shamrock Rovers as they continued to attack the Derry rearguard. The pressure eventually told, though, as Grant penetrated a gap in defence to slot the ball home late on.
Derry stay bottom but move level on points with UCD while tonight's draw sees Shamrock Rovers move into fourth position.
In the first division, Stephen O'Flynn proved the Limerick hero as his 72nd minute goal secured a 1-0 away win over Dundalk at Oriel Park.