Longford Town 1 St Patrick's Athletic 1: A Tony Bird goal in the 70th minute denied Longford the full complement of points at Flancare Park on Saturday evening.

Had the midlanders held on it would have seen them overtake St Pat's and Cork City in the table and move them into third-place in the Eircom League Premier Division.

Barry Ferguson gave Longford that lead on 26 minutes from the penalty spot after Darragh Sheridan was fouled by St Pat's midfielder Davy Byrne in the area.

The home side couldn't capitalise from their impressive performance and, although Shane Barrett, Seán Prunty and Philip Keogh all went close in the second half, the Dublin side crept back into the game.

A Keith Fahy free-kick was delivered with pin-point accuracy towards the unmarked Bird who met the ball and forced it past goalkeeper Stephen O'Brien.

The equaliser was scarcely deserved but St Patrick's manager Eamonn Collins would have been glad to be returning east with the point after his team's lacklustre performance.

Meanwhile, in the first division, Sligo Rovers moved to sixth in the table after their 3-2 victory over Monaghan United at Century Homes Park yesterday.

Paul Shields put the home ahead after four minutes but that score was cancelled out by Sligo's Paul McTiernan five minutes after.

Sligo took the lead through an Ian Rossiter penalty before Trevor Vaughan equalised. Ramuel Miller got the winner in the 69th minute.

On Saturday, Cobh Ramblers defeated Kilkenny 2-1 at Buckley Park. Darren Murphy and Ciaran O'Reilly got the Cobh goals while Mick O'Murphy replied for the home team.

LONGFORD: O'Brien, Murphy, Prunty, McGovern, Ferguson, Keogh, Kirby, Sheridan, Lavine, Barrett, Byrne.

ST PATRICK'S ATH: Adamson,Prenderville (Murphy, 66 mins), Donnelly, El Khebir, Maguire, Foley, Byrne, Bird, Fahy, Freeman, (Rose, 53 mins), Livingstone.

Referee: P McKeown (Dublin).