Late Long strike denies Poland victory in Ireland

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland substitute Shane Long scored an injury-time equaliser to rescue a 1-1 home draw against Group D leaders Poland on Sunday and keep the hosts in contention for a place at Euro 2016.

Played in an atmosphere that felt more like a local derby with Ireland's large Polish community making plenty of noise, Poland took a deserved lead just before the half hour after Slawomir Peszko clinically punished a Robbie Brady mistake.

But Southampton striker Long struck seconds after the clock passed the 90-minute mark, stabbing home a Wes Hoolahan header to leave Ireland in fourth place, two points behind Germany and Scotland, and three off Poland.

"We came in thinking we could not lose and I think we deserved the draw," Long told Irish national broadcaster RTE.

"I thought we caused them all sorts of problems in the second half, we had to dig deep for that and it could be massive come the end of the campaign."

The Poles took full advantage when makeshift left back Brady was caught in possession by Cologne winger Peszko, who fired the ball into the far corner.

As the red flares lit up around the ground, Ireland's best chance of the half came just before the break when Aiden McGeady found space in the box after some neat play but his attempt to chip a slightly out of position Lukasz Fabianski drifted wide.

Ireland dominated the second half and Brady almost made amends in fortuitous fashion when his cross glanced off the head of a defender on the edge of the box, went over the head of Fabianski but clipped the post.

Ireland captain Robbie Keane was next to be denied by the woodwork after his header hit the foot of the post.

While Ireland pressed, recording more than twice as many shots at goal, they lacked quality in the final third. Seamus Coleman, no stranger to finding the back of the net as a right back at Everton, fired wide when he should have found the target.

But just as Ireland had done earlier in the campaign when they stole an injury-time victory in Georgia and an stoppage-time draw in Germany, Long grabbed his 12th international goal to keep things tight at the top of Group D.

"The one thing you can never say against this team is that they lack determination," Ireland manager Martin O'Neill said. "We're still in the competition."

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by Toby Davis)