A year ago Brendan O?Riordan smacked home a scorching winner to emerge as Dandy Town?s Friendship Trophy hero.

On Sunday it was the Hornets? new acquisition, David Lawler, who followed in his old pal?s footsteps as he grabbed the limelight with a stunning a last-gasp equaliser to earn Town the chance of a an FA Cup final replay against Devonshire Cougars tonight.

And for those fans who paid to witness Sunday?s battle at National Sports Centre, Lawler?s howitzer certainly gave them more than their money?s worth ? and then some!

The 35-year-old Irishman?s 25-yard tracer was his first ever goal in a Town jersey since joining from Somerset Trojans at the beginning of the season. And it was a goal worthy of an FA Cup final, the likes of which every aspiring footballer dreams of scoring.

Lawler is no newcomer to the sport, having previously played semi-professional football for Ireland University, Limerick FC and Galway United in his native Ireland.

?It was meant to be the winner but unfortunately we couldn?t deliver ? perhaps we can do it tonight,? said Town?s man of the moment.

?It was special and one of the best games I?ve ever played in, I?d say ? it was most enjoyable. It was a real roller coaster and that was my first goal for Dandy Town.

?I had scored for Somerset but I used to play in a different position. I was sort of a holding midfielder and that was one of the main reasons why I moved to Dandy Town.?

Another reason why Lawler swapped the red and black of Trojans for the brown and yellow of Town was to play alongside his good friend O?Riordan. However, that never materialised as the latter moved back to the UK late last year.

?Brendan was probably my closest friend on the Island and I was very sad to see him go. But he was in contact with us before all of the big games and I was actually on to him this morning by e-mail ? he always sends us a message wishing us the best,? added Lawler.

?But for the last seven or eight years I?ve always played as a defender and so I suppose that?s the main reason you don?t see me getting forward too much. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.?

Explaining his thunderous strike, Lawler said: ?We didn?t want to go out of the cup and so I decided to venture forward and see if I could sneak one in towards the end.

?Wolde (Place) couldn?t have set it up better. The minute he laid the ball back I always knew that if I could keep my head over the ball and hit it cleanly it would go in ? and it was just one of those things. As I caught it, it was destined for goal. It was pretty amazing and all I can remember was running towards the bench and then being engulfed by 20 guys jumping on top of me. I was thinking that if these guys don?t get off of me I am going to collapse!?

Lawler?s effort was only topped by a superb second half hat-trick by Cougars? striker Heys Wolfe.

Still, that didn?t ruin Lawler?s day nor that of his ?relieved? team-mates.

?We have worked so hard to try and achieve the double and it would have been a real shame to lose the match based on the way we played yesterday with all the possession we had.?

Lawler now hopes his team-mates can make the most out of a second chance to secure the coveted league and FA Cup double.

?It?s far from over,? he pointed out. ?I think we just have to try and regroup and stick with what?s been successful for us so far this season. In my opinion the reason why we have been so successful this season is our defence. We have conceded very few goals (12 in league play). So I guess we will try and build things from the back and hopefully convert our chances in front of goal.?