A dramatic 84th-minute equaliser by striker Stefan Youroukov denied Irish club Longford Town a famous victory in last night's UEFA Cup qualifying first leg.
The Bulgarian side looked to be heading for defeat until Youroukov side-footed home a cross from Kiril Nikolov to silence the home crowd.
Longford were never over-awed and were on the attack early on when first Alan Kirby had a shot saved by the 6ft 8ins goalkeeper Vitomir Vutov and then Barbados international Eric Lavine had a header just wide of the post.
But that early pressure paid dividends on 15 minutes following a Sean Prunty corner on the left. Vutov stayed rooted to his line and striker Keith O'Connor ran 10 yards to side-foot the ball home at the far post.
The Bulgarians threatened after a foul by Murphy on Youroukov. But the resulting free-kick taken by the same player was blocked by a wall of Longford defenders.
Longford goalkeeper Stephen O'Brien then produced the first of a string of top class saves when getting down to grab a shot from Yovov on the rebound.
It was fortunate for the Irish side that midfielder Stuart Byrne was back to bundle the ball away for a corner after Iankovic crossed from the left and caused chaos in the home defence.
Yovov went close with a free-kick early in the second half after a Murphy foul. But fortunately his 22-yard effort rebounded off the crossbar and over to safety.
Prunty then came close for Longford after 56 minutes after a neat interchange of passes between Lavine and O'Connor.
The fitness of the Bulgarian full-time professionals began to show late in the second half and O'Brien performed a series of heroics to deny the visitors in quick succession.
But there was nothing the goalkeeper could do about the Lovech equaliser after 84 minutes. A cross from the left by Iankovic evaded the defence but Youroukov was able to guide the ball into the unguarded net from six yards.
LONGFORD TOWN: O'Brien, Murphy, Smith, McNally, W Byrne; KIrby, Reynolds, S Byrne, Prunty; O'Connor, Levine. Sub: Lynch for O'Connor 78 min.
LETEKS LOVECH: Vutob, Kirilov, Rachita, Zhelev; Dimitrov, Bogdavov, Hdiouad, Yovov, Nikolov; Iankovich, Youroukov. Subs: Bornosuzov for Dimitrov half-time, Jelenkovic for Bogdavov half-time, Karadaliev for Kirilov injured 50 mins.
Referee: B Pregja (Albania).
A goal in each half against Bray Wanderers last night saw Ipswich end their pre-season tour of Ireland unbeaten and without conceding a goal. Even a late guest appearance by Westlife member Nicky Byrne failed to prevent Bray Wanderers from going down 2-0 at the Carlisle Ground.
Richard Naylor glanced home a close-range header from a Jermaine Wright cross just before half-time. Striker Marcus Stewart increased that lead midway through the second period when he finished off a Martijn Reuser corner at the front post.
Ispwich could have easily added to their tally after that with defender Titus Bramble particularly impressive. Republic of Ireland midfielder Matt Holland almost scored on home soil but he saw a header come back off the cross bar.
