Longford passed up a marvellous opportunity to take the scalp of Laois in the Leinster SFC on Sunday after the men from the O'Moore County edged Glenn Ryan's wasteful troops in the Preliminary Round at O'Moore Park.
Longford had not beaten their more illustrious opponents in the championship since 1968 and the 0-10 to 0-9 defeat will live long in the memory of the county's supporters but for all the wrong reasons.
Justin McNulty's Laois will now face Dublin in the quarter-final but if they don't improve significantly their interest in the provincial championship will soon be at an end.
The home side led by two points at the break - 0-6 to 0-4 - with Daithi Carroll impressing for the hosts and Sean McCormack doing likewise for the visitors.
However, Longford's 16 wides proved to be their undoing as they could not profit from having the wind at their backs in the second-half.
On 49 minutes, McCormack swivelled to clip over the levelling point but Carroll kicked a sublime Laois point from out the field in the 51st minute to restore the hosts' advantage.
When Ross Munnelly tapped over another Laois point from a free, the match, drab as it was, was suddenly in danger of slipping away from the visitors.
Dublin-based Brian Kavanagh belatedly opened his account with a fantastic point a couple of minutes from the finish before Laois sub Donie Kingston dropped his shot into Longford 'keeper Damien Sheridan's arms.
Kilmacud's Kavanagh sent an ambitious effort wide in the last minute of normal time - Longford's 15th wide.
Paul Barden did likewise in injury time as Niall Donoher's second point of the day proved to be the winner as a very unconvincing Laois held on - just.