The Villagers thought they had opened the scoring after just five minutes when Aaron Baker had the ball in the net but Ryan Moffatt's cross from the right which led to the opening was adjudged by the assistant referee to have crossed over the touchline.

At the other end Limavady came close to grabbing the early advantage themselves when Paul Owens thumped a left-foot drive off an upright.

Then, after half-an-hour Moffatt fired a free-kick wide of the target while Andy Brown sent a glancing header just the wrong side of an upright as Loughgall continued to press.

Brown then had another effort cleared off the line while, for United, Trevor Hutchinson was denied by a superb Marc Robinson save.

However, Loughgall finally grabbed the goal their efforts deserved on 68 minutes when Moffatt teed up David Hawthorne to send a low drive past Michael Doherty from outside the area.