Galway United 1
Shamrock Rovers 2
Declan Rooney reports from Eamonn Deacy Park.
GALWAY UNITED WERE unable to hold on to a precious three points in their fight to avoid relegation as Gary Shaw’s double in the last 13 minutes gave Shamrock Rovers victory at Eamonn Deacy Park.
Ronan Murray’s 27th minute penalty looked like it could have been sufficient for the home side to claim victory, but Shane Keegan’s side were unable to hold solid in the face of an improved second-half from the visitors.
Shaw levelled matters 13 minutes from time with a smart header and he fired the winner two minutes from time against a tiring home side.
In the early stages the Hoops dominated the action and pinned United back into their own half, and despite a succession of corners they were unable to take the lead.
The closest they came was after four minutes when Stephen Folan’s header just cleared his own crossbar, but at the opposite end with Gavan Holohan and Kevin Devaney working well the Tribesmen began to gain a foothold in the game.
Holohan was unlucky not to find the bottom corner after 16 minutes when his neat turn and strike was well saved by Tomer Chencinski, but the Israeli stopper was unable to deny Ronan Murray from the penalty spot when David Webster hand-balled Devaney’s cross.
Late in the half the home side thought they had been awarded another penalty when their former player Lee Grace appeared to handle inside the area, but their appeals were waved away and they carried a 1-0 advantage into the interval.
Like they did in the first-half, Rovers started the half well and came close when Shaw charged down Conor Winn’s clearance, but to the relief of the home support it cleared the bar.
Shaw and sub James Doona also came close to restoring parity in the 52nd minute when Winn did well to parry Ronan Finn’s shot, but the goal finally came for Rovers when Shaw glanced a header past Winn after Webster fired in a cross from the right, and he sealed the win late on after a scramble in the box.
Galway United: Conor Winn; Alex Byrne, Stephen Folan, Colm Horgan; Kevin Devaney, David Cawley (Paul Sinnott, 60), Rory Hale, Marc Ludden; Gavan Holohan, Ronan Murray; Jonah Ayunga (Eoin McCormack, 83).
Shamrock Rovers: Tomer Chencinski; David Webster, Lee Grace, Roberto Lopes, Trevor Clarke; Ryan Connolly (James Doona, 51), Ronan Finn, David McAllister (Cameron FiKingnn, 76), Brandon Miele (Michael O’Connor, 67); Gary Shaw, Graham Burke
Referee: Anthony Buttimer (Cork).
Subscribe to The42 podcasts here:
