League of Ireland Premier Division: Galway United 1 (Keohane 45) Shelbourne 1 (Odupeko 59)
A Jimmy Keohane penalty kick was cancelled out by a Mipo Odubeko second-half strike, as Galway United and Shelbourne shared the points at Eamonn Deacy Park on Friday night.
Incredibly, Galway and Shels have now drawn all four of their league encounters against each other this season, 1-1.
The result sees the north Dublin men remain in sixth place in the league table, two points above Galway.
This was a scrappy and physical clash, which was exemplified when United defender Wasiri Williams was forced off with a nasty facial injury just 10 minutes into the contest. Minutes into the second period, his replacement Al-Amin Kazeem was also forced off through injury.
RM Block
The contest was played at a frantic pace at times, with both teams happy to play direct.
In a game of few chances, it was Shels who had the first real attempt at goal, but Evan Caffrey saw his header into the Dyke Road end crash off the crossbar.
Two minutes later, Anthony O’Connor saw his acrobatic effort just go wide for Galway, to the relief of the away dugout.
On the stroke of half-time, John Caulfield’s charges hit the front, when Keohane converted from the penalty spot. The westerners were awarded the spot kick after Clare native Lee Devitt was fouled by Jack Henry-Francis.
To their credit, the Dubliners responded well, and they levelled matters with just over 30 minutes remaining. Following some good play by Milan Mbeng down the right flank, the ball fell to Odubeko who finished well with his left peg, from just inside the penalty area.
For the remainder of the contest, both sides went in search of a winner, as they both introduced a number of attackers for the final stages.
The best chance over the remainder of the second half fell to Francely Lomboto in injury-time, but Conor Walsh dealt with his effort well.
Backed by a large following, the Tolka Park outfit will feel they possibly deserved all three points on the balance of play, but they had to be content with a point.
Galway United: Da Cunha; O’Connor, Williams (Kazeem 10)(Lomboto 53), Facchineri, Hurley; Bolger, Keohane, Devitt, Twardek, Barratt; Walsh (Pierrot 81).
Shelbourne: Walsh; Mbeng, Casey, Ledwidge, Bone (Coote 66), Norris; Caffrey, Moore (Boyd 45)(Martin 77), McInroy, Henry-Francis; Odubeko.
Referee: Rob Harvey.
