FAI Cup Report: Shelbourne 1 - 1 Galway United (Shels win 5-3 on penalties)
Credit: Paul Dolan (ETPhotos)
Patrick O’Connor reports from Tolka Park
Shelbourne’s league and cup double aspirations remain very much alive after they managed to overcome a gallant Galway United side in a penalty shoot-out at Tolka Park on Friday night.
It was literally the last kick of the game in this FAI Cup third round clash before Shels made sure that their name will be in the hat when the quarter final draw is made on Tuesday.
They were put to the pin of their collar by the Tribesmen before the winning penalty from Liam Burt finally killed off the brave challenge by Galway who now will concentrate on trying to secure a top four league position in their remaining ten matches.
John Caulfield’s side went toe to toe with the Reds throughout this last 16 tie but, as resilient as they were on the night, they were faced with an equally resilient and battle-hardened side who eventually made in through to the quarter finals.
All of the excitement and drama was condensed into the 30 minutes of extra time and the subsequent penalty shoot-out, with the first 90 minutes being cagey and scrappy at times.
The first half was fairly even with Shels having slightly more of the possession but unable to create any real opportunities and Utd keeper Brendan Clarke remained untested in the opening 45 minutes.
The two best chances of the half in fact fell to the visitors but Shels keeper Conor Kearns kept his side intact on both occasions.
In the 18th minute, Ed McCarthy fired off a low stinging shot that had Kearns at full stretch as he palmed the ball away for a corner which was subsequently cleared.
Ten minutes later it was the turn of Jimmy Keohane to try a similar shot which seemed destined for the net only for a trailing leg from Kearns to deflect the ball into the air before being cleared to safety.
It was 0-0 at the half time break with the second period following a similar pattern with goal chances at a minimum.
The best opportunity of this period fell to Shelbourne but right back Sean Gannon blazed over from a JJ Lunney cross in the 72nd when it seemed easier to score.
The 30 minutes of extra time produced most of the drama with the 94th minute goal by new signing Aiden O’ Brien being the opening act.
The Ireland International, who only signed for Shelbourne this week, got on the end of an Ali Coote cross and he fired an unstoppable shot past Clarke to make it 1-0 to the home side.
O’ Brien almost had a second minutes later when a Conor McCormack back pass put his defence in trouble but the final ball from Matty Smith just eluded the striker and the ball trickled wide.
Shels are one of the best teams to hold onto a slender 1-0 lead but the Tribesmen did not read the script on this occasion and with four minutes left in the second period of extra time, they equalised.
The visitors piled on the pressure as the clocked ticked towards the 120th minute and from at attack that began on their left wing, Jimmy Keohane flashed a great shot past Kearns in the 116th minute to send the game into a penalty shoot-out.
Aiden O’Brien, JJ Lunney, Mark Coyle and Ali Coote all scored for Shels while David Hurley, Jimmy Keohane and Bendan Clarke were on target for United.
Galway centre back Garry Buckley stepped up to take the eight spot kick but unfortunately he blazed the ball over the bar and it was then just left to Burt to score his penalty in the last kick of the match to leave the final score 5-3 in favour of Shelbourne.
Shelbourne: Conor Kearns; Patrick Barrett, Sean Gannon, Shane Griffin (Kameron Ledwidge 92), Tyreke Wilson (Sam Bone 102); Evan Caffrey (Matthew Smith 62), Mark Coyle, Jonathan Lunney, Harry Wood (Liam Burt 84), John Martin (Aiden O'Brien 62), Rayhaan Tulloch (Alistair Coote 46).
Subs not used: Lorcan Healy, Sean Boyd, Mark Isong, Dan Ring.
Booked: Mark Coyle (58), Aiden O'Brien (104), Alistair Coote (113), Matthew Smith (114), Paddy Barrett (115).
Galway United: Brendan Clarke; Killian Brouder, Garry Buckley, Greg Cunningham, Jeannot Esua; Vincent Borden (David Hurley 57), Patrick Hickey (Maurice Nugent 86), Jimmy Keohane, Conor McCormack (Karl O’Sullivan 99); Edward McCarthy (Bobby Burns 73), Stephen Walsh (Francely Lomboto 73).
Subs not used: Jack Brady, Colm Horgan, Robert Slevin, Conor O'Keeffe.
Booked: Killian Brouder (15), John Caulfield (45), Maurice Nugent (120).
Referee: Robert Harvey
Attendance: 1,639
extratime.com Player of the Match: Jimmy Keohane ( Galway Utd)
