Galway United 2 - 2 Bohemians

The predatory instincts of 20-year-old striker Paddy Madden meant this pulsating contest ended in a draw, as the lone striker grabbed a second half double to keep the ten men of Bohemians within touching distance of the four teams above them in the top half of the table.

A pulsating encounter that may have left purists searching for more, but this tie certainly warmed the hearts of those in attendance by the committed nature of both sides, who gave everything in search of three points and had an over officious, sometimes bordering on the ridiculous, set of officials to deal with.

This story is not theirs to dominate, though, as the players deserve the credit for providing such stirring drama. A rare Galway home win against the Gypsies looked on the cards for a long time, but they had to settle for a draw, which in the circumstances was a good result even though it increases their run of games without a league win to six.

From early on, free kicks and the accuracy of their delivery was always going to be key, and United's Gary Curran provided some early testers for Barry Murphy and his defence to deal with. No shot of note arrived though, and Paul Keegan was the first to drive goal wards at the other end with a volley that had Barry Ryan projecting his kick out destination the moment it left the midfielder's boot.

Galway had the majority of the territory, but it was Paddy Madden's pace which almost led to an opener for the visitors on 14 minutes. Latching onto a ball over the top, the striker lifted over the 'keeper but his effort landed atop the roof of the net.

Having just made an early substitution to replace the injured Jason Byrne with Mark Quigley, Pat Fenlon's night began to disintegrate even further when Karl Sheppard's pace took him to the attacking side of Brian Shelley. While the defender's challenge in the box looked tame, when Sheppard hit the deck the whistle erupted and both a penalty and red card ensued; Shelley went for a walk and Stephen O'Donnell chipped the penalty down the middle of the goal.

Fenlon cut an aggravated figure on the edge of the technical area, and with Mr. Buttimer having made the first of a number of erratic decisions, which enraged both sets of supporters and players, who could blame him.

The scrappy nature of the contest continued after the commotion died down, with little of a goalmouth nature to warm the fingers of either set of supporters. Six minutes before half time Jason McGuinness stretched to connect with a Killian Brennan cross but couldn't quite make it. Galway ended on the front foot though, as Meynell crept in at the back post but couldn't divert Curran's free passed Murphy.

The opening segment of the second half continued in dishevelled fashion, with a flurry of yellow cards flashed at various points; a couple were baffling in the extreme. The referee was, however, not central to the explosion of action that began in the 70th minute and had seen three goals added to the scoreboard by the 75th.

First, Madden sniffed a leveler after Barry Ryan was indecisive in dealing with a Brennan free kick. Four minutes later, Galway substitute Tom King replicated Madden's poaching instinct following a Curran corner. Within sixty breathless seconds, though, Barry Ryan's attempted clearance was blocked by the persistent Madden and Bohemians had a lifeline.

Even when playing a man short, Fenlon's side continued to gamble with their point, pushing forward relentlessly but failing to add a winner. McGuinness went closest with a header close to the end, but a draw was a fair result. The fluctuating nature of both these side's seasons continues.

Galway United: Barry Ryan; Seamus Conneely, Jamie McKenzie, Paul Sinnott, Rhys Meynell; Gary Curran, Stephen O'Donnell, Ciaran Foley, Bobby Ryan; Karl Sheppard, Anto Flood (Tom King, 30).
Subs not used: Daire Geraghty, Thomas Heary, Cian McBrien, Jason Molloy.

Bohemians: Barry Murphy; Brian Shelley, Jason McGuiness, Ken Oman, Conor Powell; Gareth McGlynn, Paul Keegan, Glenn Cronin (Owen Heary, 66), Killian Brennan (Mark Rossiter, 87); Paddy Madden, Jason Byrne (Mark Quigley, 17).
Subs not used: Chris O'Connor, Ruaidhrí Higgins.

extratime Man of the Match: Paddy Madden.

Attendance: 774

Referee: A. Buttimer.