Dundalk 3 - 2 Galway United
Credit:
Shane Guthrie proved to be the late hero for the Lilywhites as he scored the late winner against his one time employers to give Dundalk a 3-2 victory. The first half had ended all square as goals by Mark Quigley and a Joseph Yoffe penalty cancelled each other out. Jason Byrne put the home team ahead again only for Sean Kelly to equalise again for the visitors before Guthrie snatched the headlines.
The first half was a drab enough affair but was enlivened by a sublime effort from Mark Quigley. On 18 minutes Gary Curran pulled down Daniel Kearns as the youngster looked to be about to break through the Galway defences. Referee Paul Tuite issued the yellow and Mark Quigley lined up an effort around 35 yards from Greg Fleming's top right corner where with one almighty thump the ball was deposited.
Galway didn’t take long to get back on level terms as a loose ball from Nathan Murphy allowed ex-Lilywhite Shaun Kelly into the box, Ross Gaynor tried to recover the ball but only succeeded in chopping down Kelly to give Joseph Yoffe the chance from the penalty spot where he made no mistake in the 21st minute.
Dundalk generally looked the brighter of the teams for the rest of the half but weren’t creating anything clear cut.
Galway started the second half brightly and looked to have gotten the upper hand in the middle of the park and were giving Dundalk plenty to think about. However, during a purple patch for the home team they stole back into the lead.
On 71 minutes Dundalk hit the front again as Keith Ward and Danny Kearns combined to give Simon Madden room to cross from the right to the far post. Unmarked and waiting was the old shark Jason Byrne to head home from eight yards. Immediately Mark Quigley missed a great chance to extend their lead after rounding Greg Fleming in the Galway goal only to see his effort come back off of the post.
But all credit to Galway they weren’t here just to make up the numbers as the levelled again through Sean Kelly on 77 minutes. Karl Moore found room on the left for a ball across the box and Kelly ran on to it to send a shot with the outside of his right foot into the top corner from around 15 yards.
The scene was set for Guthrie to sicken his old team mates on 87 minutes. A Kearns cross was met by Stephen Maher’s head but knocked behind for a corner; Gaynor swung it to the far post and unchallenged Guthrie headed down and home to win it for the Lilywhites.
Dundalk: Paul Murphy; Simon Madden, Colin Hawkins, Shane Guthrie, Nathan Murphy; Daniel Kearns, Dean Bennett (Stephen Maher 44), Keith Ward, Ross Gaynor; Mark Quigley, Jason Byrne.
Subs not used: Stephen McDonnell, Mark Griffin, Johnny Breen.
Bookings: None.
Galway United: Greg Fleming; Shaun Kelly, Shaun Maher, Paul Sinnott, Stephen Walsh; Bobby Ryan (Brian Cash 57), Sean Kelly, Gary Curran, Karl Moore; Steven Feeney (Enda Curran 81), Joseph Yoffe (Alan Murphy 67).
Subs not used: Conor Winn, Eduardo Dusi, Keith Duffy, Gary Kelly.
Bookings: Shaun Kelly (4), Moore (15), Curran (18), Maher (62).
Referee: Paul Tuite.
Attendance: 1,450.
extratime.ie Man of the Match: Karl Moore (Galway United).
