Mervue United 1 - 1 Shelbourne

This Airtricity friendly game between First Division Mervue Utd and Premier Division Shelbourne ended all square after a game were the visitors finished the game with just nine men having two sent off for off the ball incidents, both in the opening half.

Despite being reduced to nine men the visitors did take the lead on 38 minutes as Philip Hughes headed home unmarked following a corner to give them a 1-0 lead at the break.

Earlier Bayly had forced a good save from Connor Gleeson when he raced through on goals following a slip by Mervue defender Stephen Walsh which allowed him the chance to open the scoring after 10 minutes.

Flynn then saw red on 17 minutes following a kick on Walsh in the Mervue penalty box as the defender lay on the ground.

The home side's best chance of the opening half was created by young Ryan Manning as he set up Tom King for a shooting chance but former Mervue custodian Ger Hanley saved well on 22 minutes.

Shels were then reduced to nine when midfielder Bayly saw red in the 33rd minute after an off the ball incident which referee Trevor Conlon branished a red card for while booking Mervue's Noel Varley.

Mervue made six changes at the break and one of those subs Ballina native Brendan Lavelle levelled matters 12 minutes after the break latching onto a Jason Molloy ball before shooting low into the corner giving Hanley no chance for 1-1.

After that Mervue never really threatened despite the numerical advantage of two extra men as Ger Hanley had little to trouble him with only another well struck Lavelle effort just off target.

Mervue United: Connor Gleeson; Martin Conneely, Stephen Walsh, Mike Elwood, Michael McSweeney; Marc Ludden, Tom King, Gary Curran, Noel Varley; Jason Molloy, Ryan Manning.
Second half: Connor Gleeson, Michael McSweeney, Martin Conneely (Jamie Fallon), Ross Kenny, Kenny Farrell; Alex Lee, Conor Fitzpatrick, Gary Curran (Oscar Sibinda), Shane Keogh; Jason Molloy (Dillon Murphy), Brendan Lavelle.

Subs not used: Adrian Cronin (GK).

Shelbourne: Ger Hanley, Brian Shortall, Jack Memory, Pat Flynn, Graham Gartland; Sean Brennan (Ian Ryan 64), Paul Crowley, Robert Bayly, Adam Hanlon (Alex Prizeman 72): Philip Hughes (Dean Kelly 64), Stephen Hurley.

Subs not used: Philip McCabe, Craig Mooney.

Referee: Trevor Conlon.