League Report: Galway United 1 - 2 Shamrock Rovers

By Paul Corcoran at Eamonn Deacy Park

Death, taxes and Shamrock Rovers beating Galway United appear to be the few certainties in life.

Stephen Bradley’s men extended their winning streak to 18 against The Tribesmen on Friday night with Gary Shaw striking twice late on to give them a 1-2 victory at Eamonn Deacy Park.

A clearance from a Marc Ludden throw early on fell to Gavan Holohan as he managed to take the ball down in the middle of a number of Rovers players.

After breaking a couple of tackles the midfielder had made enough space for himself to have a crack at goal but Chencinski got down well to prevent the ball curling into the bottom corner.

The Tribesmen nearly took advantage of some slow thinking from Shamrock Rovers when Ryan Connolly was caught sleeping on the job by Gavan Holohan just outside the Rovers box.

Holohan won his tackle well and the ball broke to the oncoming Jonah Ayunga but his resulting shot went just inches over the bar.

At the other end Conor Winn misjudged his opportunity to come off his line to collect the ball. The defence managed to scramble back as the ball was played too far out to the left of the box.

Miele grabbed a hold of the opportunity once more but his shot only managed to ruffle the side netting of Galway’s goal.

With just over 25 minutes gone Galway took the lead after Ronan Murray smashed the ball into the net from the penalty spot.

Roberto Lopes was the player at fault after referee Anthony Buttimer deemed the defender had handled the ball in the box.

Rovers almost levelled the game just five minutes later through a corner kick. Lee Grace, who returned to Deacy Park for the first time since he signed for Rovers, got his head to the ball and Conor Winn reacted instantly and managed scoop the ball away from his net.

Kevin Devaney was proving himself up to the challenge of Stephen Bradley’s side on the right flank.

The winger was getting crowded out all on his lonesome late in the first half but he seemed untouchable as he managed to find the base line skirting alongside it before laying the ball off to Ronan Murray who was lying in wait inside Rovers box.

Murray was unable to double his tally for the evening, however, striking his snapshot over the upright of the goal.

Just minutes into the second half The Tribesmen were almost left red faced. A routine ball was played back by Stephen Folan towards Conor Winn, the goalkeeper took a touch with Gary Shaw fast approaching.

Winn struck the ball but Shaw was on top of him and the ball deflected back with the home fans exhaling in relief as it went over the crossbar.

Rovers came out for the second half with a lot more bite to them and they had another great chance to equalise when a long distance effort from Ronan Finn wasn’t held by Conor Winn.

James Doona pounced on the rebound, tipping it in the direction of Gary Shaw but his header at full stretch went wide of the goal.

It was one way traffic in the second half as Shamrock Rovers appeared to have all the chances. Graham Burke sent a great ball over the top and into the Galway box finding David McAllister who rocketed the ball toward the goal with a diving header. Winn was on hand once again for another key save just getting down to snuff out the ball.

Gary Shaw continued his fantastic record of scoring against Galway United late in the second half. A blistering cross was met by the striker and his perfectly placed header looped just out of reach for Conor Winn and into the top corner of the Galway goal to draw Stephen Bradley’s men level.

Right at the death as the clock ticked into injury time Rovers clinched their winning goal and it was that man again, Gary Shaw.

Rovers were pressing high into Galway’s half and their failure to deal with the ball in the box led to Shaw getting his chance and smacking the ball into the corner of the net to get his side the go ahead goal and send Rovers home happy.

Galway United: Conor Winn; Colm Horgan, Alex Byrne, Stephen Folan, Marc Ludden; Gavan Holohan, David Cawley (Paul Sinnott, 58), Kevin Devaney, Rory Hale (Conor Melody, 80); Ronan Murray, Jonah Ayunga (Eoin McCormack, 83).

Subs not used: Charlie Burns, Aaron Conway, Gary Shanahan, Ronan Manning.

Booked: Colm Horgan (38), Rory Hale (69), Jonah Ayunga (76)

Shamrock Rovers: Tomer Chencinski; David Webster, Lee Grace, Roberto Lopes, Trevor Clarke; Ronan Finn, Ryan Connolly (James Doona, 50), Graham Burke, David McAllister (Cameron King, 77); Brandon Miele (Michael O’Connor, 67), Gary Shaw.

Subs not used: Kevin Horgan, Dean Carpenter, Aaron Bolger, Dean Dillon.

Booked: Roberto Lopes (25)

Attendance: 1,404

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Gary Shaw