League Report: Galway United 1 - 0 Bohemians

Galway United won by the narrowest of margins to take all three points to put themselves temporarily into second place in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division. In a game plagued by a strong wind Galway had the majority of the chances.

The opening 45 minutes did not see many chances created by either side. With what met.ie describe as status yellow winds neither side had much control over the ball in the air. Lorcan Fitzgerald managed to keep some control over it during set plays. Galway with the wind at their backs appearing to lift the ball out of control more often than not.

After just five minutes Stephen Cantwell thought he had helped to put the home side ahead. His header from a Ryan Connolly corner was bundled over the line but the linesman's flag was up. The next real chance of the half fell to Connolly on the edge of the box. His shot was just wide of Dean Delany's left post.

Kurtis Byrne played the ball forward down the left wing for Ayman Ben Mohamed to run on to. Ben Mohamed beat Killian Cantwell to the ball by a couple of inches to set himself free on the wing. With no options in the box he ran towards the goal and tried to bury it at the near post but Conor Winn was equal to his effort.

Towards the end of the half Ryan Connolly found himself with the ball in space around the halfway line. He ran at the Bohemians defence and tried to set Padraic Cunningham free as he entered the box but he struck the ball too hard and Delaney gathered.

The second big save of the game came early in the second half. Kevin Devaney played the ball into the centre to Vinny Faherty with his back to the goal. Faherty turned and hit the ball low and hard towards the bottom right corner but Delaney palmed it away for a corner.

A few minutes later Faherty was running towards Derek Pender in the Bohs box. He could have tried a shot himself but instead attempted a pass across the box which was blocked by Pender. The home fans roared for a handball but referee Ray Matthews did not feel the contact was worthy of a penalty.

Galway had the third chance of the second half. A Ryan Connolly free was played in to Vinny Faherty, but his shot was saved on the line by Daniel Byrne for Bohemians.

It was fourth time lucky for the home side when Padraic Cunningham's perfectly weighted cross from the left wing was met by Vinny Faherty who easily slotted the ball home at the back post after 77 minutes.

With five minutes left in the game Kurtis Byrne's effort from long range went well over United's goalkeeper and into the back of the net but the linesman at the car park end waved for offside.

Next Friday sees Bohemians hosting Longford Town and Galway United travelling to Tallaght to face Shamrock Rovers.

Galway United: Conor Winn; Colm Horgan, Killian Cantwell, Paul Sinnott, Stephen Walsh; Kevin Devaney (Conor Melody 77) John Sullivan, Ryan Connolly, Gary Shanahan; Vinny Faherty (Ruairí Keating 90+3), Padraic Cunningham.

Subs not used: Kevin Horgan; Marc Ludden, Enda Curran, Cormac Rafterty, Eric Foley

Bookings: None.

Bohemian FC: Dean Delany; Derek Pender, Daniel Byrne, Anto Murphy, Lorcan Fitzgerald; Paddy Kavanagh, Roberto Lopes, Dave Mulcahy(Keith Buckley 88), Aymen Ben Mohammed; Kurtis Byrne, Mark Quigley (Ismahil Akinade 81).

Subs not used: Lee Steacy; Dylan Hayes, James Kavanagh, Derek Prendergast, Jake Kelly.

Bookings: None.

Referee: Ray Matthews

Attendance: 1,170.

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Vinny Faherty (Galway United).

You can see Jimmy McElroy's pictures from the game here.