Premier Division Match: Shamrock Rovers 1 (Mandroiu 88), Galway United 1 (Hickey 74)
Danny Mandroiu managed to secure his inaugural goal since his comeback to Shamrock Rovers, helping the team secure a draw from a losing position for the second instance this season in their face-off against Galway United at the Tallaght Stadium.
Trying to overcome Pat Hickey’s initial goal for Galway, Mandroiu, the attacking midfielder, caught Jack Byrne’s free kick in the 88th minute, overcoming Brendan Clarke with a fierce header, although the Galway goalie managed to touch the ball slightly.
Following this, substitute Neil Farrugia was very close to clinching the victory for Rovers in overtime with his header glancing wide off another one of Byrne’s set-pieces.
Witnessing the game was the smallest audience of this season at Dundrum. The match displayed a familiar result to the one in April, where an equally last-minute goal by Johnny Kenny was required to secure a draw for the Rovers.
The outcome of the match keeps Rovers at the 5th position in the league as they weren’t successful in closing in on the leaders; Derry City and Shelbourne, thereby maintaining a gap of 10 points, albeit with some games remaining. Meanwhile, Galway balances equally in points at the 6th position
Making a shift from their 4-nil defeat in the Europa League against PAOK in Thessaloniki the previous Thursday, including the first-ever match for newly enrolled forward Marc McNulty, Rovers set on the offense from the onset.
Despite Rovers having the majority of the possession initially and with Darragh Burns and Graham Burke coming close to scoring, it was Galway’s raw approach that yielded the game’s first real opportunities.
Oppurtunities primarily sprouted from Ed McCarthy’s long throws, one of which, around the 21st-minute mark, was very close to securing the lead for the visitors.
Struggling to clear the ball, Hickey, Galway’s midfielder, managed to tap it to Jimmy Keohane, whose left-footed strike was met with the crossbar response.
Taking inspiration from Galway’s strategy, a similar approach yielded Rovers their first significant chance around the 31st-minute mark.
Gary O’Neill ran down the right flank to feed a ball into Burns’ path, whose shot, however, lacked the intensity to perturb Clarke.
Just before the break, Rovers initiated a second attack that almost put them ahead, with the ball unfortunately hitting the crossbar after it fell to Jack Byrne from a kick by Leon Pohls. Despite showing more conviction and vigour after the interval, the Rovers still struggled to penetrate a stout Galway defence.
The game seemed to tilt in Rovers’ favour after Aaron McEneff, Farrugia and Mandroiu were brought on via a triple substitution. Farrugia soon made his presence felt, heading a cross from Burns through Clarke’s legs, only for Garry Buckley to clear it from the line. Later, a reactive save from Pohls kept the score level when a sweeping play involving Walsh, Hickey, and Keohane almost pegged Rovers behind.
However, Rovers were slow off the mark five minutes later, conceding the opening goal to Galway. A crafty lofted pass from Killian Brouder found Walsh, who smartly assisted Hickey to lash his strike off the post and into the net.
The Shamrock Rovers had Pohls, Cleary, Lopes, Hoare, Burns, O’Neill, Watts, Honohan, Byrne, Burke and McNulty in their squad, with Greene, McEneff, Farrugia and Mandroiu coming on as substitutes. The Galway United side comprised Clarke, Esua, Buckley, Brouder, Cunningham, Borden, McCormack, Keohane, Hickey, McCarthy and Walsh, with Horgan, Hurley, Burns and O’Sullivan introduced later. The match, officiated by Gavin Colfer from Wicklow, had an audience of 3,017.