Early goals in either half saw Galway United draw 1-1 with Bohemians in Eamonn Deacy Park.
Both sides came into the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division encounter in search of valuable points to keep tabs on the top three and it was a tale of two halves as a gallant Galway United second-half performance cancelled out an early Bohemians goal.
United brought new signing Jimmy Keohane, who arrived on Corribside from Rochdale, into their starting line-up while the visitors named an unchanged team from last week's draw against St Patrick's Athletic. Recent Bohs returnee Ross Tierney started from the bench following his move from Motherwell.
The Tribesmen, without captain Conor McCormack and Aodh Dervin through suspension, began on the back foot on a damp evening in the west.
In the fourth minute, Alan Reynolds’ side had the perfect start to proceedings when they took the lead from the penalty spot. Following a well-worked corner kick routine, Conor O’Keeffe fouled Danny Grant in the area and Dayle Rooney stepped up to send Brendan Clarke the wrong way from 12 yards out.
United struggled to gain a grasp of the first period while Bohemians continued to bring energy to their attacking play. Ten minutes after the opener, the home outfit almost found themselves two down as Adam McDonell swivelled an effort off the post from the edge of the box with Clarke stranded.
The former Ipswich Town man went close again not long before the break when he took the ball down beautifully in the box but his volleyed effort sailed over the crossbar to the relief of the United faithful.
John Caulfield’s team, who grew into the game, were close to going in level at half time when Maurice Nugent struck a volley that tested Bohs shot-stopper Kacper Chorążka with Patrick Hickey unable to keep his rebounded effort under the crossbar.
Just as Bohs scored early in the first, it was United who found the net at the start of the second. Five minutes after the interval, United centre-half Robert Slevin was the quickest to react to a scramble in the box and brought the sides level when he got the last touch to turn the ball past the goal line.
The Tribesmen gained confidence from the equaliser, which resulted in them having the lion’s share of chances in the remaining half-hour. Galway’s Garry Buckley went close twice while Edward McCarthy saw a curled strike go narrowly wide of the post.
At the other end of the pitch, Ross Tierney’s introduction failed to manufacture any meaningful attacks for Bohs as they grinded out the late onslaught from the home outfit - including a narrow escape for Chorążka when he failed to gather possession but was adjudged to be fouled as the ball looked to be travelling towards the goal.
Up next in the league for Galway United is a home fixture against Waterford while Bohemians welcome Sligo Rovers to Dalymount Park.
Galway United: Clarke; O’Keeffe (Burns 45), Slevin (Hurley 56), Brouder, Nugent; Walsh (Ogedi-Uzokwe 90), Hickey, Keohane, McCarthy (Lomboto 77), Buckley; Esua.
Bohemians: Chorążka; Kirk, Flores, Rooney, Akintunde; Grant (McDaid 84), Clarke (Tierney 65), McDonnell, Miller (Mills 69), Byrne; Carroll (Keita 84).
Referee: Eoghan O’Shea.
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