Familiar Shelbourne failings allow Bobby Burns to rescue point for Galway

Irish Independent

8 hours ago

But Joey O'Brien and his players will travel home from Galway wondering how they failed to emerge from Eamonn Deacy Park with a victory that would put a badly-needed smile on faces.
Damien Duff's stand-in will take comfort from aspects of their display considering what's coming around the corner in European competition.
He is set to be given the opportunity to lead the Reds into that campaign once he gets the relevant sign-off from authorities and he does appear to be getting a response from the group.
The reality, though, is that they have drawn 11 of their 24 matches this season because of an inability to be clinical in both boxes.
In a game where their goalscorer Mipo Odubeko could easily have bagged a hat-trick, a late fumble from Conor Kearns allowed Galway United substitute Bobby Burns to rescue a point that looked unlikely for reasonable spells of this encounter. John Caulfield will be satisfied with that after a tricky week highlighted by the loss of top scorer Moses Dyer to a big-money deal in Cambodia.
Mind you, that drama pales in comparison to what the visitors have been going through. At least Dyer's release clause had given United some preparation for what might be around the corner.
Shelbourne had finished on a high in Waterford on Monday, with the opposing boss John Coleman admitting his players were blessed to survive a late rally. They brought the momentum into the opening quarter here, although O'Brien did opt to conserve the energy levels of several key players with Mark Coyle, Paddy Barrett and Evan Caffrey amongst those to drop to the bench. Linfield are around the corner, with the Irish League champions represented by a delegation that included manager David Healy.
They might face different personnel in their eagerly-anticipated Champions League tie, but they did see a side that looks to have responded quite well to the drama of the last week. Healy will certainly have noted that they had a few difficult moments from crosses and defensive set pieces, an area where Galway are potent at asking questions.
But there was a spark in attacking areas, the best example being the danger presented by Odubeko, the winter arrival who has failed to live up to expectations.
His contribution here showed why he can both excite and frustrate. Odubeko broke the deadlock with a precise first half header from a JJ Lunney cross, a moment that the front man would have enjoyed as it allowed him to forget the anguish of a brilliant Garry Buckley goalline clearance that had denied him just beforehand.
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But from there, his contribution was a highlight reel of thrills and spills. He was a constant threat on the counter, with Shels going more direct on occasion to bring out the best in the ex-Man City and Manchester United attacker. He kept finding time and space but, when it came to the crunch, his finishing consistently let him down.
O'Brien's exasperation on the sideline was evident, especially when the theme continued into the second half. Odubeko was Shelbourne's best route to putting the outcome beyond doubt, but also the reason they were unable to do so.
United were off colour for the opening half hour, with the unavailability of Patrick Hickey adding to the natural loss of Dyer. Galway tried new arrival Malcolm Shaw in place of Dyer and he was busy while showing signs of lacking match sharpness.
The natives did have a decent spell before the interval but Caulfield changed to a back four in the second half, a recognition of the need to be more compact in midfield where Harry Wood was enjoying a lot of freedom.
However, Shels continued to create the better chances, with Odubeko's evening taking a tragicomic turn with the 22-year-old botching a gilt-edged opportunity from a clever free before looping a header wide under no pressure.
It left Shels with no margin for error and that point was proven when Kearns lost control and O'Brien saw two points slip away. Boyd was inches away from a stoppage-time winner but the draw specialists were condemned to a familiar fate.
Shelbourne: Kearns, Gannon, Temple, Ledwidge; Kelly (Caffrey 63), Wood (McInroy 63) , Lunney (Coyle 75), Chapman (Coote 89), Norris (Wilson 63); Boyd, Odubeko (Martin 90).