Edward McCarthy strike provides fireworks as Galway United stun Shelbourne

Galway United 1 Shelbourne 0

Heads you win: Killian Brouder of Galway United tussles with Seán Boyd of Shelbourne at Eamonn Deacy Park in Galway. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Joseph Murray

Edward McCarthy’s early strike was enough to stun table-topping Shelbourne as they fell to defeat against Galway United at Eamonn Deacy Park.

The league leaders, hoping to bounce back from defeat to Bohemians in their last game, were without away fans following an incident where a pyrotechnic struck a match official at the start of the month.

Without their supporters, the away side struggled to cope with Galway United’s attacking threat and failed to carve out any clear-cut chances against a United backline that had conceded just six goals in their nine league matches.

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Both sides exchanged huge chances in the early exchanges, with Stephen Walsh and Seán Boyd going close with close-range headers for their respective sides without troubling either ’keeper.

That Boyd chance proved to be as good as it got for Shels, however, as Galway controlled proceedings for the rest of the half and eventually took the lead through Ed McCarthy, who rifled home a fantastic cross by Aodh Dervin at the back post.

Shelbourne were left with a mountain to climb after the break as Damien Duff made a triple substitution just 10 minutes into the half in hopes of restoring parity.

The freshly introduced Will Jarvis, who had excelled in the reverse fixture at Tolka Park, came close to equalising side after collecting a diagonal ball by Paddy Barrett and finding himself in on goal, but United stopper Brendan Clarke smothered the effort.

That proved to be as good as it got for Shelbourne, who huffed and puffed but were unable to penetrate the relatively comfortable Galway defence on the night.

Galway United: Clarke; O’Keeffe, Brouder, Slevin, Kazeem; Borden, McCormack, Hurley (Gaxha 90), Dervin (O’Sullivan 75), McCarthy (Hickey 90); Walsh (Aouachria 84).

Shelbourne: Kearns; Gannon (Ledwidge 57), Barrett, Molloy, Wilson; Caffrey (Javis 57), Lunney; Burt, O’Sullivan (Williams 72); Farrell (Smith 57), Boyd (Ward 84).

Referee: Damien MacGraith