A CONTROVERSIAL equaliser on the hour mark saw Galway United maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
Evan Caffrey had given the champions the lead in the 52nd minute with a diving header from Harry Wood’s cross.
But their lead did not last for long with Galway levelling from a corner after Vince Borden’s shot had been deflected wide.
Regan Donelon swung the ball in and Shels teammates John Martin and Lewis Temple jumped together in a bid to clear but it glanced off the striker’s head and into the net.
Rob Hennessy did not appear to award the goal but Shels went to tip off until an initial conversation between the referee and his assistant Darren Corcoran.
It seemed as though the goal had been ruled out with Conor Kearns preparing to take a goal kick before a longer dialogue between the officials saw the goal stand.
The uncertainty seemed to centre on whether Rob Slevin was offside but he did not appear to be impeding Kearns and, of course, the ball had come off a Shels player.
In the aftermath, both benches were booked but Shels regrouped and should have gone on to win the game.
But former Shels keeper Brendan Clarke produced two fine saves in quick succession to deny Paddy Barrett and Temple.
And, ultimately, Damien Duff’s pre-match prediction that a team overseen by John Caulfield and Ollie Horgan would punish any softness or naivety came to pass, after they had narrowly avoided conceding from a set-piece in the first half.
Duff had reason to be wary about this fixture as Eamonn Deacy Park was the only away ground from which Shels had returned empty-handed on both their visits last season.
But, even so, Duff placed his trust in his wider squad by changing half of the 10 outfield players who had started in Friday’s draw against Shamrock Rovers.
Counterpart Caulfield restricted himself to three changes from Galway’s 1-1 draw with Drogheda United.
All of their outfield players, bar midfielder Borden, had spent at least some part of their career as a defender, an indication that they would set out to frustrate the visitors.
It might have been different had Martin, in for his first start of the season, managed to give Shels the lead with the first chance of the game in the 11th minute.
Borden’s ball forward was intercepted with Mipo Odubeko playing in the former Waterford and Dundalk striker who was just onside but he fired his shot over the bar.
Set-pieces were always likely to be important in this game and the home side almost took the lead from one here.
Shels had given away a poor goal on Friday when Kearns spilled a cross when he collided with team-mate Barrett which provided Aaron McEneff with a tap-in.
And they almost leaked one just as bad when Donelon swung in a free-kick from the right which Kearns was struggling to deal with under pressure from Slevin and Pat Hickey.
Eventually, it was put behind for a corner from which Shels countered quickly but, although Wood had spotted Clarke off his line, he was unable to direct his shot from his own half on target.
Martin also narrowly failed to reach a cross from Caffrey whilst an ambitious long-distance effort from Barrett failed to test Clarke
Shels started the second half strongly with Odubeko playing in Caffrey but he struggled to sort out his feet before eventually blazing over.
It was an easier task when, unmarked, he was able to steer Wood’s cross home with his forehead after Martin’s initial shot had been blocked by Greg Cunningham.
Caulfield reacted immediately by sending on Moses Dyer in place Stephen Walsh.
But Kearns’ reflexes were even more impressive when, straight after the New Zealand international’s introduction, he produced a point-blank save to deny Galway an equaliser.
There was nothing he could when Martin connected with Donelon’s delivery as, not for the first time, Galway made a dead-abll situation count.
GALWAY UNITED: 1 SHELBOURNE: 1
Martin 60 o.g. Caffrey 52
SUN STAR MAN: Regan Donelon (Galway)
GALWAY UNITED: Clarke 8; Slevin 7, Brouder 7, Cunningham 7; Esua 7, Byrne 6, Borden 7 (McCarthy 90, 3), Donelon 8 (Burns 73, 5); Keohane 7 (Tollett 90, 3); Walsh 6 (Dyer 52, 6), Hickey 7 (Hurley 90, 3).
SHELBOURNE: Kearns 7; Temple 6, Barrett 7, Ledwidge 7; Caffrey 7, Wood 7 (Coote 79, 4), Lunney 6 (Coyle 73, 4), Chapman 6, Norris 7; Martin 6 (McInroy 73, 4), Odubeko 6 (Boyd 62, 5).
REFEREE: R Hennessy (Limerick) 6
