King's goal earns gritty Galway United valuable draw
Date Published: {J}
St. Patrick's Athletic 1
Keith Kelly
HEART. Passion. Belief. Determination. Guts. All combined on Friday night to hand Galway United an unlikely point against title-chasing St Patrick’s Athletic in Terryland Park to extend Sean Connor’s side’s unbeaten run to five games and move them ahead of Dundalk in the table on goal difference.
United also enjoyed a large dollop of luck as the league’s top scorers had clearly left their collective shooting boots at home, and when they did find the target, they also found Barry Ryan in majestic form.
The visitors were utterly dominant in the first half and as Pats assistant manager John Gill said afterwards, they should have been able to play the second half with a Hamlet in one hand and a glass of brandy in the other given the chances they created in those opening 45 minutes.
United managed one shot on goal in the same period, a hooked effort from Karl Sheppard towards the car-park goal which flew closer to the unused new turnstiles than Gary Rogers’ goal as the Richmond Park side threatened to run riot against a side they had beaten in their three previous meetings this season.
At the other end, Ryan was called on time and again and he didn’t disappoint, producing a display which once again showed why he is regarded as one of the best ‘keepers in the league, and firmly confining some poor displays in the second quarter of the season to a dusty filing cabinet in the deepest recesses of the mind.
He was beaten in the 12th minute when Ryan Guy finished off a three-man move to fire home from six yards as the United captain was left horribly exposed by his defence, and when the ball rattled the net, there was a sinking feeling that the floodgates would open.
For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.