Bolger's injury-time bullet rescues a point for Galway United
Midfielder fires home a second-half brace as Tribesmen fight back from 2-0 down
Aaron Bolger fired home an equaliser four minutes into injury-time as Galway United marked their first home game in a month by taking a point with a 2-2 draw against a St Patrick's Athletic side that began the night on top of the table, but slipped tp second after Shamrock Rovers scraped a 1-0 win over basement side, Waterford FC..
It was his second goal of the game, the midfielder having dragged his side back into the game just past the hour mark after the visitors had raced into a 2-0 lead, but United's refusal to buckle saw them press and press and eventually get their reward.
John Caulfield went with the same XI that started in the 1-1 draw away to Waterford a week earlier; while the visitors were forced into one change to their starting XI from the side that beat Bohs 3-1 on the same night.
Aidan Keena picked up an injury in that game, with Chris Forrester replacing him in the 21st minute in that derby win, and the man who is closing in on 350 appearances for the Saints started in his place in Eamonn Deacy Park.
The visitors came into the game as the league leaders, the league's top-scorers, and boasting the league's joint-meanest defence, but they had lost both of their visits to Eamonn Deacy Park last season; and needed a 90th minute goal to snatch a win when the sides met in Inchicore back in March.
This time, it was United who would enjoy the sweetness of a late, late strike.
It was the Dublin side that started the better here, and thought they had taken the lead in the 12th minute, but the goal was ruled out in controversial circumstances. An Aaron Bolger back-pass to Killian Brouder put the United defender in trouble, and Kian Leavy dispossessed him before firing past Evan Watts.
It seemed a perfectly good goal, but assistant referee Allen Lynch raised his flag, giving offside against Leavy. The visitors were furious with the decision, but that ire lasted less than 60 seconds before they had the ball in the net again, and this time it counted.
Zach Elbouzedi sent in a cross from the left wing, and the unmarked Ryan Edmondson didn't have to leave the ground as he directed a downward header inside the far post from six yards out.
It was no less than they deserved, having dominated the early exchanges, though without ever really testing Watts. The concession of a goal seemed to shake the home side from their early torpor, but not before it took a brave block by Gianfranco Facchinieri to deflect a close-range Jams Brown effort out for a Pats corner.
The home side won a couple of free-kicks just outside the Pats' penalty area, but David Hurley fired the first into the wall, while curling his second to the back post, which was headed clear.
He also fired a 20-yard effort wide late in the half, while Mattie Wolfe saw his header hit a Pats defender, but the half ended without Saints' goalkeeper Joey Anang having to make a single save.
United needed an improvement in the second-half, and they started well, but just as they were building a head of steam, they fell 2-0 down in the 54th minute.
Bolger and Gianfranco Facchinieri collided just outside the United penalty area as they looked to clear a dropping ball, which fell for Elbouzedi.
He made a couple of yards to create the space for a cross, picking out the unmarked Forrester who smashed it home from 10 yards out. United needed a quick response, and the management team lined up four changes, but before they got a chance to join the action, the players on the pitch produced the moment to instil some hope in the 61st minute.
A Hurley corner from the left was headed down by Killian Brouder, and Bolger pounced to drill a shot home from a dozen yards out.
United went ahead with the four changes a minute later, switching to a back-three and flooding the midfield, though there was still no game-time for Nicolas Chateau, the striker still waiting for his first appearance of the season despite the home side chasing the game.
Three of those changes combined to come within inches of delivering an equaliser: Wasiri Williams' long ball was headed down by Francely Lomboto, but a stretching Frantz Pierrot was unable to get the decisive touch.
The attempted revival started to wilt, United running out of ideas on how to break down the Saints' defence, though it needed a wonder-save from Anang to deny Bolger an equaliser in the 88th minute with a brilliant reflex save.
That looked like being the end of the fightback, but Bolger had other ideas as United continued to press, with an announcement of six minutes of additional time putting an extra pep in their step.
The pressure paid off in the fourth of those six minutes, the Pats defence unable to clear their lines, and the ball fell for Bolger who rifled a shot past Anang for a deserved point for the home side.
Galway United: Watts; Barratt (Devitt 82), Facchinieri, Brouder, Kazeem (Piesold 62); Bolger, Wolfe (Lom,boto 62); Twardek (Williams 62), Hurley, McCarthy; Walsh (Pierrot 62).
St Patrick's Athletic: Anang; Brown, Redmond, Grivosti, Turner; Lennon, Baggeley; Leavy (McClelland 90), Forrester (Nugent 70), Elbouzedi (inj, Breslin 71); Edmondson (Mata 76).
Referee: Rob Hennessy (Limerick).