Youths hold on in bizarre tie

when Shanahan blocked Graham Doyle from a Craig McCabe back pass, but the netminder recovered. He was picking the ball out of the net again though in the 72nd minute, with a poor headed clearance from Aidan Friel leading to Vinny Faherty finding Kevin Devaney who tucked another effort into the same corner to make it 5-3.

The locals were growing restless, and their mood didn’t improve when Doyle had to advance smartly to deny Devaney a hat-trick after a long ball from Shanahan.

Unbelievably, the margin was down to one just over 40 seconds later when a Marc Ludden cross from the left was met with a poor clearance into the path of substitute Conor Melody who rattled the roof of the net.

From a position of being in cruise control, Youths were now sweating, and it was entirely their own fault. Hearts skipped a beat when Doyle didn’t control a Chin back pass, but thankfully he recovered.

Craig McCabe was booked before Killian Cantwell scuffed a shot well wide, with Shane Dempsey replacing Conor Whittle and both sides unable to capitalise on corners.

Marc Ludden was booked for a theatrical dive in the box, and Doyle was out swiftly to cut out Stephen Folan’s attempted long ball to Shanahan just before three added minutes were announced.

Youths had to defend a few late Galway attacks, with Doyle and Chin both prominent, before the long whistle of Graham Kelly brought an end to the type of game that doesn’t come about too often. It represented the best and worst of what the home players have to offer, and it’s clear that only the former quality will suffice from now on if they want to guarantee a second season of top flight football.