Galway United 1 Sligo Rovers 1:THE JULY transfer window has brought grim tidings for the west and a moderate, but curious, audience gathered at Terryland Park to see how the reshuffled teams would cope.
Despite the background of off-field issues, there was a real dash to the opening period that was peppered with goalscoring opportunities.
Romauld Boco and Conor O'Grady went tantalisingly close to nicking the lead for Sligo, but Galway seized the initiative in the 33rd minute.
Having been fouled on the edge of the area by O'Grady, Alan Murphy still managed to unleash a sweet free-kick past Richard Brush's despairing lunge.
Still, Sligo were unperturbed and pilfered a merited equaliser five minutes after the restart as Mauro Almeida provided a tidy finish to a set-piece move that featured Sean Doherty and O'Grady.
Galway's cause was not aided by the 69th-minute dismissal of Alan Keane, but parity prevailed.
GALWAY UNITED:Rogers; Keane, Fitzgerald, Lester, McCulloch; O'Shea, Fenn, Murphy, Russell (Foley 82); Faherty (Conneely 72), Glynn.
SLIGO ROVERS:Brush; Cretaro, Peers, Almeida, Butler; Cash (Judge, 79), O'Grady, Ventre, Doherty; Boco, Murphy.
Referee:A Kelly (Cork).
