Hanley the United hero in shock win over Dundalk

GOALKEEPER Ger Hanley was the hero for Galway United on Monday evening as his two penalty shoot-out saves helped the club book its place in a domestic cup final for the first time in 18 years.

Hanley – brought into the side due to the upcoming suspension for Conor Winn – saved the first two Dundalk spot-kicks, from Ronan Finn and David McMillan; and Colm Horgan sealed United’s spot in the decider against St Patrick’s Athletic next month when blasting their fourth penalty into the roof of Gabriel Sava’s net.

United will now hope to continue the run of home games when the venue for the final is picked: Tommy Dunne’s side have accounted for Finn Harps, Cockhill Celtic, Bohemians and now Dundalk on their path to the final, with each of those ties having been played in Eamonn Deacy Park.

The venue for the final is normally decided by the toss of a coin, but with competition sponsors EA having both their Worldwide Customer Experience and Digital Platform centres based in Parkmore on the outskirts of the city, allied to the fact the Eamonn Deacy Park is a superior ground to Richmond Park, there is a big shout to grant United the privilege of hosting the final on Saturday, September 19.

They are now into their first domestic final since winning the same competition when defeating Cork City over two legs in the 1996/97 season, and while Pats will go into the final as strong favourites – manager Liam Buckley has named close to a full-strength side throughout the competition – this latest crop of United players are one game away from joining the cup-winning sides from 1986 (League Cup), 1991 (FAI Cup) and 1997 (League Cup) in the club’s history books. Expect them to take that chance.

For a full match report from Keith Kelly at Eamonn Deacy Park see this week’s Tribune