Galway United stunned Bohemians by claiming a 3-2 win following a competitive encounter at Dalymount Park on Friday evening.
 
The visitors stunned the home crowd by taking the lead on 16 minutes when Karl Sheppard made the most of a mis-placed pass from Paul Keegan to fire in.
 
That goal came as quite a surprise considering Galway were missing key players like Thomas Heary, Jamie McKenzie and Gary Curran.
 
However, it was the Tribesmen who dominated in midfield with Stephen O’Donnell reminding the Bohs supporters why he was such a crucial part of their double-winning team in 2008.
 
Bohs drew level on 22 minutes though when Raffaele Cretaro took his time to control a cross from Keegan before slotting in and dragging the Gypsies back into the game.
 
There were few chances after that for either side in the first period, but the second half brought the tempo up a notch with Pat Fenlon’s men showing a lot more fight.
 
Jason Byrne let rip with a volley that went just wide and Owen Heary had the ball in the net before it was ruled out for offside.
 
Then Sheppard got his fourth goal of the season when he connected with a curling free-kick from Derek O’Brien to head Galway back into the lead on 50 minutes.
 
Bohs made some changes with Ruaidhri Higgins and Mark Quigley coming on to give them more options in attack. That had an affect too as Higgins played in Conor Powell who crossed for Byrne to score the home side’s second of the evening.
 
After Tom King had a shot cleared off the line, Galway got the winning goal when Sheppard was fouled by Ken Oman inside the penalty area and O’Donnell blasted in from the spot.
 
Oman, Cretaro and O’Donnell were all sent off in the dying minutes as the game ended on a fiery note.
 
Bohemians: Murphy; Shelley, Heary, Oman, Powell; Cretaro, Keegan, Cronin (Higgins 58), McGlynn, Madden (Quigley 73), Byrne.
 
Substitutes Not Used: O’Connor, McGuinness, Greene.
 
Galway United: Barry Ryan; Conneely, Sinnott, Meynell, Creaney; Bobby Ryan (King 83), O’Donnell, Foley, O’Brien (McBrien 88); Flood, Sheppard.
 
Substitutes Not Used: Keady, Seoige, Keane.
 
Referee: Damien Hancock (Dublin)