Danny Mandroiu rescues a point for Shamrock Rovers against Galway United

Shamrock Rovers failed to get their irons back in the fire of the title race as they battled from behind to salvage a draw against European chasing Galway United, who had led through a sweet Patrick Hickey second-half strike.

Much like earlier in the season at Tallaght when Johnny Kenny was needed to grab a late equaliser to rescue a point, it was the turn of Danny Mandroiu to level in the dying embers for the four-in-a-row champions.

The game started in expected fashion with the home side looking to dominate possession as the visitors looked threatening with every set piece and long throw.

Bar a couple of dangerous crosses from the hosts, who made five changes from the side that fell to a 4-0 defeat in the first leg of their Europa League play-off with PAOK on Thursday, both keepers remained relatively untested early on as a crowd of 3,017 watched on expectedly.

The in-form Dylan Watts began pulling the string for Rovers, looking to the pacey Darragh Burns in behind Greg Cunningham. If this looked the most likely avenue for the home side to make the breakthrough, the aerial bombardment from Ed McCarthy's throw in’s looked even more threatening for the visitors.

Midway through the half it almost paid dividends when McCarthy’s fourth long throw was only half dealt with, and as it dropped to Patrick Hickey, the big man cleverly poked the ball to Jimmy Keohan on the edge of the area who then bent a lovely left footed effort off the inside of the post and somehow across goal away to safety.

This let-off served as a major wake up call for The Hoops as Burns should have opened the scoring minutes later when he did well to cut inside and fashion a yard of space before scuffing a shot straight at Brendan Clarke.

Five minutes before the