Galway United edge Shamrock Rovers on penalties to retain All-Island Cup

Holders Galway United retained their Avenir All-Island title with a dramatic penalty shootout win over Shamrock Rovers, as Jamie Erickson showed nerves of steel to sweep home the winning spot-kick.

With the potential title decider earlier in the day serving as a perfect starter to the main course, it was time for the big one on the other side of Dublin as both teams played out a dramatic showpiece in front of 1,347 exuberant supporters.

The drama started even before kick-off when referee Alan Patchell was injured in the warm-up and had to be replaced by fourth official Jason Moore, and once the action kicked off it was the home side who made the most of the early running.

Both Lia O'Leary and Fiona Owens out wide looked to take advantage of a narrow Galwegian midfield but it took until just after a quarter of an hour for the game to really open up.

Following a desperate scramble in the area, the ball eventually fell kindly to Melissa O’Kane but was stopped bravely by Jessica Berlin who did well to get down sharply.

The cup holders flew straight down the other end and were agonisingly close to getting themselves in front when Kate Thompson could only get an outstretched leg on Amy Madden’s deep cross, as the ball looped over the bar.

Tensions reached boiling point just before the break when Irish International Julie-Ann Russell seemed to nudge Shauna Fox in the back as the ball trickled over the sideline, and as Russell ran off she was then pushed to the ground by Fox’s centre-back partner Jessica Hennessy. The ref did the sensible thing, talking to both to defuse the situation.

A scrappy second half ensued with both sets of players going full-blooded into every challenge and it took until just after the hour mark for the next