Heimir Hallgrímsson watches on as Dundalk hold Galway United

Former Galway star Bobby Burns returned to haunt his former club.

Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson in attendance at the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division match between Galway United and Dundalk at Eamonn Deacy Park in Galway. Photo by Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile

Galway United 2 Dundalk 2

Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson was in attendance as former Galway United player Bobby Burns returned to haunt his former club as he scored an all-important equaliser to earn a late draw for Dundalk.

The home side started brightest with Dundalk goalkeeper Conor Kearns under pressure from Stephen Walsh on two occasions, however it was the away side who struck first when former Republic of Ireland international Daryl Horgan danced past Arthur Parker on the left-hand side, his cross was met at the near post by Gbemi Arubi who headed past Evan Watts to give the Lilywhites an early lead.

United were incensed when Stephen Walsh went down in the Dundalk box after a clash with Arubi, referee Alan Patchell waving play on and it was deja-vu just minutes later as Walsh again went down in the box but his appeals were dismissed once more by the officials, and the home side failed to force an equaliser and went in a goal down at half-time.

Dundalk kicked off the second half and immediately Galway looked rejuvenated, Twardek causing Burns repeat early problems down the right-hand side. A long ball by David Hurley was controlled brilliantly by the Canadian, who dribbled into the box and a loose ball was pounced on by United talisman Stephen Walsh to level the game at one apiece.

Galway immediately went on the offensive again as Killian Brouder was brought down just outside the left-hand edge of the box. Captain Jimmy Kephane stepped up to take the free-kick and his back-post cross found the unmarked Twardek who smashed home a header to give Galway a 2-1 lead and completely flip the tie on its head.

Dundalk manager Ciarán Kilduff reacted immediately, making four substitutions and he was rewarded for his changes in the 80th minute. A Daryl Horgan corner was headed away by Aaron Bolger on the near post, however the rebound was met by ex-Galway winger Bobby Burns who rifled a left-footed shot in the bottom corner to equalise for Dundalk against his former club.

Both sides pushed for a winner with tempers flaring both on and off the field. Galway saw another penalty claim denied by the referee, while Dundalk forced a number of clearances from the Galway back line. Despite Caulfield also ringing in the changes, neither side were able to break the deadlock, and it finished 2-2 at Eamonn Deacy Park.

Galway United: E Watts, A Parker, C Barratt (Twardek 40), J Keohane, K Brouder, S Walsh, A Bolger (Piesold 89), D Hurley (Wolfe 82), G Facchineri, L Devitt, E McCarthy (McCormack 82).

Dundalk: C Kearns, C O’Keefe, B Burns, A Dervin (McDaid 70), D Horgan, G Arubi (Groome 70), R Teehan, E Kenny (Mullen 70), K Buckley (Wilson 70), R Cornwall, J R Wilson.

Referee: Alan Patchell.