Cabinteely's Shane Barnes delighted to make late impact

Andrew Dempsey reports from Tolka Park

Cabinteely substitute Shane Barnes admitted his delight upon scoring his first goal for the club during the dramatic draw against Shelbourne at Tolka Park on Friday evening.

Barnes, a recent signing from Wexford, joined Cabo during the off-season and scored late on against the Reds to secure a priceless point for Pat Devlin’s charges.

“I was just happy to come on and make an impact,” the 21-year-old said.  

“That’s all that Pat said to me, he told me to stay alert in the box and if something dropped to me, I needed to hit it and thankfully the chance came, and I scored.

“I thought the lads played very well in the second half, and even though Shels probably should have scored the penalty, the draw was probably the fair result in the end.

“It was my first goal for the club, and I was waiting a while for it to come and thankfully it came tonight.”

While the former Wexford striker scored a late equaliser, captain and goalkeeper Stephen McGuinness popped up with a vital save at the death from a Conan Byrne spot-kick to seal the point.

“Stephen made a great save with the penalty and he’s been brilliant for us all season as well,” the former Bray Wanderers underage star said. 

“He’s won us loads of points already this season with his saves at crucial times, so he deserves all the praise he gets.”



However, next up for the Green and Whites is a home clash against second placed Longford Town who are also gunning for Shelbourne in pole position.

“Longford are a good side; we beat them one-nil last time we played them down there and we played well then, but it’ll be tough against them.

“There’s no easy games in this league and there’s only seven games left so every game is a huge game for us.”