In Galway United's last home league outing of the season, the Tribesmen cemented their Premier Division safety with a scoreless stalemate with St Patrick’s Athletic.

The opening opportunities of the game fell to Aidan Keena and Gianfranco Facchineri, with both finding space in the opposition penalty area, but neither could direct a meaningful effort at goal.

As expected, St Pat’s dominated possession throughout, while the Tribesmen defended in numbers and searched for chances on the counter-attack.

It was a slow-paced game with the feel of a stale end-of-season contest, with Pats' title hopes fading over the previous two games and United having all but secured their top-flight status thanks to last week’s victory over Shamrock Rovers.

It was an encounter which won’t live long in the memory, as the Pats possession drill continued, and clear-cut chances were non-existent.

Both goalkeepers remained untroubled before the break, and any hopes that the second half would burst into life were quickly extinguished as the same pattern continued after the interval.

The only moments of note during the opening 15 minutes of the second period saw Joseph Anang forced to be sharp as he got down to save a deflected strike, while Ed McCarthy will be wondering how he failed to find the net when he couldn't make contact with a cross at the back post.

Late half-chances came the way of Stephen Walsh and Anthony Olusanya, but both were unable to direct their glancing headers on target.

Ultimately, the quality required to break the deadlock was lacking, as both teams settled for a share of the spoils.

Galway United travel to take on Drogheda United in their final league fixture, while St Patrick’s Athletic host Bohemians.

Galway United: Cunha; Devitt, Barratt, O’Connor, Facchineri; Bolger, Hurley, Keohane, McCarthy (Connolly 80), Twardek (Lomboto 80); Walsh.

St Patrick’s Athletic: Anang; McClelland, Brown, Redmond, Turner, Nugent; Forrester (Lennon 82), Sheridan (Hoare 61 / McHale 71), Palmer (Leavy 61); Keena (Olusanya 82), Edmondson.

Referee: Kevin O’Sullivan.