As the last non-league side left in the competition, Salthill Devon were always going to get a tough tie when the draw was made for the Last 16 of the FAI Cup, but their eventual pairing is something of a mixed bag for the Drom side after being handed a city derby with Galway United in Eamann Deacy Park tonight (7.45pm).

Devon were first out of the hat and so entitled to home advantage, but it was always likely that they would have switched their tie to the home of Galway football given the sides left in the competition. Once they were followed by United, there never really was a doubt about where the game would be played.

It is not quite a novel pairing as the sides have met in cup competition in four previous seasons, the most recent of which saw United need a replay to advance, when the sides met at this same stage back in 2010.

That was a period of turmoil at United: a year later, they were humiliated in the League Cup when Donegal’s Cockhill Celtic went back up the road with a place in the next round after a 3-1 win.

Thoughts that things couldn’t get much worse were soon dispelled, United going on a 22-game losing run in the league and finishing the season with just one win in 36 games before losing the relegation play off to Monaghan United, and then dropping out of the league entirely for two seasons.

They also go into tonight’s game struggling for form, with just one win in their last eight games, and that coming against another non-league side, Tolka Rovers, in the last round of the cup. Devon will quietly fancy their chances of pulling off a shock win, despite the insulting 12/1 odds that one bookmaker has them priced at, with United an unbackable 1/12.

Devon’s squad is packed with experience: players like Conor Barry, Enda Curran, and Marc Ludden are all experienced League of Ireland players, making a combined 350 appearances for United alone, never mind the time spent at Treaty United (all three), Athlone Town (Barry and Curran), Derry City (Curran), and Finn Harps and Wexford (Barry).

Colin Kelly, Joe Collins, Gary Kinneen, Arek Mamala, Matthew Barrett, and Timmy Molloy have all also played competitively for United at some stage, and Devon have been the best of the best in local junior football for some time, so they won’t be crossing the river just to make up the numbers tonight.

That said, a repeat of that cup meeting between the sides in 2010 is highly unlikely. In that season, the sides played out a 1-1 draw at the then Terryland Park, before United won the replay 3-1 in Drom, but Devon were a league side on that occasion, Tom King (2) and Seamus Conneely scoring for United before Victor Collins bagged a late consolation for Devon.

The previous competitive meeting between the sides came in the League Cup in 2009 where United again struggled against the Seagulls. They led 2-0 at half-time thanks to goals from Jay O’Shea and Declan Edwards, but Enda Dunne and Marcin Marienek struck in the space of six second-half minutes to send the game to penalties, which Unted won 5-3.

Things were far more cut-and-dried in their first two meetings, both of which also came in the League Cup.

Goals from Eamonn Donoghue, Ronan Killeen, John Cleary, and Stephen Lally sealed a 4-0 win for United in the 1991/92 League Cup meeting in Terryland Park; and they doubled that scoreline in their next meeting three years later in Glenina, Ricky O’Flaherty scoring a hat-trick in an 8-0 win.

The other goals came from Mark Herrick (2), Barry Ryan, Ronan Killeen, and Shane Fitzgerald who came up through the Devon ranks, and is father of Emily who has featured for United’s senior women’s team this year.

United were expected to make a string of changes for that Second Round clash at home to Tolka Rovers last month, but while they opted for an almost first-choice XI, they were far from impressive in a 2-0 win.

A side of similar strength is likely to start tonight, and the game could see a debut handed to Jeremy Sivi, a 23-year-old winger whose signing from Slovakian top-tier side Zemplin Michaelovce was announced during the week.

The club still hasn’t officially announced the signing of Stephen Dooley: he is registered as a United player on the FAI Connect app, but it is believed he picked up an injury in one of his first training sessions and it is not known when, or if, he will feature this season as a result.

Devon booked their place in the Last 16 with a 1-0 home win over St Michael’s of Tipperary, an early Molloy goal enough to see them be the last non-league team standing.