Galway United will be ready this time – Dunne

GALWAY United manager Tommy Dunne has admitted that last season’s Premier Division campaign caught his side by surprise, but insists that the squad he has assembled for the 2016 campaign which kicks-off in a fortnight is much better prepared.

Speaking at the Connacht Hotel in Galway City last week where the club unveiled its latest two signings – the returning Alex Byrne, and new capture, Armin Aganovic – Dunne told Tribune Sport that there was an overall sense of disappointment with how the 2015 season turned out.

“I think last year we reached our goal as such of staying in the Premier Division, and getting a cup run, which we did,” he said – United reached their first domestic cup final in almost two decades, losing the EA Sports Cup final to St Patrick’s Athletic on penalties.

“However, overall when we reflect on last year, as we did as a group, we were a little disappointed, so there is a new mindset and a new hope so we are hoping we can push on this year,” Dunne said.

Last season saw a large portion of United’s squad get their first taste of Premier Division action, and the greater intensity and physicality of the top flight caught many by surprise, with United winning just one of their first seven league games.

“We weren’t ready last year in a sense. I think the Premier Division took us by surprise, and not so much the game, but the physical side of it, our guys sort of got a bit of an eye opener, so this year we want to be in better condition, and they have made sure of that themselves as well,” Dunne says.

The campaign opens with a trip to Richmond Park on Friday, March 4 to take on a St Patrick’s Athletic side that broke United hearts in that EA Sports Cup final, as well as winning all three league meetings between the sides on an 8-2 aggregate score.

They went into last year on the back of an underwhelming pre-season campaign of just two friendlies, a scoreless draw with Finn Harps and a 1-0 win over Athlone Town, but United will have more game time under their belt come kick-off this time around.

They hammered NUI Galway’s Collingwood Cup side 7-0 a couple of weeks ago, followed that up with a 2-0 win over UCD on Saturday, and have three more games lined up, starting with the visit of Shelbourne to Eamonn Deacy Park this coming Saturday (3pm), followed by away games against Longford Town (Tuesday, February 23) and Limerick FC (Saturday, February 27).

Full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune.