Dunne issues rallying cry to cut out silly mistakes ahead of Longford tie

GALWAY United manager Tommy Dunne says if his players can cut out ‘silly’ mistakes then they’ll be a match for any team in the Premier Division that visits Eamonn Deacy Park.

Dunne said Galway fans can be assured that his players will ‘battle like hell’ in every game, and if they can cut-out errors then the results will come.

Galway got off the mark with a 1-0 win over Drogheda last Friday but they couldn’t back it up at Turner’s Cross on Tuesday where they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Cork City, their third loss in four games.

Speaking to Tribune Sport ahead of tonight’s (7.45pm) crucial home clash with Longford Town, Dunne said he was pleased with the overall performance of his players but mistakes were costly.

“The Drogheda win on Friday was a good result. We were down to 10 men quite early in the game and we came through and got the result. Then we went down to Cork but to be truthful we had a depleted enough group, we were down about six bodies. It was always going to be a tall order.

“We performed reasonably well in the game but just silly little things cost us in the match. We’re trying to eradicate these things over a period of time.” Dunne identified that defensive lapses, from corner and free kicks, proved costly against Cork.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re more diligent on set plays. It was two set plays in the Cork game that cost us two goals, and the match. Overall our general play was good. But we’re trying to eradicate these kind of individual silly mistakes.

“To be truthful it’s very difficult to coach these kind of things. These are things that you do or you don’t do. If you tell somebody to look after someone, then that has to happen. But on a couple of different occasions we’ve been caught short so we just need to improve dramatically on set-plays and that side of things which will give us more opportunities in games.”

He praised fans for their support, and urged them to get behind the team again tonight. “Against Drogheda our supporters were fantastic. They got us over the line and I’m sure they can see what we’re trying to do here. We’re building a young, locally based squad, and it’s going to take some time and patience but we hope they’ll continue to get behind the players as the season goes on. Their support is imperative. We are trying to make Eamonn Deacy Park a fortress and we hope to see another big, vocal crowd against Longford.”

Dunne travelled to Cork with a depleted squad and the injury news for tonight was mixed, too. Ryan Connolly (hip), didn’t train yesterday, is a doubt, and he’d be a huge loss. Colm Horgan (flu) did train but is not 100% and is also a doubt. Enda Curran (calf) should be okay and the suspended Sam Oji is available again.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.