Faherty on target in valuable home win for Galway United

Galway United 2

Longford Town 1

EVER since the return of Galway United there has been a big rivalry with Longford Town; the clubs were promoted together, fought off relegation together and battled for top honours last season but, unfortunately, the men from the Midlands always seem to get one over the Tribesmen.

In their last 13 competitive meetings since the club’s revival, United have only come out on top on three occasions with the last victory coming back in September 2015. However on Friday night Alan Murphy and his side put on a season-defining performance to finally get one over their high-flying visitors.

Murphy has described his opponents as “champions elect” given the depth and experience in their ranks this season and they would have gone top with a win on Friday that really never looked on the cards, a mix of mesmerising transitional play and constant defensive pressure proving too much for Neale Fenn’s charges to handle.

Despite falling behind as Dean Byrne took advantage of a rare defensive mishap, the home side soaked up all Longford could throw at them, hitting back with two pitch perfect headers from the evergreen Vinny Faherty in the second half to record back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

From the off, there was a high intensity and speed to the game with the home team displaying an ability for silky passing while Longford focused on a running game, but most notable was the high pressing defensive tactics utilised by United.

Early on there was a shift in positioning with Maurice Nugent slotting into the back four and Donal Higgins coming into the centre of the field, the switch up allowing for Stephen Walsh to get more forward down the channels and it was the Galway captain who was the first to come close to scoring.

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

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