Galway FC back in big time after rout of UCD

Galway FC 3

UCD 0

(Galway FC win 5-1 on aggregate)

THE ‘Galway United’ name will be back playing Premier Division football next season after the men in maroon completed a 5-1 rout of UCD in the SSE Airtricity League promotion final in Eamonn Deacy Park on Friday night.

Galway FC – who will revert to the name Galway United next season – took a 2-1 lead into the second-leg of the tie from the previous Monday night in Belfield, and when Gary Shanahan found the net on the stroke of half-time on Friday night, the issue was all but resolved. Second-half goals from Ryan Manning and Alex Byrne put the matter beyond all doubt.

It is a remarkable achievement for a side that was cobbled together around Christmas, and it was done by playing some wonderful football. That night not have been the case for the full 90 minutes on Friday night, as understandable nerves played a part in their first-half performance, but once Shanahan found the net, Galway FC played with an authority that suggested they knew their destiny was top-flight football next season.

Alex Byrne missed the Belfield game through injury but he returned for Friday night’s second leg in the only change for the men from the West. UCD, on the other hand, made three changes in personnel, and also abandoned their traditional 4-5-1 formation to play two strikers as they went in search of goals.

That those goals never materialised was down to excellent performances all over the pitch from the home side – it says it all that Connor Gleeson didn’t have a single save to make over the 90 minutes.

Chances were at a premium in a tense first-half in front of an official attendance of 2,890, but that is a figure that doesn’t take into account U-12s who were admitted free of charge, so the real figure is probably closer to 3,300, the biggest crowd for a competitive game at the ground in close to a decade.

Paddy Barrett – a mid-season signing from Waterford United who put in such dominating performances that he was named on the official First Division team of the year – got a block on a Chris Mulhall shot in the fifth minute, but that was as close as the visitors got to Gleeson’s goal in the first half.

The home side weren’t creating much either, although they did pose the bigger threat in attack. Manning had a shot blocked by Hugh Douglas in the 7th minute, and Shanahan mistimed his jump when trying to meet an inviting Manning cross in the 22nd minute.

UCD’s Samir Belhout had a sight of goal in the 23rd minute but his shot from 25 yards was always rising; while at the other end a minute later, Conor O’Donnell got down well to block a Shanahan shot from a narrow angle.

That looked like being the best chance of the first-half as the half-time whistle loomed, but just as the fourth official raised his board to signal two minutes of additional time, the home side struck. A throw-in on the right found Byrne, who played a neat ball for Shanahan.

O’Donnell raced from his line, but the Galway winger showed great composure to slot the ball between the ’keeper’s legs and into the net to signal the start of the promotion celebrations.

Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.