Galway FC boss wants charges to convert their chances

GALWAY FC manager Tommy Dunne says there are no excuses for his side’s performance against Finn Harps last Friday night, but insists there is no point in looking back and instead he and his players are focussed on taking all three points from their trip to St Colman’s Park tonight to face Cobh Ramblers (7.45pm).

Dunne admits to being disappointed at not getting the win last Friday night against ten men, and says that his side needs to start taking their opportunities and win games when they are in position to do so, but he says that game is now in the past, and the focus is on the future.

“It was disappointing not to get the three points with the way the game panned out, but the last two games have been a learning curve for us.Against Shamrock Rovers, we had to play with ten men; and last week, it was reversed when we faced 10-men – we should have won both games, but hopefully the players will learn from the different scenarios,” Dunne said yesterday.

He says that once again he has had to drive home the message to his players that they need to start taking their opportunities, and that while there are still plenty of games left, the time for excuses has come to an end.

“There is no use crying over spilled milk, those games are gone but we have got to start taking our opportunities. It is disappointing we didn’t pick up two wins in the last two games, but we have got to look forward, and not back,” he said.

When it is put to him that his side had moved a point closer to Wexford Youths in second-place, and hadn’t lost ground on Shelbourne, who were held by Shamrock Rovers, Dunne takes a different approach.

“It was an opportunity lost – if we won, we would have closed the gap on Shels and moved above Wexford into second, but that’s the way football goes. Look, there is a long way to go yet and please God we’ll be up there at the end of the season, but when you are in a position to win a game, you need to go and win it,” he says.

The manager is looking for his side to get back to winning ways tonight when they visit a Cobh side that is cut adrift at the foot of the table, with two draws and eight defeats from the ten games they have played.

Those two points have both come at home, the Cork side sharing the spoils with both Shamrock Rovers B and Waterford United at St Colman’s Park, and Dunne is expecting a tough challenge tonight.

“Cobh is a really tough ground, every team will tell you that, and they are fighting hard, but I fully expect us to go down there and take the three points,” says Dunne, whose own side make the trip on the back of a six-game unbeaten run. See full preview in this week’s Galway City Tribune.