Galway FC taken apart

Galway FC  0

Longford Town  3

THE SSE Airtricity League returned to action on Friday night after the mid-season break, but somebody forgot to tell the players of Galway FC as they had all the appearance of men still on the beach – in spirit, if not in body – when comfortably dismissed by Longford Town.

The defeat brought to an emphatic end the side’s eight-match unbeaten run and confirmed the long-held opinion of manager Tommy Dunne that Friday night’s visitors are the team to beat this season.

A goal in the 10th minute saw the visitors take a firm grip on proceedings, and it was one they didn’t let go for the remainder of the game as they moved up to second in the table, two points behind league leaders Shelbourne, who they host in City Calling Stadium this coming weekend.

“We had too many people that weren’t at the game, weren’t at the pitch of the match . . .they didn’t have that urgency about them,” Dunne said after the game.

“Teams that are going to be there or thereabouts, contending for leagues at any level, you have to be at it all the time. The week we had, training was okay but I just sensed we didn’t have that urgency about us. You go away, you can’t switch off – yes you have a rest, you do the little things that let your body recover, but in your mind you still need to be tuned in,” he said.

Dunne also lamented the poor defending by his side, suggesting that the only difference between the two sides on Friday night was the fact that his charges didn’t defend properly, and Longford took their chances while the home side didn’t.

You expect a manager to try and accentuate the positives and stand-up for his side, but to be honest, the suggestion that the difference between the sides was the Longford took their chances is being a little generous to the home side.

There was only one team in it for large parts of the game, and it came as no surprise when the visitors took an early lead. The league’s top-scorer, David O’Sullivan, had gone close to breaking the deadlock in the 7th minute when rising highest to meet Glen O’Connor’s corner from the right, but his back-post header was marginally wide.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.