Great chance for United to claim cup glory in home final against St. Pat’s

PREMIER Division survival is the priority for Galway United this season, but the not insignificant carrot of being crowned cup winners is being dangled in front of the squad on Saturday when they face St Patrick’s Athletic in the EA Sports Cup final (6.05pm) in Eamonn Deacy Park.

It is an honour that only three previous United squads have enjoyed: the League Cup winning sides of 1986 under Tony Mannion and 1997 under Dennis Clarke book-ending the 1991 FAI Cup winners, managed by Joey Malone.

Tommy Dunne’s young and largely local squad are now just 90 minutes away from writing their names into United’s history books in Eamonn Deacy Park, and while the United manager says he will urge his players to treat the game as any other, he will also encourage them to enjoy the occasion.

“Cup finals are great occasions, and I hope the players enjoy it and obviously that they come home with a winners medal. You have to be careful in that finals can pass you by. I’ve played in a few where you felt ‘oh my God, it’s over before it started’, so from a playing point of view, you have to be focussed from the very start.

“It’s important that they go out and play the game and not the occasion. I will be telling them to get out and do what you need to do, be professional about it and try and leave aside the occasion in as much as you can, but also enjoy playing in a final,” he said.

The two league meetings between the sides this season have both gone the way of Saturday’s visitors, with Liam Buckley’s side running out 4-1 winners in Eamonn Deacy Park in May in what was the best footballing display given by any visiting side this season; followed by a 3-1 win in Richmond Park in July.

However, the Inchicore outfit come into Saturday’s decider on a wretched run of form, suffering five defeats on the bounce in the league and FAI Cup before hammering Crumlin United 4-0 in the Leinster Senior Cup last week.

Speaking after his side’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of a resurgent Limerick in their most recent league outing, Buckley admitted that the confidence of his players was at rock bottom, a strange admission for a manager to make and one that will surely have been picked-up on by his opposite number.

On the same night Pats were being humbled by Limerick, United were wiping the floor with Longford Town, racing into a 4-0 lead after 70 minutes, but the one downside from that is the two week break from that game to Saturday’s decider.

“It is a pity the final is not the week after that win, it would have nice to carry through our momentum and that might be stifled a bit, but we have lads coming back from injury and it gives them an extra week’s training,” said United defender, Colm Horgan.

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