Sports
Late Manning penalty secures win for Galway FC
Galway FC manager Tommy Dunne was a relieved man in St Colman’s Park on Saturday night after his side snatched an injury time winner against Cobh Ramblers.
Ryan Manning converted a 96th minute penalty to make it five wins on the bounce for Dunne’s side, and while the manager was delighted to have taken all three points, there was little else by way of celebration when he spoke to Sentinel Sport.
“My head is wrecked. We didn’t play well at all. We score with a great goal, all we have to do is keep a clean sheet and go home, forget about everything else, but some of our decision making regarding balls going forward was poor.
“I think some of these guys need to learn about closing out games. Sometimes it doesn’t have to be pretty, that’s a car park out there, the pitch, it’s desperate, but I said to the lads I think we deserved that bit of luck because over the year, we hadn’t got much,” he said.
While his side have rightly been praised all season for trying to get the ball down and work it up the pitch, some games require more of a route one approach, and Dunne admitted Saturday was one such instance.
“We have drilled ourselves as a football team not to be whacking it up the pitch, but I’m telling the lads tonight to go long, which is completely foreign to them all season. You have to do that as balls are kicking up around your neck – on a normal pitch you tell them to do what we do, but tonight you had to change your tactics in a sense.
“Their goal comes from a set-piece that was caused, not so much by dilly-dallying, but by not putting your boot through the ball when it’s needed, but we take the three points and we move on to the next matches,” he said.
There are two games to go in the regular season, and while Longford Town’s win over Waterford United on Friday night means the title is now beyond Galway FC, they can still not only secure a play-off spot, but the added bonus of having home advantage in the second-leg by overtaking Shelbourne in the table.
Shels lost 3-2 away to Finn Harps on Friday night, and they host Galway FC in Tolka Park this Friday night with a three point cushion over Dunne’s side, but an inferior goal difference of +16 compared to Galway FC’s +24, so Galway FC will overtake them with a win on the northside of Dublin.
While Wexford Youths are technically still in the play-off hunt – until tonight at least, when anything less than a win over Finn Harps will end their hopes – the two sides likely to meet in that two-leg encounter will be Galway FC and Shelbourne.
So in one way, Friday’s game will be the start of the two-leg promotion play-off between the sides, as whichever team wins on Friday night will have a massive psychological boost over the other ahead of the play-offs.
The team that finishes third will be at home on Friday October 17, before travelling to the home of the second-placed team on Friday October 24. The winners of that two-leg play-off will meet the side that finishes 11th in the Premier Division over two legs on Monday October 27 and Friday October 31, with a draw to be made to see who has home advantage in the second leg.
The Galway United Supporters Trust will be running a bus to Friday’s game in Tolka Park. The bus will depart from The Dáil Bar on Middle Street at 4pm and seats can be booked by contacting Ronan Coleman at (087) 6972823 or Dominick Walsh at (087) 9163438.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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GALWAY United need to guard against any kind of complacency when they make the short hop down the M18 this Friday to take on Treaty United at the Markets Field (7.45pm).
The game is a meeting of the two form teams in the division, and as in previous meetings between the sides, will have an additional edge given the number of former United players in the home side’s ranks, and the pair of Limerick lads playing for United.
There might have been just the eight meetings between the sides since Treaty became the latest iteration to represent Limerick in the League of Ireland in 2021, and while United have yet to lose to the men in the candy-cane strips, there has never been more than a goal in four of their eight wins.
The most recent of those was back in February, when Rob Slevin scored the only goal of the game in Eamonn Deacy Park after a tough battle against a side who made a slow start to the season, before finally finding their groove in the past month.
Having taken just three points from their first six games before finally getting a win against Longford Town, they reverted to type with just one point from their next three games, but are now on a run of four wins on the spin, scoring 12 goals and conceding just one.
Their most recent win was a 3-0 victory away to Longford Town last Saturday, and they could have won by double that against the only side to have beaten United this season. That in itself is a warning.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Soccer Wrap with Mike Rafferty
While the Salthill Devon men’s team might have lost their grip on the Connacht Junior Cup that they held for two seasons, the club’s women’s side have picked up the mantle and on Sunday last in Headford were crowned provincial champions with a 4-3 win over Manulla.
Following midweek wins for Maree/Oranmore and Knocknacarra, the stage is now almost set for the semi-finals of the Michael Byrne Cup with Salthill Devon meeting St Bernard’s on Sunday in an outstanding quarter-final, with the winners advancing to a semi-final against Maree/Oranmore, while Colga will face Knocknacarra in the other last four contest.
Just one league issue remains to be decided, with the Championship runners-up position up for grabs, as Dynamo Blues have to win their two remaining games in order to overtake Colemanstown United who have finished their programme.
WOMEN’S CONNACHT CUP FINAL
Salthill Devon 4
Manulla 3
Ellerose O’Flaherty scored twice as Salthill Devon were crowned provincial champions with a win over a Mayo side who were losing in the final for the second year in succession.
Backboned by a number of players who previously had League of Ireland experience with Galway WFC, Devon suffered an early set back when Jess Nolan put Manulla ahead, before O’Flaherty levelled matters with a cracking finish on 20 minutes, which was quickly followed by a long-range free-kick from Aoife Walsh.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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