Let’s shake the net !

The 140-mile round trip to Longford is the nearest thing to a derby for Galway FC this season, as this year’s campaign will see them clock up almost 4,000 miles on away trips with the First Division inhabited by clubs from the league’s outposts – Finn Harps in the North West, Cobh Ramblers in the South, and Wexford Youths in the South East.

“We gave the lads the weekend off after the Wexford game, it was 3am when we got home, it is a long trek, down there. They were back in on Monday and they trained Tuesday as well, and are training tonight (Thursday) so we’re ready for Saturday’s game,” Dunne told City Sport yesterday.

That long journey home last Friday night was softened somewhat by the fact Dunne’s side took all three points from their encounter with Wexford Youths thanks to Ryan Manning’s clever header just past the hour mark which saw them record their second win in seven league games.

“It was a tough game, and to be honest for the first 20 or 25 minutes we were giving ball away, we weren’t at pitch of match and were lucky to come in 0-0 at half time, but I know in other matches we have dominated and haven’t got rub of green in regards of goals, so we’ll take the win, and I think as the game went on, we were growing stronger all the time.

“That’s why it was an easy decision to give the lads the weekend off after the long journey – fitness isn’t an issue, you can tell the lads who were with Mervue and Salthill last year, they obviously trained well, and we just need to take that on a bit now but I don’t think fitness is an issue for us,” he said.

What has been an issue is his side’s inability to take their chances – Dunne suggests his side has left at least four points behind them from their opening seven games purely because his side didn’t take anywhere near enough of the chances they have been creating.

“We’re still creating chances, we just have to be a little bit more fluent. We will look to maybe strengthen the squad in June or July, we have a couple of players in mind but to be honest, we’ll only do it if it is within our budget.

“We have a budget and we will stick to that – there is no point putting things at risk by chasing things by bringing in a lot of players that we can’t afford. I am happy with the squad we have, obviously there is always room for improvement, but if that improvement comes in the shape of new players, it certainly won’t come at any cost,” Dunne says.

As for tomorrow night’s game, it marks the first in the second round of fixtures in the league – it is hard to believe that we are still in the month of April, and already the first quarter of the campaign is out of the way.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune