Slow-starting Galway League turn the screw in second-half

Date Published: 12-Nov-2012

Galway League 4

Roscommon League 2

Mike Rafferty at Deacy Park

A Jekyll and Hyde performance saw Galway get their Oscar Traynor performance off to a winning start at Eamonn Deacy Park on Saturday night as a scoreless first half was followed up by an action packed second when six goals were scored.

Manager Tommy Lally certainly didn’t mince his words at half time and the raised voices reverberating from the dressing room certainly indicated that he wasn’t happy. Harsh words were just the medicine required as the home side were rejuvenated on the resumption and two quick goals certainly indicated that they were listening.

While Galway failed to maintain the same sense of urgency and were caught napping twice at the back as Roscommon levelled matters, they responded brilliantly to that setback, as two goals in a minute once more turned the game in their favour.

Thereafter, the visitors seldom looked like rescuing the game for a second time as the hostss ran down the clock in comfort. The home selection saw Mervue United provide four players, with the rest of the starting 11 coming from six other clubs, but for the opening 45 minutes one would have thought that they didn’t know one another at all in a 4-4-2 formation.

Instruction were obviously to play the ball out from the back, but with Roscommon using a five man midfield and stifling the space in that area, there was little room for the home side to operate.

The outcome was that central midfielders Keith Ward and Adam Lee were dropping very deep to collect possession and were then having huge difficulty in trying to pick up movement or find a willing colleague in tight space.

Up front, Stephen Cunningham and Barry Moran were well marshalled by Gary Egan and Michael Lynch, while wide players Ger Cheevers and Gary Forde were not afforded much latitude either.

The outcome was a pretty timid opening half performance and one must credit Roscommon as they probably passed the ball a bit better than the home side in that opening half, but creativity was at a standstill as neither goal was threatened in the opening 45 minutes.

It took Galway just six minutes to get the action going on the resumption when a Cheevers corner was met by the near post run of Eric Browne and he powered a header past Aidan Fallon.

They made it 2-0 on 55 minutes when Moran was allowed some space outside the box and with Fallon struggling for a footing, the 25 yard strike easily beat the custodian at his near post.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.