Ten-man Galway United defy the odds with first victory

Galway United 1

Drogheda United 0

CHARACTER. An essential component for any team looking to be successful, looking to be competitive, and on Friday night in Eamonn Deacy Park, Galway United showed it in spades to record their first win of the season.

The home side were leading through a third minute goal from Enda Curran and everything was going swimmingly, but they suffered a serious setback midway through the first-half when central defender Sam Oji was shown a straight red card for a last-man tackle on Tiernan Mulvenna. And that is when they showed great character.

Forced to play for almost 70 minutes with ten men against a side that came into the game with a 100% record was a tough ask, but the home side finally showed that they belong in this division with a performance of guts and grit to keep their visitors at bay and take all three points to kick-start their campaign.

It may not have been pretty, but this was no beauty contest. And yet, it was football at its most striking – a team of underdogs, down to ten men and low on confidence refusing to buckle under pressure, showing great discipline and heart to get a deserved first win of the campaign.

There were great performances all over the pitch: Stephen Walsh was outstanding – again – at the back; Gary Shanahan and Jake Keegan ran themselves into the ground; and Jason Molloy gave the kind of performance that would torment any side in the country.

No one is getting carried away with one win, but as assistant manager Gary O’Connor said after the game, “we grew up a little bit there tonight” and that could be as important as the three points themselves.

The home side took the lead in the third minute with a goal of the highest quality from Curran. Molloy poked a ball forward and Curran dinked it over Alan Byrne, before controlling and then flicking back inside Byrne again with the heel of his boot to create the space for a shot, and he drilled the ball across Michael Schlingermann for a wonderful individual strike.

It was the one moment of quality in the first half, but not the only talking point. Having gained the initiative on the scoreboard, the home side ceded parity in terms of numbers in the 26th minute when Sam Oji was shown a straight red card.

The centre-back went to head Colm Horgan’s throw-in back to Connor Gleeson, but left it woefully short. Tiernan Mulvenna was in like a shot to pounce on the ball, but his progress was halted when Oji clattered into the back of him, giving Cork referee Graham Kelly the easiest decision of the night.

Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.