Sports
Tommy Dunne’s side need to put cup final defeat behind them for visit to Tallaght Stadium
One of the hardest things in football is to bounce straight back from a cup final defeat, but that is exactly what Galway United must do when they head to the Tallaght Stadium on Friday night to take on Shamrock Rovers in the league (8pm).
United take on the Hoops just three points off the bottom of the table, and making the club’s first domestic final in almost 19 years will be forgotten if Tommy Dunne’s side make an immediate return to the First Division.
There are just six games left in the season for United, including meetings with two of the three sides below them in the table – Limerick and Sligo Rovers – so their destiny is very much in their own hands.
Six points from those two games – both of which are at home – coupled with some kind of return from the games with Bray Wanderers and the last-day meeting with St Patrick’s Athletic should ensure safety, and their cause would be helped by taking at least a point in Tallaght on Friday.
That would be a tall order at any time – United have lost their last 10 successive league games against the Hoops, including 2-1 and 3-0 reversals this season – but that run has got to end sometime, and Dunne will be hoping that time is Friday night.
It is almost a decade since United last won a league game against Shamrock Rovers, Derek O’Brien scoring the only goal of the game when the sides met in what was then known as Terryland Park in October 2006. In the 20 games since, United have managed just two draws. Hardly the kind of stat that gives confidence ahead of Friday night.
Dunne is definitely without Marc Ludden, who serves a one-match ban for the accumulation of five yellow cards: the suspension actually kicked in last weekend, but the FAI rules state a player will not miss a cup final for a suspension picked up for five yellow cards.
David O’Leary was less fortunate: he missed the defeat to St Patrick’s Athletic due to having picked up eight yellow cards so far this season – it seems the naughtier you are, the heavier the punishment.
However, ban served, O’Leary is back in contention for Friday night, thought he is likely to start on the bench. Ludden’s absence will see Colm Horgan shifted to left-back and Cormac Rafferty coming into the side in the other corner, but it may not be the only change Dunne makes from his cup final starting XI.
Sam Oji was suffering from flu all last week, and then picked up a hamstring strain on Saturday night. Taking a realistic look at things, Dunne may decide not to risk the central defender this Friday, and instead draft in Stephen Walsh to the heart of the defence to give Oji time to recover full health ahead of the visit of Sligo Rovers next Friday.
That Connacht derby was scheduled to be played last weekend, but was obviously postponed due to United’s involvement in the EA Sports Cup Final. Next weekend the FAI Cup takes centre-stage, with the competition at the quarter-final stage, but with both United and Sligo interested ended in the Cup by Dundalk in the Second and Third Rounds respectively, it provided the perfect slot for the postponed game to be rescheduled.
As for matters this Friday night, United will be hoping to do what only St Patrick’s Athletic have managed this season, and that is to win in the league in the Tallaght Stadium. That will be a tall order against a side sitting third in the table, and with one eye on finishing second behind Dundalk, who are 11 points clear at the top and would need a collapse of Devon Loch proportions to throw the league title away at this stage.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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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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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