In-tune Galway head for Harps

Galway FC may have to swop the team bus for an ambulance this weekend with Tommy Dunne’s squad hit by a number of injuries ahead of tonight’s tip to Donegal for the clash with Finn Harps (8pm).

Ryan Manning has missed the last couple of games with a wrist injury, and he is joined on the sideline tonight by Martin Conneely (Achilles), Derek O’Brien (ankle) and Marc Ludden (ankle), leaving Dunne with a major defensive headache for tonight’s tie.

Conneely had been playing through the pain barrier for the past month or so, but he finally succumbed to injury to miss last week’s comfortable win over Shamrock Rovers B, and while he returned to training this week, the injury flared up again, forcing him to sit this one out.

O’Brien also had a relapse with an ankle injury he picked up against Waterford United a fortnight ago; while Ludden took a bang to his ankle which continued to be tender all week, marking him a likely absentee for tonight.

The absence of Conneely and Ludden – couple with the departure of Marty Owens for a scholarship in America – means Dunne will have to do a serious juggling job with his squad for tonight’s trip to Ballybofey against a Finn Harps side that has lost just once in their last nine League and Cup games.

“With Martin out, Stephen [Walsh] will probably play centre-back as well. I thought he did quite well against Shamrock Rovers, he is as hard as nails but there were a couple of small things that he needs to work on, but in saying that, it was his first time in a while playing in that position.

“Marc Ludden is a real doubt, and if he is missing as well, we’ll have to do a bit of juggling. We might move Paul Sinnott back into defence, though I wouldn’t like to lose him out of midfield. Aaron McDonagh also gives us an option – he can play left-back, and he did well in a practice game we had on Tuesday night, so we’ll just see how it goes,” Dunne told City Sport yesterday.

While he has a defensive headache due to absentees, Dunne is faced with a different kind of problem at the other end of the pitch – who to leave out! Vinny Faherty and Jake Keegan both scored twice in the win over Shamrock Rovers, while Enda Curran impressed in the 20 minutes he saw at the end of the game and capped his debut with a goal.

Judging by the pre-match comments of Finn Harps manager Ollie Horgan, his side may as well not turn up tonight given the ‘riches’ Galway FC possess in the attacking third of the pitch, a side he suggests is a step-up in class for the Finn Park men.

“Galway are the best attacking side in the league with a wealth of options in Vinny Faherty, Jason Molloy, Gary Shanahan, Ryan Manning, Jake Keegan as well as Enda Curran who signed from Derry City recently. Ryan Connolly is one of the best midfield players in the league so we will have our work cut out,” Horgan said.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.