United are on the rise after season’s best sinks visitors

Galway United 1

Cabinteely 0

Keith Kelly at Eamonn Deacy Park

IT is hard to know if it was the mid-season break or the return of fans to the stands, but something has finally clicked for Galway United as they strung back-to-back wins together for the first time this season with a thoroughly deserved victory over Cabinteely last Friday night.

Billed as something of a grudge match, the expectation was there might be a bit of needle to the game but that never threatened to materialise, simply because the visiting players couldn’t get near their hosts.

United only had the one goal to show for their efforts, but that is all it took to win the game as the home side bounced back from a 4-0 humiliation at the hands of Shelbourne before the two-week break to record successive wins and move back into the play-off spots in an incredibly congested table.

The FAI might as well hand Shels the league trophy now as the only unbeaten side in either division are eight points clear and looking untouchable, but just six points separate Treaty United in second from Athlone Town in seventh in the table.

United are sitting in the middle of that in fourth after finally hitting their stride after an uninspiring start to the campaign. Last Friday night’s first-half was the finest 45 minutes of ball United have played this season – it was what was expected from the first weekend, and now that they have found their standard, they can’t let it slip.

It was a delight to see that young local lad, Alex Murphy (16) retained his place in the starting XI after his impressive debut the previous week. The Corrandulla teenager, who joined the club’s U-17 Academy side from Corrib Celtic in 2019, impressed in his debut the previous week against Athlone Town, and he shone again on Friday night, looking more like a veteran than a rookie.

There were two changes to the side that defeated Athlone Town, with Mikey Place and David Hurley both coming into the side, with Chris Horgan and Shane Duggan dropping to the bench, but the biggest thing on the night was the use of a 4-2-3-1 formation.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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