GALWAY United return to the scene of their only defeat this season on Saturday night when they head to the north Midlands to face a Longford Town side that have been sticky opponents for the champions-elect this season (7.30pm).

There are some mysteries in the world that have puzzled the finest of minds: why is there an ‘s’ in the word ‘lisp’?; just how do they get the figs into the Fig Rolls?; and why have Galway United such a poor recent record at the Strokestown Road venue?

United have lost on their last three visits to Longford, and in the game before that, back at the tail-end of 2020, they were wretched when falling 2-0 behind at half-time, only for a miraculous second-half seeing them turn things around to run out 6-2 winners, an aberration Longford corrected when winning the First Division play-off final 2-1 a few weeks later.

“Longford is the only team to have beaten us this season, and it is a ground that has caused us some problems,” United manager, John Caulfield, noted after last week’s 4-1 win over Cobh Ramblers.

“They have put themselves right in the play-offs, we know what it is like going up there, we are on a great run and we can’t be blaming pitches or bogeys, or anything like that. We have to go with a fresh attitude and a determination to see can we get the result,” the United manager said.

Longford are having a hodge-podge of a season but are still in with a shout of the play-offs, sitting sixth in the table, four points off Wexford FC, and as a result their season is very much alive. They won’t need any extra motivation for the visit of the league leaders, but that very fact means United go into the game with a target on their backs.

In additon, Longford will feel they have the Indian sign over United, and they will undoubtedly be keen to ‘stick it’ to the likes of former players Darren Clarke, Aodh Dervan, and Rob Manley, so United will have to be at their best not to lose at the venue again.

To be fair to Caulfield’s side, they were completely on top in that defeat back in May, but if they were there still, they wouldn’t have scored, and Mohammed Boudiaf’s third-minute strike was enough to seal the win and end United’s flawless start to the season.

The Tribesmen went into that Bank Holiday Monday fixture looking to equal the league’s all-time record of 12 wins on the spin, and in a way, it might have been a blessing in disguise that the perfect run ended there.