Galway United 2

Dundalk 0

GALWAY United can forget about looking over their shoulder, worrying about being dragged towards the foot of the table, and instead look ahead at what might be possible after this thoroughly professional win over Dundalk on Friday night.

A ridiculous own-goal from Dundalk goalkeeper, John Munro, coupled with Maurice Nugent’s third goal in four games, saw United record back-to-back league wins over Dundalk in the same season for just the second time in the club’s history.

That other time was the 2005 season, with United winning 1-0 at home and 3-0 away on their way to a fifth-placed finish in the First Division table, one spot above Dundalk, and the Lilywhites are in an unmerciful scrap to make sure they don’t end up back there again next year as they prop up the table at the near midpoint of this campaign, three points behind local rivals Drogheda United, and seven adrift of Sligo Rovers who sit in the safety of eighth.

In fact, this was the third win on the spin against Dundalk, when you include last season’s hammering of the Louth side in the quarter-finals of the FAI Cup. They perhaps came west that evening expecting to win: they left on Friday night with the haunted look of a side starting the trapdoor square in the face.

United have no such worries. Yes, there is still an awful lot of football to be played, and while the Tribesmen sit proudly in fourth in the table, and with two games in hand on the trio above them, they are also themselves just eight points clear of Sligo Rovers.

But you can be optimistic without being arrogant, excited without being nonchalant: we have seen enough of this United side this season to suggest that the initial plan for the season, survival, has already been achieved.

If you accept that, then maybe it is time to reassess, to set new targets, and why not set a target of a top-three finish and the European qualification that would come with that? To quote Norman Vincent Peale, an American clergyman of the 20th century who was known for promoting positive thinking, “shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars”.

Pictured: Galway United’s Killian Brouder and Edward McCarthy celebrate after Dundalk’s own goal during Friday night’s Premier Division tie at Eamonn Deacy Park. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.