Galway United 1

Kerry FC 0

Mike Rafferty at Eamonn Deacy Park

IT is difficult to know what criteria one uses to judge the performance of your local team, but if it’s just all about winning then Galway United continue to be everyone’s favourite side as they made it 11 wins in succession at Eamonn Deacy Park on Friday night in remaining 13 points clear of second placed Waterford in the First Division title race.

On the contarary, if you palate is of a more refined taste and you like some quality thrown in, then maybe the action at the Dyke Road venue might not have been to your liking on this occasion. However, one must balance this with some great previous displays as both Bray Wanderers and Finn Harps were dismissed 6-0, while Longford were seen off by 4-0.

Of course, Kerry were beaten by 9-1 on their last visit to Galway and while we can bask in the glory of those impressive wins, the balancing act is when Treaty United, Cobh Ramblers and now Kerry were seen off by slender 1-0 margins with maybe less than impressive performances.

Naturally, those results are acceptable also, but against league newcomers and the bottom of the table side who have scored 43 goals less than United and conceded 49 more, then a more comfortable margin should have been attainable. The poor performance on this occasion was acknowledged post-match by assistant manager Ollie Horgan.

“We got three points with the rub of the green. We were not good and there is no one hiding in there (dressing room) and few will feel they did themselves justice. I am not quite sure how to put my finger on it, but very little was said in there and they realise we got away with one today.

“I think the positive is that we won, kept a clean sheet and that’s the main thing. We prepared well as usual, watched Kerry games and knew how they would play, but it was a win and the three points gained might help us get out of the division.”

On an occasion when John Caulfield was managing United for the 100th time, the team news saw one enforced change to the selecton that had seen off Longford the previous week. Ronan Manning came in to replace the injured Darren Clarke, while U-19 striker and schoolboy international Brian Cunningham was included on the bench for the first time.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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