Galway United central defender Rob Slevin is as adept at shaking off personal praise as he is shaking off the threat of some of the leading strikers in the league this season.

The Cork native has had many a fine display in the United jersey since joining the Tribesmen ahead of the start of the 2023 season, a season which ended with the club’s first piece of silverware in 27 years with the capture of the First Division title.

Slevin was a central figure in that title-winning campaign, and in last season’s impressive return by the club to the top-flight, which saw United finish the season with the second-best defensive record, conceding just 29 goals in 36 games.

Yet few displays in either of those seasons will have topped his performance for United a fortnight ago in the scoreless draw away to Shamrock Rovers, when he marked teen sensation Michael Noonan out of the game; and allowed his replacement, Aaron Greene, barely a sniff in the 20 or so minutes of action that he saw.

“It is not about me. I think for me, I know Bucks [Garry Buckley] as well, we were chatting all week about a clean sheet and Greg [Cunningham] and Evan [Watts] and Clarkie [Brendan Clarke],” he said of his display in Tallaght Stadium.

“I think that was only our third [clean sheet]. I know we’ve conceded some goals, but in three games the only goals we conceded were penalties, but I think it is satisfying for the whole group as well.

“You see the amount of work that Moses [Dyer] and Hicks [Patrick Hickey] get through, and Vince as well – Vince maybe goes under the radar a lot of weeks because maybe he’s not on the ball a lot for him for a midfielder, but you see the work he goes through, like it’s crazy what he gets through, so it was a very satisfying night from our point of view, defensively as a collective,” Slevin says.

He joined United back in November 2022 as a 24-years-old with Premier Division experience, having made 28 appearances for Finn Harps in the top-flight in their 2022 season. That run would have been under Ollie Horgan, who left Harps at the end of that campaign after nine years in charge, and it was no surprise that he convinced Slevin to follow him to the Dyke Road for a new challenge.

Fans know how good a player Slevin is: his importance to United is reflected in the fact that since he joined the club, only one outfield player has played more minutes for United, his centre-back partner for that title-winning season, Killian Brouder.

Pictured: Rob Slevin in action for United against Waterford earlier this season. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.