Galway United 0

Shamrock Rovers 0

WHERE has this kind of performance been for the last couple of months? Galway United ended a run of four straight league defeats on Sunday afternoon when taking a thoroughly deserved point at home to champions-elect, Shamrock Rovers.

Not only did John Caulfield’s side hold the Hoops scoreless in what was an entertaining draw, they didn’t allow the visitors have a single effort on target across the 90-plus minutes: you would do well to find another league game where Stephen Bradley’s side didn’t have at least one effort on target.

A fully-committed performance from the home side also meant that Rovers scarcely-believable run of 13 wins on the bounce at the Dyke Road venue was finally ended. The last time United took anything from a home league game with the Hoops was all the way back in September 2008 when Jesper Jorgensen scored in a 1-1 draw.

That was just one part of a historic appalling record for United against Rovers, but things have evened-out a little in recent seasons, with the sides drawing four of their last six meetings, though United are still waiting for a first win league win over Rovers since 2006.

They could have had that on Sunday evening, only to be denied by a string of fine saves from Ed McGinty: it says a lot that the only Rovers player to make the League’s team of the week was McGinty, who was joined in that all-star XI by David Hurley and Rob Slevin.

His reflex save from Dara McGuinness 10 minutes from time in particular was a stunning piece of goalkeeping: since the game, there has been some talk that the ball hit the back-net support before bouncing out, rather than McGinty saving it, but countless rewinds of the footage still doesn’t provide a compelling case for that.

The build-up to the game was dominated locally by the news that a number of United players have signed pre-contract agreements with other clubs ahead of the 2026 season, but that was soon put into perspective by a more sobering announcement on Saturday.

A statement issued by the club confirmed that Ollie Horgan had stepped down from his role as assistant manager, and while it didn’t go into detail, word soon spread that the Salthill native is facing a major health battle.

One of the league’s nicest people and a true character, the esteem in which he is held across the league, and the level of warmth towards him, was evident by the bombardment of messages coming from fans and clubs near and far throughout the weekend. We add our own voice to those words.

As for the game itself, United made three changes to the side beaten a week earlier in Turners Cross, with Killian Brouder and Greg Cunningham coming into the defence; while Patrick Hickey made his first start in six games as the centre-point of a three-man attack in an unusual 5-2-3 set-up by United.

Pictured: Galway United’s Garry Buckley is chased by Aaron Greene of Shamrock Rovers during Sunday’s Premier Division tie at Eamonn Deacy Park. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.