Galway United 6

Finn Harps 0

GALWAY United marked their 800th competitive game at Eamonn Deacy Park in style on Monday evening when they smashed six goals without reply past hapless, hopeless Harps, to remain 10 points clear at the top of the table at the half-way point in the season.

A stunning couple of hours, both in terms of the weather and the football played by the home side, started on a more sombre note when three people with strong links to United were remembered in a minute’s silence that was impeccably observed.

Paul Cahill from Shantalla (and formerly of Cahill’s Shop on Cooke’s Corner) was a lifelong United who died suddenly while on holiday in Thailand, and he was remembered before the game; as was Salthill native Pat Diskin, a freelance journalist who covered United across three decades from the 1980s to the 2000s.

The thoughts of everyone in the ground were also with Bernie Ward, who buried her sister, Bridget Sweeney, on the morning of the game. Bernie’s husband, Mike, owns the catering trucks that serve at food at every United home game, and Bernie works tirelessly at every United home game, feeding the fans.

United paid tribute to that trio with a stunning opening to the game, which saw the three points wrapped up before we had even reached 20 minutes at the clock, by which time visiting goalkeeper, Tim Hiemer, had picked the ball out of the net four times.

There were four changes to the side which had been held to a 1-1 draw by Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds on Friday night. Rob Slevin was sent off in that game on two yellow cards and so served an automatic one-match ban on Monday.

Conor O’Keeffe picked up a nasty gash on his face thanks to a stray Bray Wanderers elbow and missed out on Monday; while Francely Lomboto and Vince Borden dropped to the bench, the first game all season that Borden has not started.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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