ANY chance of Galway United approaching this Friday night’s home game with Dundalk (7.45pm) with a shrug of the shoulders and a lick of the lips – and it was a slim chance, given their ‘rearing’ under the holy trinity of Caulfield, Collopy and Horgan – were buried after the basement side beat league leaders Shamrock Rovers last Friday night,

As United were inflicting misery on one Louth club, the other side from the Wee County was pulling off a shock win at home to the Hoops, thus becoming the first team sitting bottom of the table to beat the defending league champions since Galway United’s 2-1 win over Dundalk back in 2017.

United went on to be relegated at the end of that 2017 season, and heading into last weekend, Dundak were odds-on to suffer the same fate, as they struggled for results on the pitch, and was looking like something of a basket-case off it.

Stephen O’Donnell was fired as manager after eight games, with Brian Gatland and Liam Burns taking temporary charge, steadying the ship with three draws from three games. Noel King was brought in, Gartland left, and then King stepped down after just four games, with Burns back in temporary charge again.

All the signs of turmoil, and a derby defeat by Drogheda, followed by a 4-1 hammering away to Dundalk, suggested a one-way ticket to the First Division, but the Lilywhites sent out a warning not to underestimate them with that win last Friday. Forewarned is forearmed, and all that.

“It is a dangerous game, you see tonight Dundalk have beaten Shamrock Rovers, and these guys [Drogheda] got a last-minute winner against them. We are at home, but they are still a very dangerous team, they have quality players, it is going to be another tight game,” United manager, John Caulfield, warned in the aftermath of that dramatic injury-time win over Drogheda last Friday.

It has been a special season for United so far on their return to the top-flight after a seven-year absence, with the sense of something special brewing first felt up in Oriel Park back in February when United ended a 20-year wait for a win at the Louth venue as Ed McCarthy and Aodh Dervin found the net in a 2-0 win.

As good as United have been this season, Dundalk have been awful, but last Friday’s win will give them massive confidence for their trip West for what will be the 101st competitive meeting between the clubs.

Pictured: Galway United’s Robert Slevin who scored their first goal in Friday night’s Premier Division away win over Drogheda United.