Tribesmen go down fighting
THIS was the end for Galway United in the Premier Division but at least they went down fighting in a seven-goal thriller against a Dundalk side heading into next weekend’s Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup final looking to end their season on a high.
This was the worst of lows for Galway, who were up against the dethroned champions. Dundalk arrived determined and they left with a 4-3 victory which sent the Connacht club back to the First Division after three seasons in the top flight. Manager Shane Keegan now has an unwelcome second relegation in as many seasons on his CV after leaving Wexford Youths following their brief stint among the elite.
But he can feel hard done by, especially considering the FAI’s decision to impose a new format against the unanimous wishes of all 12 Premier Division clubs whereby three teams would be automatically relegated this season.
Galway spent the majority of this campaign residing in that bottom three and while a fivegame unbeaten run provided hope that they might yet escape at the death, last night they took their final breaths.
Three successive draws — including two missed penalties — did halt their momentum somewhat in recent weeks but when defender Stephen Folan gave them a ninth-minute lead, a wave of optimism abounded around Eamonn Deacy Park.
Within two minutes, though, that confidence was drained by Niclas Vemmelund’s equaliser and the 2,000plus crowd were put firmly in their place as Dundalk took control. They took a 3-1 lead into half-time courtesy of a delightful strike by Jamie McGrath and a sensational counter-attack move which was finished by Patrick McEleney dinking a ball over Conor Winn from just inside the box. Just to put that into context, the Galway goalkeeper is the tallest in the league at 6ft 7in. And now Galway faced the tallest of orders to save their skins in the top flight as both their relegation rivals, St Patrick’s Athletic and Sligo Rovers, were avoiding defeat elsewhere.
Galway could only concentrate on their own result, of course, and Keegan attempted to help them rise to the occasion with an impassioned team talk on the pitch just before the restart.
It looked to have worked when Rory Hale drove a fine controlled finish past Gary Rogers in the 53rd minute after he latched on to a clever flick from the impressive Eoin McCormack up front.
Galway battled on to the last and did equalise through Ronan Murray in the 89th minute but just as it looked like they might have one final, desperate throw at the dice, they were hit with a final sucker punch in the second minute of injury-time when Michael Duffy scrambled home the winner for Dundalk.
Salt in the wounds of a club which now faces an agonising winter.