While Tuesday's absorbing SSE Airtricity League encounter with Dundalk eventually ended in a 4-2 defeat for Galway United, Tommy Dunne's side will be hoping to register a positive result when visiting the Markets Field on Saturday for a clash with bottom-of-the-table Limerick FC.
Champions Dundalk led United by three goals, including two incredible Richie Towell strikes, before the Tribesmen thundered back into the contest. Enda Curran's 10th goal of the campaign and a fine effort from substitute Padraic Cunningham saw Galway narrow the gap before a remarkable Gary Rogers save thwarted Gary Shanahan. Dundalk sealed the deal in stoppage time when John Mountney pounced following smart approach work by Daryl Horgan.
Afterwards Dunne tried to make some sense of the chaotic conclusion to a curious match. “There was a good finish to the game,” Dunne admitted. “I suppose we were battling against it at three down. We got into it with the free kick. It was a good finish from Enda. Then Padraic gets a good breakthrough goal. It was an exciting finish until the end.”
What bothered Dunne was the fact that two Dundalk corners led to goals.
“We just have to stop conceding at set-pieces,” Dunne said. “They are killing us. When you are up against the likes of Dundalk, who are strong at them. The likes of [Dane] Massey, [Andy] Boyle, and [Brian] Gartland get their fair share from set plays from our side of things, it is just happening too often. It is causing us problems.
“You cannot question the spirit. I think we’ve battled and worked extremely hard. You know they are always going to give everything. Unless you try to eradicate this set piece problem, you’re in trouble.
“Dundalk are a top team. We knew we were going to be up against it, but we possibly could have got an equaliser at the death. I’d say being truthful, we would have stolen a point if that happened. The last 10 or 15 minutes we looked like the ones that were going to cause all of the problems and maybe looked like more of a threat. We just gave ourselves too much to do.”
Dunne does not expect to make any additions to his squad during the July transfer window.
“We feel we should have more points on the board. There have been a lot of games we’ve let slip. I don’t even count these type of games against Dundalk. There have been other matches where we probably let a few points go.
“We cannot look back, we have to look forward. This is a dogfight, we know it is a dogfight. Teams are strengthening in the window around us. Limerick will sign, Derry have signed players. From our side of things I would have liked to bring in one or two, but it hasn’t happened.
“It is going to be a battle until the end of the season. We probably won’t be signing anybody unless somebody goes. It is difficult for players to go, but if they did, we might look at something. One or two opportunities arose, but I’m afraid we couldn’t take them.”
This Saturday's trip to the south west for a clash with Limerick, who have only registered five points from 18 matches, is the next crucial fixture.
“We’ve big games coming up,” Dunne said. “They are games that can determine where we are going to be. We have got to make sure we are right because against Dundalk you can accept the game going either way. Those matches you have to try to win. We possibly should have won in Sligo, so we are hoping we can get three points in Limerick.”
•Galway United Supporters Trust is running a bus to Saturday's Airtricity League premier division match against Limerick. Supporters are meeting at The Dail Bar, Cross Street, Galway, up to 3.30pm for departure and can also be picked up along the route. Seats can be booked by contacting Ronan Coleman (087 ) 6972823 or Dominick Walsh (087 ) 9163438.
