Buoyed by a splendid weekend, featuring two encouraging wins, John Caulfield’s Galway United make a welcome return to Eamonn Deacy Park tomorrow evening for a crucial SSE Airtricity League first division encounter when hosting Shamrock Rovers II (7.45pm ).
Friday’s 4-1 triumph over Athlone Town was followed by an excellent 3-0 success against UCD, ensuring United recorded a couple of hugely important victories.
Suddenly a campaign which commenced in such disappointing fashion has possibilities, but Caulfield is stressing the value of maintaining sheer hard graft.
“It was about hard work because you can't stand off these teams,” Caulfield says. “If you stand off them they will hurt you. We were winning the ball back ,and if we lost it, we were looking to win it back.
“That allowed us to put a few passes together to give ourselves a breather and we were switching the play quite well.”
Enda Curran has struck three goals against Shelbourne, Athlone, and UCD, while Mikey Place is also impressing for United in a wide right attacking role.
“It was one of those games where Enda had a great finish. We probably had a bit of luck for the second goal, and Stephen Christopher was fantastic for the third goal.
“Timmy Molloy came off the bench and straightaway made an impact. He had that subtleness to keep the ball and move the ball around.
“It just gave us the mix to be able to hold it and knock a few passes together. At the same time we were using our pace wide and you could see we were causing UCD problems in those areas.”
The manner in which United seized the initiative in the capital on Monday delighted Caulfield. “I think the effort and work rate after Friday night was brilliant,” Caulfield says. “UCD were in flying form and are a very good team.
“In the second half I thought that we were really good, our closing down, our winning the ball back, and our passing was really good.
“We started using the pace that we had, and it was just a really good second half performance: scoring three goals and probably creating a few more chances and obviously keeping a clean sheet, you'd have to be happy with that.”
Caulfield praises the attitude and application of the United squad ahead of a tricky assignment with the Hoops’ second string, who will include several capable footballers.
“The response I've got from the lads has been fantastic, I'm happy with that,” Caulfield admits. “We've got two wins in four days. The next game is Friday night against Shamrock Rovers, a very dangerous match. We will need to be on top form to get a result.
“We have created a little bit of momentum, winning is a good habit, and keeping clean sheets is a good habit. I want to drive on to see can we do more of that. The attitude from the lads has been brilliant, long may it continue, and I look forward to Friday night.”
