The story is still told about after the 1980 League Cup Final, when, despite defeat, Galway United’s player-manager John Herrick instructed his players to board the supporters' buses and thank them for coming.
Shortly after the great man’s passing, there was some poignance to the symmetry of Ollie Horgan making his way to the buses after a famous win on Saturday. He thanked some of the 500-strong supporters for their backing in his own inimitable way. A simple gesture, but one that carries deep meaning.
In winning the game, United ended a horrible run away to their Connacht rivals, having not won in Sligo since 2003. Their dominance in the first half confounded that statistic. All of the more relevant statistics at the break - goals, shots, possession and territory confirmed United’s ascendancy.
The second half too began brightly. A sweetly struck free-kick from Cian Byrne increased the lead to 2-0, which was the least his side’s performance had merited. He had already bagged the first, and his displays are becoming more impressive each week. He has been so good that Bohs fans are up in arms at the decision to loan him and United fans are already dreading his recall in June.
Sligo did get back in the game and made it uncomfortable when Owen Elding scored from the spot to make it 2-1. Nevertheless, United held on for a deserved three points.
It concluded their first round of fixtures with a haul of 16 points, only bettered by Drogheda (18 ), Pats and Rovers (17 each ). To put that level into context, averaging 16 points per round of fixtures would have been good enough to win the league last season.
United approach tomorrow’s game against Derry in fine fettle. In some ways, their season so far has been the antithesis of their opponents. The success so far of sides such as United and Drogheda should make Derry uncomfortable about their results, given their outlay.
United have shopped far and wide to attract players to supplement their side. Derry have had the luxury of raiding Ireland, Scotland and England and signing proven internationals. They enticed a manager who was in the middle of a European campaign.
It has yet to yield results on any sort of a consistent basis. They have only beaten Sligo, Cork and Bohs. There have been troubling reversals in the Ryan McBride Brandywell to Waterford and Drogheda. They are further hampered by the unavailability of Liam Boyce and Adam O’ Reilly for their journey to Eamonn Deacy Park. Pat Hoban, Cameron Dunnigan and Sadou Diallo have all missed a number of games recently also.
United have dealt admirably with their own absences. Jimmy Keohane further underscored his class and versatility in Sligo, playing further forward in place of Moses Dyer. The Kiwi will be available again tomorrow after serving a suspension. Conor McCormack and Brendan Clarke were encouraging inclusions on the bench.
They didn’t taste action, but there was impact again from the subs. Sean Kerrigan made a meaningful contribution when introduced, winning crucial free-kicks to alleviate pressure.
Stephen Walsh offered a focal point in attack in the closing minutes and was unlucky not to put the tie to bed with a late chance for 3-1.
There should therefore be some welcome selection headaches for John Caulfield. Jeannot Esua, Rob Slevin, Killian Brouder and Patrick Hickey have been the only ever-presents in a squad that has so far answered concerns there may have been about its depth.
They will face more tests, as they enter a hectic period that will see them play out the next round of fixtures before the end of May. In that run, there are home games against Derry (tomorrow ), Drogheda, Bohs, Sligo and Cork to look forward to.
The results of these games will be important to determine the ambitions in the second half of the season.
