Galway United Women travel to Waterford on Saturday afternoon with little room for manoeuvre should they wish to reinvigorate their title bid.
Last week, they only managed one point out of a possible six, which leaves them four behind Lily Agg’s Athlone and back in third place.
There will be no danger of taking a trip to Waterford for granted. The same opposition managed a draw in Headford, a damaging result that halted the Galway gallop from the start of the season.
Proving it was no fluke, Waterford since took a point away in Tallaght, in an obvious sign that they are improving. They have struggled for wins but have taken results in half of their league games. Scoring goals had been their principal issue, but this has improved of late. More than half of their league goals this season have come in their last three games (six ).
There was positive news for United as they added a third American defender to their squad this week. Jade Rehberger, like Remini Tillotson and Ella Raimondi, is a 22-year-old recent graduate who played at a high level in college in the USA.
It will be interesting to see what Trill does with his backline on Saturday. Having admitted to a temptation to use Raimondi last week in Bohs, she made a full debut in Sligo on Saturday.
In attack, United will hope Emma Doherty can continue her red-hot form. She only has Dana Scheriff ahead of her in the goalscoring charts. The reliance on her might be something of an issue. In their last five games, Isabella Beletic (one ) is the only other player to score for United.
Her supporting cast in attack has been changing. Aislinn Meaney got her first two starts of the campaign in the Sligo games and is of a proven quality. Aoibhín Donnelly has been coming on from the bench but hasn’t been able to replicate her incredible output from the All-Island Cup where she netted five in the group stages. The absence of Ceola Bergin continues to be felt.
United, however, go to the south-east armed with the quality to produce a performance and result. They will hope to rediscover some confidence before a big cup semi-final clash next week away to Athlone.
They will finally end a difficult run of four games on the road at the end of the month at home to Cork. They can hope to be closer to the summit by the end of that afternoon, with their title opponents facing difficult contests in the interim.
A win on Saturday is central to that ambition.
