So there is still scope for Galway United to remain a full-time footballing outfit. That much was proved in Terryland Park on Friday. Suddenly United’s existence is meaningful again. A seven-match unbeaten sequence offers confidence and evidence that the club can prosper in Premier Division company.
And when a stylish four-goal win occurs a feel-good factor sweeps through a ground as conversations drip with optimism. Unsurprisingly Jeff Kenna cut a satisfied figure. “I think we’ve been threatening to do that all season since I’ve been here. It’s been a lack of concentration and silly goals which has cost us points over the course of the season. We’ve scored four tonight and I think really we could have had two or three more.”
There were plenty of reasons for the feel-good factor. Gary Rogers wasn’t seriously troubled. Alan Keane and John Fitzgerald nullified Ger Rowe’s and Andy Myler’s threat. Seamus Conneely was as effective off the ball as he was tidy on it. John Lester covers ground and carries out his duties with an admirable resolve that satisfies the technical experts in the audience. John Russell is flourishing, Vinny Faherty toiled relentlessly embellishing the triumph with a delightful double. Oh, and Jay O’Shea is among the most talented players that Dyke Road regulars have seen in a half dozen years. Unfortunately there are only two more guaranteed sightings of O’Shea scheduled, one of which is an FAI Cup semi-final next Sunday when Derry City come to town, the other being a clash of the season-defining variety against Finn Harps. O’Shea has demonstrated his ability to perform when under duress.
When Galway’s need has been at its greatest O’Shea has obliged. It happened again as Bray were ruthlessly razed. An immaculate dispatch of a ninth-minute penalty soothed any trepidation the locals may have nursed entering such a critical contest.
Then the 73rd-minute second was a finish of rare precision. Russell, who probed imaginatively throughout, located O’Shea with a sharp flick and the ball was swept gloriously into the back of the Bray net. Kenna was thrilled by Faherty’s endeavour. “Vinny was excellent, he could have had a hat trick. The team are playing exceptionally well if you take out the Sligo performance.
“I’ve watched that game and we didn’t actually play badly, we just didn’t play as well as we had been. The players now know that it’s all about performances – if you’re playing well you stay in the team, it’s as simple as that.
“The weather in the warm up was particularly bad. I was watching their players standing around and a few had their hands up their sleeves and I don’t think Bray quite fancied it tonight so it was very important that we got at them right from the start.”
Ever the perfectionist Kenna still found a couple of little creases that need to be ironed out in the coming days. “I would have liked to have scored the second goal sooner than we did.
“Thankfully it all worked out in the second half. I don’t want to go back to the Cobh game again but that seems to have been a welcome kick in the backside.
“Everybody has been really focused since then, in training, in games and we look like a totally different team and long may that continue.
“I thought after the Cobh game that we were in big trouble, but that’s the way football goes.
“That was a particularly disappointing performance. You don’t mind getting beaten, it’s the manner in which you get beaten, but since then it seems to have done us the power of good.”
Rejuvenated and ravenou,s Galway’s recovery continues.
