Terryland Park will provide the backdrop for the latest Airtricity League First Division derby collision involving SD Galway and Mervue United tomorrow evening.
A recent burst of decent results has edged Mervue seven points clear of basement boys SD Galway, who will be hoping to register a second win of the campaign over their cross town rivals.
The statistics aren't too favourable for SD Galway because only one victory has been posted from 20 attempts in the league. Thirteen goals have been scored while 43 have been conceded so SD Galway have encountered trouble in every area of the park.
Though a couple of triumphs in the past three weeks have brought some cheer to Mervue, it ultimately has been a disappointing campaign for them too. The pre season departures of several promising players disturbed them, and Mervue struggled for consistency in the first two series of matches.
Following the displays against Athlone Town and Wexford Youths, Mervue were soundly beaten at Fahy's Field on Saturday by a Waterford United outfit inspired by teenager Sean Maguire. The much-coveted Republic of Ireland schools international scored early on with David Breen adding a late insurance penalty to seal the deal.
It will be interesting to see how Mervue respond to that reversal as manager Johnny Glynn will hope that Conor Gleeson, Michael McSweeney, Cian McBrien, Gary Kelly, Dan Cunningham, Jason Molloy, and Pat Hoban can make an impact in this Dyke Road tussle. In mid June, when SD Galway staged a late rally to outfox Mervue in their last encounter, hopes were high that it could act as inspiration in their recovery mission. That hasn't been the case, though, as in the subsequent half dozen matches SD Galway have played they have taken a meagre point. Obviously SD Galway will be clinging to the fact that in this kind of clash, with the form book shredded, anything can happen.
SD Galway were resilient in Ballybofey last Friday, but still finished on the losing side which has been a familiar theme. Tony Mannion's team required solid performances from Eugene Greaney, Paddy Quinlan, Cian Fadden, Ronan Conlon, Mixie Harty, Timmy Molloy, and Brian Geraghty.
A Mervue success would nudge them 10 points ahead of SD Galway with just seven fixtures remaining so the home side need to attain some kind of dividend if they are to avoid another season ending at the foot of the table. Mervue also know that pinching the full complement of spoils would give them a fighting chance of reeling Wexford Youths and Finn Harps in.
