Following last Friday's demoralising SSE Airtricity League Premier Division defeat to Bray Wanderers Galway United will be hoping to produce a much improved performance against St Patrick's Athletic at Richmond Park tomorrow.
Liam Buckley's in form side have won six top flight matches on the spin scoring 17 goals in the process so United will need to be diligent from the outset. Manager Tommy Dunne wasn't happy with United's display when Bray claimed a fourth win on the spin with a last gasp goal.
“I look at it and say we didn’t play well, but we can go home with a point,” Dunne said about the late concession. “Then we score an own goal. A ball comes into the box your ‘keeper is coming out to collect it, but it finishes in the net. It sums up certain aspects of us. I look at us and we played a friendly last week, but we were still in friendly, holiday mode.”
Dunne reckons his young squad need to improve their focus if United are to develop further. “My concern is that certain players in our group when they are switched off they don’t switch back on. It takes them a couple of weeks, that is an amateur mindset. Professional players when their job comes around they do it and there are no excuses.
“For me overall I’m just disgusted with the whole thing. We were poor, second best, but we still had opportunities to get something out of the game. It was petering out into a nil nil game, but then we conceded at the death.
“You start with a team, you’re expecting people to be at the game. We have to make sure we are picking up points, but this was disappointing.”
With Limerick FC, Sligo Rovers, and Derry City all defeated on Friday Dunne bemoaned Galway's failure to add points to the account. “You have to be able to take advantage of situations.
“Sometimes you don’t play well. Sometimes games go like that. We had spoken about it. When games don’t go well you try to grind and scrap to take something. The manner of the way the goal happened. It is at the death. Yes yo want to be positive to try to win, but you cannot leave yourself open, For me it should have been dealt with.
“It is a game where Conor (Winn ) saved a penalty, we possibly should have had a penalty ourselves, their ‘keeper pulls off a couple of great saves including when Padraic (Cunningham ) was clean through. Our ‘keeper pulled off a few too. It was a game where both teams were sort of at it right through. I thought Bray were a little more at it than us in certain sections of the pitch.”
An early injury suffered by influential midfielder Ryan Connolly had a severe impact according to Dunne. “Ryan is a strong player for us. He has been performing well. As games go on he becomes stronger. He was a loss.
"We didn’t play, we didn’t perform, we were kicking too many long balls. Starting the game, creating it is something we have got to look at. You’re either going longer at certain times. When I saw the way the game is going, I thought it hasn’t not been good take a point and move on. We have got to sort ourselves out.
“Bray went from back to front; they are physical, and look to put you under pressure at the back. They were at the pitch of the game better than us. That is my interpretation of it. You train, you try to do things properly. Mindsets and people’s mindsets in football is a huge thing.
“It is something that when you are trying to achieve things in a season you cannot switch off at all. Individuals we have they switch off if you’re not after them. That isn’t a professional player. I thought our goalkeeper played well, but everyone else was mediocre.”
A demanding evening awaits in the capital where United must demonstrate the correct attitude and application if another loss is to be avoided.
