Losing the first game of the season at Eamonn Deacy Park was a disappointment, but tough challenges arrive thick and fast in the League of Ireland.
Friday’s trip to Turners Cross for a game with Cork City is a daunting task, but it is also one that offers possibilities too. A positive result there would give us a massive lift, and we will do everything we can to secure something from that game.
Cork City are an established force in the League, their squad is packed with quality players so it offers our team an ideal opportunity to respond. While we didn’t take any points from the Drogheda game there was some consolation in how we played, especially in the first half.
I’m very interested in the statistical side of the game and reflecting on the opening period is frustrating - we had nine shots on goal in the box, but we didn’t score, Drogheda only had one during that time.
Sometimes you worry that will come back to haunt you, precisely what happened when Drogheda scored nine minutes from the end of the match. It was a severe blow to us and even though we weren’t as effective as we had been in the first half I still felt we deserved to be rewarded.
That we weren’t only adds to our motivation levels going to Cork. Overall we felt we were the better team against Drogheda, but we need to learn from the experience.
What struck me during the 90 minutes, though, was the reaction of the home crowd, who really got behind us. Even at the end the players efforts were applauded, a fantastic gesture that ensured I wanted them to show some appreciation to the people of Galway at the end too.
Getting more than 2,000 at the opening fixture of the campaign is good for the club and we hope that they all come back. We are trying to build something solid at Galway United and the future can be bright considering all of the work going on behind the scenes in the community and with the underage teams.
For the senior team in the League of Ireland our objective is to put points on the board soon. It is something will be striving to do and the players application cannot be faulted.
They continue to work hard and we are hopeful that Stephen Folan and Gary Shanahan will be fully fit for our assignment in Cork. It will be a demanding encounter, but we will be doing everything we can to try to cause them a few problems.
