Galway Hibs 3
NUI Galway 2
As Saturday afternoon’s game moved into the last minute, Hibs’ unbeaten start to the season looked set to come to an abrupt halt. A Derek O’Flaherty goal 16 minutes earlier had the students in line to make a winning start to their campaign, but a startling two goal burst from Patsy Ward and Kevin Finnegan somehow hauled Kevin Cassidy’s side to an unlikely win.
This was a lesson in keeping going till the final whistle and believing another chance will present itself. After Ward had equalised in the 90th minute, deftly lobbing Jonathan Burke from the edge of the area, Hibs could easily have settled for a draw and regrouped after a game in which they rarely played to their potential.
They didn’t, though, and Dave McDonagh’s quick throw in the first minute of injury time was flicked into Finnegan’s path by Gary Kelly on the left flank. The striker hadn’t had the best of games until this point, but when the need was greatest he produced the goods, waltzing past a despairing challenge in the box before sliding the ball between Burke and his near post.
It was an extremely harsh outcome on the visitors, who showed they have what it takes to compete at this level. There is a strong Galway United connection to the team with former winger Dave Cooke patrolling the centre of park and former trainer Tom French providing the guidance on the side line. On the back of this performance, they will not be the relegation certainties many had them put down for.
In a first half devoid of clear cut chances, Hibs lacked fluency and when they did get a chance to put a decent ball into the box, mainly from dead-ball situations, the delivery was poor. NUIG were causing them some problems when they got the ball up to the powerful O’Flaherty, who was hacked down in the 22nd minute by Mark Moran when the first clear view of goal appeared for him. Moran escaped with a yellow and Richie Byrne curled the free kick inches wide.
Hibs’ best chance had come a minute earlier when Byrne twice attempted to palm an in-swinging corner over the bar but only succeeded in pushing it on to the bar and back into the six yard box. A tap in looked likely but no firm connection could be made and Moran’s eventual shot was blocked to safety.
Four minutes after the break, NUIG awoke the game from the slumber it was falling into with the opening goal. A quick counter attack saw Byrne play a well weighted pass into the path of left winger John Lavin, who ran on and found the bottom corner.
The home side were stung into action and responded well, forcing a series of corners. Patsy Ward, at last posing a threat, had a shot saved while Kelly’s back post header flew high and over the bar. Tony Folan was starting to find the range with his crosses and in the 62nd minute a dangerous ball from the right broke kindly for Brian Griffin who drilled a left foot shot past Burke.
The next goal looked destined for the home side as Griffin forced a great save out of Burke five minutes later. But it was the students who retook the lead again thanks to a combination of hard work and good finishing from O’Flaherty.
After chasing down a long ball into the corner, O’Flaherty harried Dave McDonagh into conceding possession and then played a clever one-two with Will Geoghegan before cutting inside. Incredibly, Eddie Ward stopped stone dead as he waited for a whistle for offside but none was forthcoming, and the striker took full advantage, blasting a shot across Adrian McPhilbin and into the far corner.
Ward was then pushed forward in a desperate attempt to save the game. It eventually paid off, but the visitors will rue the missed chance which would have put the tie beyond reach with five minutes remaining. Richie Byrne ran on to a ball over the top as Hibs committed bodies into attack. With men in support he went for glory but was denied by McPhilbin. The rebound fell to the striker and, instead of squaring to a colleague, he tried his luck again but was offline with a shot that trickled wide of the upright. It was to prove a costly miss.
Galway Hibs: A McPhilbin (J Egan, 87 ); C Connolly, M Moran, E Ward, D McDonagh; B Griffin, T Folan, A Kelly, G Kelly; K Finnegan, P Ward.
NUI Galway: J Burke; T Ryder, E Murphy (R Gaynor, 71 ), J Hynes, R Cummins; W Geoghegan (V Carrigan, 76 ), P McDaid, D Cooke, J Lavin; D O’Flaherty (R Bluett, 80 ), R Byrne.
Referee: Vincent Carew.
Footnote: When will players learn - don’t argue with referees, it’s pointless. After the final whistle, Mark Moran continued to protest about the offside claims for College’s second goal. He was warned to stop but kept at it, and found himself staring at a 2nd yellow card soonafter. A costly suspension will follow, ruling him out of a crucial game with West next weekend.
