League Report: Galway United 4 - 2 Longford Town

Jake Keegan produced the goods at Eamonn Deacy Park against Longford Town to bag a delightful hat-trick as the Tribesmen ran out 4-2 winners against a lacklustre opponent.

Netting in the 17^th, 60^th and 69^th minutes, his strikes ultimately proved the difference as the Town were sunk by a surprisingly coherent United performance. Indeed, despite the fact that Tony Cousins’ charges nabbed two late goals, the gulf in class was clear to see on the night.

Both sides began brightly with chances falling to Keegan and Gary Shaw, and there was a really good tempo to some of the play on show early on. That soon died down, however, and the crowd were forced to endure a tedious 10-minute spell of scrappy play, loose passing and a real lack of excitement.

Luckily, Keegan wasn’t one to get dragged into too much of the clash’s uninspired play, and he seemed eager to rattle the back of the net. It came as no surprise, then, when he slotted past Paul Hunt to give Galway the lead in the 17^th minute, connecting well with a Marc Ludden free-kick.

The onus was on the Town to claw their way back into contention, but they looked out of ideas and seemed relieved to go in at the break with just one goal separating the sides.

It was Galway, however, who made the most of the interval. Emerging the other side of the 15-minute break refreshed and energised, they smashed three goals past their opponents to set up a commanding 4-0 lead with 21 minutes to go.

Keegan scored two more to secure his trio of strikes, while Gary Shanahan also got in on the scoring act with a wonderful run and shot down the right flank. Reflecting back on Keegan’s two second-half efforts, it was his final effort that really captured the team’s overall positive display.

Stringing together as many as 15 or 20 passes, the Tribesmen cut open the opposition to craft a classy opportunity – and Keegan made little mistake to convert it so neatly.

The final quarter hour saw Longford smash two past Tommy Dunne’s men without reply, both converted by the impact substitute that was Dean Kelly.

The first of his goals was a product of some poor Galway defending – something that was non-existent for so long in the tie – more so than individual brilliance, while the second one came from a spot-kick after a bizarre off-the-ball incident inside the box.

Credit to Longford for not giving up, but they will be disappointed with how they played overall, leaving their good play far too late to make a real dent in Galway’s big lead.

As for the Corribsiders, this result will give them a real boost as they look to edge further away from the relegation zone, and it won’t have been bad preparation for their upcoming EA Sports Cup final against St Patrick’s Athletic either.

Galway United: Conor Winn; Marc Ludden (Stephen Walsh 80), Sam Oji, Kilian Cantwell, Colm Horgan; Jason Molloy (David O’ Leary 63), Ryan Connolly (Tomi Saarelma 89), Paul Sinnott, Gary Shanahan, Enda Curran, Jake Keegan.

Subs not used: Ger Hanley, Conor Barry, Andy O’ Connell, Cormac Raftery.

Bookings: Saarelma (90), Cantwell (62), Ludden (25).

Longford Town: Paul Hunt; Conor Powell, Mark Rossiter, Pat Sullivan; Philip Gannon, Rhys Gorman, Kevin O’ Connor, Mark Salmon (Aymen Ben Mohamed 66), Lorcan Shannon; David O’ Sullivan (Dean Kelly 57), Gary Shaw (Kaleem Simon 76).

Subs not used: James Mulhall, Martin Deady, Paul Skinner, Noel Haverty.

Bookings: Powell (70).

Referee: Rob Harvey.

Attendance: 759.

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Jake Keegan (Galway United).