Sinnott, Melody and Cunningham re-sign with Galway

Galway United have given their fans an extra Christmas cheer today following the club’s announcement that Paul Sinnott, Conor Melody and Padraic Cunningham have all re-signed with the Tribesmen for 2017.

The trio have penned new one-year contracts which will allow them to work with manager Shane Keegan as the Tribesmen bid to improve upon their ninth-place finish last season.

Sinnott is a club veteran at this stage and the new deal will see him spend an eighth season with the Westerners. The 30-year-old has already amassed 191 appearances for United, playing in a variety of different positions, and all going well should breach the 200 mark next season.

Keegan, in his first season in charge, has showed no hesitation in re-signing Sinnott, a player who he clearly thinks a lot of: “Paul is a thorough professional,” he told galwayunitedfc.ie.

“I've spoken to a lot of people since I've arrived at the club and everyone has spoken in complimentary terms about Paul's personality and his approach. He is not one of those big egos who is going to say this is my position and you have to play me here. He's the kind of player that just loves playing football and his experience will be invaluable to us.”

19-year-old Melody is another member of the 2016 Galway squad to re-commit his future to the club, signing on the dotted line for a third consecutive season in the first team squad.

The young midfielder combined dual commitments last season between the club’s senior and u19 set-up, but the new season will allow him to focus his attention solely with Keegan’s first team squad.

On Melody, Keegan said: "Conor was a constant thorn in my side last season when we faced Galway United. He was man of the match against Wexford Youths in Eamonn Deacy Park then he went on to score at Ferrycarrig Park later in the year.

"He's a really technical midfielder. His game intelligence, vision and movement is so good and so clever. He's a real thinker but also quite instinctive at times.

"He's a young player with massive potential. The fact he can start in a number of positions is going to give him a real chance of being a big part of things next year."

Finally, Cunningham will play his fourth season on the trot for Galway in 2017 and will hope to make up for his injury-hit campaign under Tommy Dunne last term which disrupted him promising rise.

The attacker has 11 goals from 54 appearances for the club and the 20-year-old is somebody who Keegan really likes, insisting that next season could be his time to shine.

“You're looking at a player, if he fulfils his potential, he has the possibility of being an absolute star. The only thing that can stop him fulfilling that potential is the failure to reach his physical peak,” Keegan believes.

“He's a player who will be getting to know Johnny O'Connor (Strength and conditioning coach) very well over the next couple of months, but that's what he wants.

"The fact that Padraic is different to our current strikers is a huge plus for me. We have three very different strikers, with differing styles of play.

“Padraic has the potential to be the breakthrough star of 2017 if he fulfils that potential. He's got all the looks of a player that's going to do everything that's required to get the most out himself next season."

Galway now have 13 players confirmed ahead of a new year which will surely see further transfer activity around Eamon Deacy Park before they kick-off their league season with a home game against Drogheda United on February 24^th.