Gaffney fires Mervue to friendly victory
Credit:
A Galway United side littered with triallists slumped to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of First Division city neighbours Mervue United, with Rory Gaffney firing in an impressive brace after being introduced as a half-time substitute.
Sean Connor has been able to announce the signing of eight players to date, and only five of these (Barry Ryan, Tom King, Derek O'Brien, Cian McBrien, and Jason Molloy) were on show from the beginning of this game, Galway United's only confirmed home friendly.
An evenly-contested first half failed to produce a goal as Molloy was denied by a goal-line clearance from Alex Lee before Mervue's Dan Cunningham, brother of recent Manchester City debutant Greg, forced a good save from Ryan with a flying header 30 seconds later.
Thomas Heary, Jamie McKenzie, James Creaney, and Brian McCarthy(sub) all featured in defence for Galway as Connor tries to assemble a squad on a shoestring budget, with a number of foreign triallists also on show.
It was a home-grown talent, though, who broke the deadlock in the second half as Tuam native Gaffney, who scored three league goals last year, was introduced to telling effect. After opening the scoring with a good finish, Gaffney found the top corner with a vicious shot from all of 30 yards to put Mervue in command.
Enda Curran completed the scoring for Mervue with a neat finish, and it looks as if the new Galway United manager has a lot of work on his hands to formulate a competitive squad at the club's training camp organised for Enfield this week before further friendlies against Derry City (Feb 13th) and Limerick FC (Feb 21st).
In further good news for Mervue United, at Monday nights' Galway City Council meeting an application for a new 500-seater stand at the club's Fahy's Field ground was unanimously approved. The development will include new dressing rooms, a hospitality area and press box, landscaping, and a turnstile building as the club strive to host League of Ireland fixtures at their own facility and remove the ongoing cost of renting Terryland Park for their home ties.
Sean Connor has been able to announce the signing of eight players to date, and only five of these (Barry Ryan, Tom King, Derek O'Brien, Cian McBrien, and Jason Molloy) were on show from the beginning of this game, Galway United's only confirmed home friendly.
An evenly-contested first half failed to produce a goal as Molloy was denied by a goal-line clearance from Alex Lee before Mervue's Dan Cunningham, brother of recent Manchester City debutant Greg, forced a good save from Ryan with a flying header 30 seconds later.
Thomas Heary, Jamie McKenzie, James Creaney, and Brian McCarthy(sub) all featured in defence for Galway as Connor tries to assemble a squad on a shoestring budget, with a number of foreign triallists also on show.
It was a home-grown talent, though, who broke the deadlock in the second half as Tuam native Gaffney, who scored three league goals last year, was introduced to telling effect. After opening the scoring with a good finish, Gaffney found the top corner with a vicious shot from all of 30 yards to put Mervue in command.
Enda Curran completed the scoring for Mervue with a neat finish, and it looks as if the new Galway United manager has a lot of work on his hands to formulate a competitive squad at the club's training camp organised for Enfield this week before further friendlies against Derry City (Feb 13th) and Limerick FC (Feb 21st).
In further good news for Mervue United, at Monday nights' Galway City Council meeting an application for a new 500-seater stand at the club's Fahy's Field ground was unanimously approved. The development will include new dressing rooms, a hospitality area and press box, landscaping, and a turnstile building as the club strive to host League of Ireland fixtures at their own facility and remove the ongoing cost of renting Terryland Park for their home ties.
About Alan Dooley
is one of Extratime's longest serving contributors. Based in County Galway, Alan has been following the League of Ireland since the mid-1980s. His first memory of the drama of domestic football was Vinny Arkins, then … View Full Profile