Connor delighted with first win
Credit:
With all the attention after Friday night's match at Dalymount Park focusing on the future of Bohs manager Pat Fenlon, it's probably easy to forget that Galway United produced a fine performance to upset the Gypsies.
Tribesmen manager Sean Connor, himself a former occupant of the Bohs hotseat, was delighted with his team when speaking afterwards, but said that the shock win- Galway’s first of the season- only came after hard work in training.
“We worked hard on our shape all week” he said. “When we didn't have the ball we were quite prepared to let Bohemians have the ball in their half, and we made sure there were no spaces in ours.”
Galway had a poor start to the season, getting just one point from their first three matches, but Connor doesn’t think their form has been that bad. “When you think of the start to the season we had and the fact that the squad was only put together on the Thursday before the first match, I think the boys have really gelled well and to be fair we haven't really had a bad performance yet" said Connor.
The opening round saw Galway suffer a 3-0 defeat at the hands of St. Pats, but again Connor didn‘t blame his side‘s overall performance: “We had a bad ten minutes against Pats and we shot ourselves in the foot.” Going on to last week’s 3-2 loss to another former club of his, Connor says: “I thought we played well against Dundalk last week. Tonight we've come up with another clean sheet, we've created more clear cut chances over the 90 minutes [than Bohs] so we certainly deserved to win.”
Galway’s win over Bohs came mainly through an effective defensive performance, but also crucial to the win was newly signed Joseph Yoffe, who scored the game’s only goal on the hour mark. “He is a goalscorer” Connor says of the 23 year-old, who has enjoyed a nomadic career since leaving Stockport as a youngster- playing in England, the USA, Canada and Spain before his arrival on the west coast. “He came over to us last year in the summer and we tried to sign him then but we didn't have the money” explains the Belfast native.
Connor has high hopes for Yoffe, who he says was drawn to his attention “by somebody I knew in America- he played with colleges there and then played in Canada. Then because we couldn't sign him last year he went to Spain for a bit. He's come over and he's very, very anxious to do well.”
On the night, Yoffe was a regular threat to Bohs despite playing on his own up front, with his energetic running and harrying of the full-backs. Connor explains that he has had to search to find the best way to play the Manchester-born player. “We've just tried to calm him down a bit, tonight we just got him to work in the eighteen yard box. [Tonight] we played with a sort of 4-4-1-1, just trying to keep him up the park and get him on the ball in the box. He looked like he was really determined to get that goal tonight.”
Youth is something Galway have in abundance this season, and Connor was quick to point out that Yoffe still has time to make a name for himself. “He's 23, so time is on his side. It's a big step up for him, this league, and he's putting a lot of pressure on himself. That's two goals in four starts now for him, if he continues that all year we'll be happy."
On the plight of his Bohs counterpart, Connor says he could empathise with the situation Pat Fenlon is in. “Pat's in a similar position to myself, in that he's only had a short time to put a squad together. What I will say is that he has an awful lot of experience out there, we have a more youthful squad.”
That youthful squad was what Connor singled out as the main driver behind United’s win."Young Shaun Kelly at right back was tremendous, [we also have] Stephen Walsh who's only 19. Karl Moore's only 22- I thought he was tremendous too.”
But Connor wasn’t downplaying the role some of his more experienced players played: “Bobby Ryan had a great game- he says to me he feels like he's 21. We just give Bobby licence to get on the ball in areas where it hurts teams - Bohemians never really picked him up all night.”
Tribesmen manager Sean Connor, himself a former occupant of the Bohs hotseat, was delighted with his team when speaking afterwards, but said that the shock win- Galway’s first of the season- only came after hard work in training.
“We worked hard on our shape all week” he said. “When we didn't have the ball we were quite prepared to let Bohemians have the ball in their half, and we made sure there were no spaces in ours.”
Galway had a poor start to the season, getting just one point from their first three matches, but Connor doesn’t think their form has been that bad. “When you think of the start to the season we had and the fact that the squad was only put together on the Thursday before the first match, I think the boys have really gelled well and to be fair we haven't really had a bad performance yet" said Connor.
The opening round saw Galway suffer a 3-0 defeat at the hands of St. Pats, but again Connor didn‘t blame his side‘s overall performance: “We had a bad ten minutes against Pats and we shot ourselves in the foot.” Going on to last week’s 3-2 loss to another former club of his, Connor says: “I thought we played well against Dundalk last week. Tonight we've come up with another clean sheet, we've created more clear cut chances over the 90 minutes [than Bohs] so we certainly deserved to win.”
Galway’s win over Bohs came mainly through an effective defensive performance, but also crucial to the win was newly signed Joseph Yoffe, who scored the game’s only goal on the hour mark. “He is a goalscorer” Connor says of the 23 year-old, who has enjoyed a nomadic career since leaving Stockport as a youngster- playing in England, the USA, Canada and Spain before his arrival on the west coast. “He came over to us last year in the summer and we tried to sign him then but we didn't have the money” explains the Belfast native.
Connor has high hopes for Yoffe, who he says was drawn to his attention “by somebody I knew in America- he played with colleges there and then played in Canada. Then because we couldn't sign him last year he went to Spain for a bit. He's come over and he's very, very anxious to do well.”
On the night, Yoffe was a regular threat to Bohs despite playing on his own up front, with his energetic running and harrying of the full-backs. Connor explains that he has had to search to find the best way to play the Manchester-born player. “We've just tried to calm him down a bit, tonight we just got him to work in the eighteen yard box. [Tonight] we played with a sort of 4-4-1-1, just trying to keep him up the park and get him on the ball in the box. He looked like he was really determined to get that goal tonight.”
Youth is something Galway have in abundance this season, and Connor was quick to point out that Yoffe still has time to make a name for himself. “He's 23, so time is on his side. It's a big step up for him, this league, and he's putting a lot of pressure on himself. That's two goals in four starts now for him, if he continues that all year we'll be happy."
On the plight of his Bohs counterpart, Connor says he could empathise with the situation Pat Fenlon is in. “Pat's in a similar position to myself, in that he's only had a short time to put a squad together. What I will say is that he has an awful lot of experience out there, we have a more youthful squad.”
That youthful squad was what Connor singled out as the main driver behind United’s win."Young Shaun Kelly at right back was tremendous, [we also have] Stephen Walsh who's only 19. Karl Moore's only 22- I thought he was tremendous too.”
But Connor wasn’t downplaying the role some of his more experienced players played: “Bobby Ryan had a great game- he says to me he feels like he's 21. We just give Bobby licence to get on the ball in areas where it hurts teams - Bohemians never really picked him up all night.”
About Niall Farrell
Niall Farrell is our correspondent at Tolka Park, covering the goings-on at Shelbourne. You can visit Niall's website for further information and contact details- niallf.net. View Full Profile