Galway United -v- Shamrock Rovers

• Alan Dooley
• Thu, Apr 16 2009


Galway United welcome Michael O'Neill's Shamrock Rovers side to Terryland Park tomorrow night (kick off 7.45pm), hoping to end The Hoops four match unbeaten run and continue their own bright start to the campaign.

Late goals last week
Both clubs scored goals in the final 15 minutes last Friday as Declan Edwards stunned Drogheda in United Park while Gary Twigg rescued a point for Rovers at Tallaght Stadium with his third goal of the game. The results leave Galway sitting three points clear of O'Neill's side, although Ian Foster has admitted that it's the lower end of the table that he expects his side to end up in come the business end of the season. Rovers have loftier ambitions and will be hoping to record their second away victory on the trot following their win in Oriel Park two weeks ago.

Another bogey side?
Galway United continued their poor run of results against Bohemians in their last home game, and will again have to overturn a worrying trend against their opponents on Friday night, who they have not beaten in League action since a raucous night in October, 2006 at Terryland Park, when both were vying for First Division honours. Two 1-1 draws is the best The Tribesmen have managed since, losing the other four encounters.

EA Sports Cup wins
Both sides came through first round ties with lower league opposition in mid-week, with varying degrees of difficulty. Rovers sauntered past Kildare County, with Tadgh Purcell getting on the mark for the first time this season, while Galway United were forced to endure extra time and penalties following an insipid second half display when they should have been out of sight against A Championship side Salthill Devon.

Injury worries
Galway will remain without the services of Shane Fitzgerald and John Russell, who did play 60 minutes on Monday night but is some way from full fitness and there are also concerns over the availability of Seamus Conneely(groin) and Derek O'Brien(ankle). Shamrock Rovers will definitely be without Pat Flynn and Ian Bermingham, and O'Neill also commented on the status of two other squad members, Corie Treacy and Sean O'Connor.
"“Pat and Ian are still out of the picture, while Corie is recovering from an illness and Sean is suffering from a hamstring problem,” explained O’Neill. "Other than those four, everyone’s fine after what’s been a hectic schedule where we had three league and one EA Sports Cup game in the space of eleven days.”

O'Neill on the trip West
The Hoops' boss is aware of the task at hand but is delighted with the progress his side are making and is hopeful of a positive result. "They’ve had a great start to their season – especially as a lot of people were tipping them to be facing a relegation battle. We know this will be a very tough game for us."
“But we’re unbeaten in our last four games so we’ve built up a bit of momentum. Confidence is quite high, everyone’s working hard and there’s a lot of competition for places. It’s important that we have a strong finish to the first quarter of the campaign, and a win against Galway would put us above them in the table – and that’s what we’ll be looking for.”
While the final statement is not entirely correct - a one goal Rovers win would leave Galway ahead of them on goal difference - the sentiment is positive and Ian Foster's charges will have to be at their best to emerge with any increase to their current points tally.

extratime.ie Prediction: 1-1 draw