- Pete Kelly
- Sat, Aug 18 2018
Peter Kelly reports from Eamon Deacy Park
Galway United's slender hopes of a playoff spot vanished at Eamonn Deacy Park on Friday night when they were comprehensively outplayed by a vibrant Longford Town side.
Jamie Doyle and the impressive Dylan McGlade both bagged a brace for Longford while Carlton Ubaezuonu got a late consolation goal for the home side.
The opening exchanges were evenly balanced, but as early as the 12th minute Dylan McGlade signalled his intent when he glided inside Chris Horgan and brought a tremendous save from Tadhg Ryan in the Galway goal.
Three minutes later Longford took the lead when Jamie Doyle side-footed Meenan’s excellent cross to the net. While the marking on Doyle could have been tighter, nevertheless the finish was sublime.
Conor Barry showed some spark on 18 minutes when he set off on a run but his long range shot was easily controlled by Kelly. Aside from Ryan, Conor Barry was the only home player to immerge with his reputation intact from this one.
Despite Longford showing more threat, Galway got to the break without conceding anymore goals and the home support would have been hoping for a half time transformation to save the day.
Those hopes were dashed however four minutes into the second half through Doyle again. This time with a ‘torpedo’ from 35 yards that Ryan could only get a foot to.
McGlade stepped up on 54 minutes to extinguish all hopes Galway had when he left several players in his wake and cracked in a wonderful strike.
From here on in the game was the Dylan McGlade show as he demonstrated a full bag of tricks coupled with hard work and scored his second along with his side’s fourth goal into the bargain on 78 minutes.
With the game in the fifth and final minute of injury time, Carlton Ubaezuonu scored a solo consolation goal for United.
Longford have a few brilliant young players, foremost being McGlade and Dervin who will be in all the scouts notebooks, no doubt.
For Galway United, despite the efforts of Alan Murphy and Mark Herrick to pull the proverbial rabbit from a hat and get them promoted, the future remains uncertain.
Despite this bad night at the office though, expect them to ‘show up’ and give Bohs a real go in the FAI Cup game next week.
It will be a classic ‘last chance saloon’ game for them.
Galway United: Tadhg Ryan, Chris Horgan, Robbie Williams, Stephen Walsh, Marc Ludden, Sean Russell,(Carlton Ubaezuonu,46) Alex Byrne, Aaron Conway,(Conor Melody, 46) Ryan Connolly, Conor Barry, Eoin McCormack (Evan Coyne 82).
Subs Not Used: Connor Gleeson, Dara Mulgannon, Evan Murphy.
Longford Town: Michael Kelly, Karl Chambers (Evan O’Connor 76) Mick McDonnell, Daniel O’Reilly, Tristan Noack-Hofmann, Darren Meenan, Dean Zambra, Aodh Dervin (Jackson Ryan, 80) Dylan McGlade, Jamie Hollywood, Jamie Doyle (Dean Dillon76).
Subs Not Used: Ben Kelly, Warren Mitchell, Evan O’Neill, Tumelo Tlou.
Referee: David Keeler (Cork)
Attendance: 576
Extratime Man of the Match: Dylan McGlade
