Murphy makes his mark with record-equalling goal for Utd
Galway United 4
Wexford FC 1
SEVEN years after his last goal for Galway United, Alan Murphy finally joined Paul ‘Ski’ McGee as Galway United’s all-time leading scorer in the league, his 68th minute penalty on Friday night moving him on to 74 league goals for United.
The Mayo native’s last goal in a United jersey was in a 3-1 play-off defeat to Monaghan United back in November 2011, after which United fell out of the league for two seasons. The club returned in 2014, but Murphy was plying his trade in the local Junior scene, before Shane Keegan spotted him playing for West United and felt Murphy still had something to offer United.
Once he rejoined, Murphy said he felt that not only matching, but breaking McGee’s record was a probability more than a possibility, and he is delighted to be half-way there after Friday night’s goal.
“To be honest I knew it was going to come, it’s just trying not to have it about me, it is to have the season about the team, get the job done and get promotion. There is one goal down, and one to come, but it needs to be about the team for the season, we need to get three points next week, three the following week, and just keep pushing.
“It was a very proud moment, it has been coming a while. The plan now is to get one more and forget about it, the end of the season is about promotion so time to get the head down for that, the quicker it comes the better,” Murphy told Tribune Sport after Friday’s game.
The celebratory mood after the game, both in connection to Murphy’s achievement and the broader picture of United getting the win, was in stark contrast to the atmosphere that prevailed at half-time, when a woeful performance from the home side saw them trail 1-0.
United were absolutely wretched in the first-half, Keegan’s decision to go with the 3-4-2-1 formation that had worked so well against Sligo Rovers in the EA Sports Cup, falling flat on its face this time.
In fairness to the manager, he changed things around when making a double substitution in the 58th minute, and the introduction of Stephen Kenny and Carlton Ubaezuonu, as well as a switch to 4-4-2, paid huge dividends.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.