Salthill and Mervue in First Division derby blast off

Keith Kelly

THE battle for Galway pride in the Airtricity League First Division gets off to an early start this season as Salthill Devon host Mervue United in Drom this Saturday on the opening weekend of the season (kick-off 7pm).

The two clubs were due to meet on the historic occasion of Mervue’s first League game at Fahy’s Field next week, but following the withdrawal of Sporting Fingal from the Premier Division, the promotion of Drogheda United to replace them, and the fact there are now just 11 teams in the First Division, a new fixture list was issued, which brought forward the Galway derby by a week.

A list of suspension carried over from last season and has been issued, and while neither club has been affected in terms of players, Mervue have been hit hard on the sidelines with manager Johnny Glynn having to serve a four-game ban, while goalkeeping coach Adrian Cronin is banned from the dugout for two games.

“I have no idea where that is coming from, but we’ll just have to get on with it,” Glynn said yesterday. “When I was manager the season before last I was sent off at half-time in a game, so I would imagine it comes from that. I don’t understand why suspensions are carried forward like that – that incident was 18 months ago – but we’ll worry about the lads on the pitch rather than that,” Glynn said.

The Mervue United manager has a number of injury concerns ahead of the game, and says he won’t finalise his team until after training tonight (Friday), when the captain for the season will also be announced – the club captain is Eric Browne, but Glynn is also set to name a team captain.

As for tomorrow night’s game, he is looking forward to opening the campaign with a local derby and hopes a tough preseason campaign will stand to his side.

“We had a very good pre-season, I was very happy with it, we got to work on a lot of things and are now just looking forward to getting going in the league.

“It will be tough to start with a derby, especially playing in Drom, but it is a great game to start with and we are looking forward to it. We have the youngest squad in the league, having brought in a lot of young players this season, but we have a good mix of experience as well having had two seasons in the league, so hopefully that will provide us with a good mix,” he says.

Salthill Devon manager Mike Quirke sings from the same hymn sheet, saying he is unsure if such a tough start is of benefit to either side so early in the season, but he also says the fixture should ensure the season gets off to a flying start.

“We’re really looking forward to it. The weather is promised good and I think they are two evenly-matched sides, so it should make for a very good spectacle,” he said.

Devon have lost one of their star players of last season, Darryl Horgan, to Sligo Rovers, but they have brought in a number of new faces, including what could be a hugely important signing – Wes Charles.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.