United look to put Cup nightmare behind them

Keith Kelly

Galway United must return to the scene of their recent FAI Cup carnage tonight when they travel to the Tallaght Stadium for the second time in eight days to take on Shamrock Rovers, this time in the Airtricity League Premier Division (kick-off 8pm).

United travelled more in hope than expectation to the Dublin venue last weekend for an FAI Cup quarter-final against the double-chasing Hoops, and suffered their heaviest-ever defeat in the FAI Cup, conceding six goals to a rampant Rovers side that was clearly in the mood to exorcise the memory of their own 5-1 thumping at the hands of Dundalk in the league four days earlier.

That wasn’t the biggest disappointment of the night, however, as United captain and goalkeeper Barry Ryan was sent off after just 12 minutes for dissent. He serves an automatic one game ban on Friday night for that dismissal, but a bigger punishment could be awaiting him in the next week for the manner in which he confronted Cork referee Anthony Buttimer.

Ryan was incensed that Buttimer didn’t blow for a foul on him by James Chambers in the lead-up to Rovers’ opening goal, and he got a yellow card for his protests. He then used a single word retort to the referee, which earned him a straight red card, before brushing up against the referee as he continued to vent.

Given that referee Neil Doyle dismissed Ryan in a league game against St Patrick’s Athletic earlier this season, claiming the United player deliberately kicked the ball at him, there is a fear that the league’s disciplinary committee will throw the book at the United captain.

He could be facing anything up to an additional five-match ban, which would rule him out of the rest of United’s season as the Tribesmen have just six league games left – if that is the case, the United’s hopes of avoiding the relegation play-offs hang by a thread.

United are eighth in the table and in the final play-off spot, though they are only behind UCD on goal difference. However the loss of Ryan would be a huge blow, as Daire Geraghty has no experience at this level and he looked nervous when he came on last Friday night.“I’ll take the cup defeat but the bigger picture is we need to stay in this division. If we don’t, there’s no difference between ourselves and Salthill or Mervue who would have better ancillary facilities than we would have and that would make it difficult for us to attract players.

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