Debut hat-trick for Furlong as Galway United thrash visitors
Galway United 4
Athlone Town 0
A winning start to the campaign and a debut hat-trick for the club’s new striker, but the most significant thing from Friday night’s game against Athlone Town had nothing to do with what happened on the pitch.
For the first time in the club’s 42-year involvement with the League of Ireland, Galway United played a game as a wholly fan-owned club, after the Galway FA, Mervue United, and Salthill Devon all ended their involvement with the set-up.
The Galway United Soccer Co-Op is now running every aspect of the club, finally bringing an end to a dark period from United, which saw it excluded from the league for two seasons and become something of a pariah in the game.
One of the first things it needs to do is work with Galway City Council to find and develop its own training facilities, after a row with Mervue United over approaches it made to its juvenile players saw Mervue refuse to rent its Fahy’s Field facilities to United for pres-eason training.
The irony of Mervue United taking a stand over so-called ‘poaching’ has not been lost on anyone, but it does highlight United’s total reliance on local junior clubs – 42 years in the league and still not a blade of grass to its name is a shameful situation of its own making.
As for Friday, predictions that United could not have been handed an easier start were borne out by the final scoreline, though manager Shane Keegan was the first to admit it was a poor performance from his own side.
“Some of our passing at times was very sloppy, some of our touches were very sloppy, it was nowhere near sharp enough. We look like a team that hasn’t done a whole lot together, and that’s because we are a team that hasn’t done a whole lot together. We need to get better, and fast,” he said.
Full report in this week's Connacht Tribune