Galway United looking to crack Shels and claim hat-trick of wins

It kind of shows where United have traditionally hovered that you have to go all the way back to October 1994 for the last time the Tribesmen won three top-flight games on the spin in a single season: in fact, they managed a run of four on the trot in that campaign, which began with a 3-2 win away to Shelbourne in a season when the Tribesmen finished 9th in the 12-team division.

Things are going a tad better this time around, last weekend's pair of wins lifting John Caulfield's side into the top half of the table, with just themselves and Dundalk taking full points from the double round of Easter weekend games.

The weekend started with a win over Derry City in front of a packed Eamonn Deacy Park, and Galway United manager John Caulfield is hoping to get the same support this Friday.

“The most important thing is we have to look after ourselves,” he said after Monday's turnaround away to Drogheda United.

“We are at home on Friday night, we had a full house last Friday night, nearly 5,000 people there, and it would be great if we would get them all back in again, and create the atmosphere like last week,” he said.

United took a point from their visit to Tolka Park back in February, taking a 62nd minute lead through Kris Twardek, only to concede a penalty from the restart which saw their hosts bag the equaliser.

That was the fourth draw in the last five meetings between the sides, the anomaly being a 1-0 win for Shels last September. The Reds come into the game having lost twice over the weekend, and while United will show them respect, there should be no fear for the home side.

“We know how good Shelbourne are, they are still a team that'll challenge for the title, but we are hoping the crowd comes out in force and gets behind us and we'll see can we make it a really brilliant seven days.”

United go into the game high on confidence after coming from 2-0 down away to Drogheda United last Monday to claim a 3-2 win, with Francely Lomboto pulling a goal back in the first-half, before second-half substitutes Kris Twardek and Axel Piesold scored within eight minutes of each other to seal the win.

"We had a lot of fresh players but we didn't look fresh, we looked off the pace and we weren't pressing.

"Francely gets a brilliant goal with a 20-yard strike, and then we are looking to just get in at half-time, make a couple of changes, maybe rejig the system, bring a bit more life into the team and with the wind being strong, try and dominate and to be fair, that's what we did.

"We got we got into game straight away. Twardek comes off the bench, Axel comes off the bench, and they score two goals, Walshy [Stephen Walsh] comes on and he makes a huge difference up top," the United manager said of his side's comeback.

He had made six changes to the side that had beaten Derry City on Good Friday, a sign of the strength in depth that wasn't necessarily a feature of United squads in recent seasons, and while some of the players who got a start on Monday didn't exactly do any favours for their causes for future starts, the United manager said it was important to rotate players given the short gap between the games.

"We made changes to make an impact because with two games in three days, it is tough on the legs. Lads will tire, and the big thing is to make sure you have guys that can complement the guys that are on the pitch, and if a fella is missing.

"Jimmy [Keohane] was injured, Aaron [Bolger] got sick and couldn't play so, you know, you need guys coming who can replace them.

"You need that strength-in-depth, obviously, try to avoid serious injuries, but look, you make changes, some days they work, some days they don't.

"The lads coming in, they know from training, they have to make impact. And ultimately, a lot of our subs, when they're coming off the bench, have made an impact," he said.

While he was delighted with the rarity of a Friday-Monday double win - "I think it's the first time in a Premier Division we've had double wins - he knows the next test is just around the corner, with Shels heading west looking to bounce back after the 2024 Premier Division champions suffered a pair of defeats last weekend.

"Every point in this league is so hard to get. You know, you could lose three [games] and be down there, you could win a couple and climb the table. You need to try and get momentum, get confidence into your team. You have to try and maximise and take points and that's what we need to do.

"We know how good Shelbourne are, they are still a team that'll challenge for the title, At the same time for us, it's making sure that the crowd will hopefully come out in force and get behind us and see could we finish it off with a win, and make it a really brilliant seven days," he said.