Galway United rescue a deserved point against Rovers in dreadful conditions

GALWAY UNITED 1

Daire Walsh in Tallaght

DESPITE seeing his side rescue a point from their Airtricity League First Division opener against Shamrock Rovers II in Tallaght last Saturday, Alan Murphy’s mind was on more pressing matters in the aftermath of the contest.

So treacherous were the conditions at the south Dublin venue that several of his players had to be treated for hypothermia. It was a similar case for their opponents on the day and with Storm Jorge in full effect for the duration of the action, the Galway United manager questioned the wisdom of allowing the game to go ahead.

“I think we could have won the game. We had enough chances, but the conditions were horrendous. We’re looking at players out on the pitch that are wet. Dean [O’Halloran] had to come off when we had no sub to bring on. Probably in hindsight, it’s an error playing the game really,” Murphy said.

“At half-time, I thought there was a possibility [it could be called off]. Put it this way, when you have to take a player [Killian Brouder] off with hypothermia at half-time after the other centre-half [Josh Smith] had to come off earlier with an injury, you don’t do that unless things are really serious. I think both teams will probably take a point now and everyone is okay.”

Following the postponement of their scheduled home encounter with Athlone Town seven days earlier, United finally kick-started what should prove to be a hectic 2020 campaign.

While they enjoyed the majority of possession and chances, the Tribesmen looked set to fall short when Brandon Kavanagh’s long-distance free kick got the better of Kevin Horgan on 69 minutes. However, Conor Barry was on hand to steer home Conor Melody’s late cross to secure a share of the spoils for the visitors.

Alongside the aforementioned Smith and O’Halloran, Timmy Molloy, Enda Curran and new club captain Shane Duggan were handed debuts in the United starting line-up. Additionally, Kevin Farragher made his competitive bow off the bench.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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