Goalkeeper Winn in great form as Utd carry the day

Sligo Rovers 1

ENDA Curran might have scored the two goals, but it was very much a case of Conor Winn-s it for Galway United on Friday night as Tommy Dunne’s side claimed bragging rights in the Connacht derby to take a giant leap towards Premier Division survival.

When you are caught in a relegation scrap, you need a mixture of both luck and inspiration to give you a dig-out and United had both on Friday night, with the big man between the posts delivering the latter with a season’s best display.

The visitors would have made the trek back up the N17 wondering how they didn’t win the game, never mind leave with at least a point. The United manager was refreshingly honest after the game, admitting to his own relief at having taken three points from a game that, on the division of chances, his side had no right to win.

While Winn provided the inspiration, he was also part of the ‘luck’ aspect, as in it was United’s luck that a rumoured move for Sligo Rovers goalkeeper Richard Brush earlier this year never materialised – while Winn was perfection at one end, Brush was poor at the other.

The Sligo net-minder was at fault for both United’s goals, a double whammy that came within the space of 60 seconds of each other around the mid-way point in the second-half to send the home fans in what was, in truth, a disappointingly small crowd of 1,351, into absolute delirium.

The opener came in the 65th minute when Jake Keegan lifted in a cross from the endline that Brush had all the time in the world to deal with but rather than catch the ball – or even wait for it to plop down into his arms – he attempted a two-fisted punch, and only managed to sky the ball no more than 12 yards from his goal.

Conor Melody – handed a start after his impressive 15-minute cameo against Shamrock Rovers the previous week – whiffed his first attempt and then looked to have shot wide with his second, only for Curran to stick a boot out to redirect the ball past Brush.

The United fans were still celebrating when Curran added his second a minute later. Not content with keeping out the Sligo efforts at one end, Winn decided to turn provider with a booming clearance that had snow on it as it came down 10 yards short of the Sligo penalty area.

The Sligo defence committed the cardinal error of letting the ball bounce, and with Brush stranded in No Man’s Land, Curran outjumped Gavin Peers to loop a header over the out-of-position ’keeper and into the net to join Keegan on 12 league goals for the season.

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