Galway FC put unbeaten away run on line in Cup quarter-final
League concerns will be put to one side for Galway FC this evening as they make the long trip to the south-east to face Wexford Youths in the quarter-finals of the EA Sports Cup (8pm).
Tommy Dunne’s side have seen off the challenges of Mayo League and Finn Harps to advance to the last eight of the competition, and given the fact they face a fellow First Division side – and one they have already beaten in Ferrycarrig Park this season – there has to be a degree of optimism that they can take the step of being just 90 minutes away from the final.
Dunne is not singing from that hymn sheet, however, pointing out that tonight’s opponents are a side that has been completely underestimated, and the fact that they sit second in the table, one place and two points above Galway FC, would back up Dunne’s viewpoint.
“We know going to Wexford is not easy, they are a team that is underrated in the division. They have progressed over last number of years, they have a group together that is capable of challenging at the top of the table, and we will be going there under no illusions that it will be a tricky game,” Dunne said.
When the two sides met in the league down in Wexford in mid-April, it was Galway FC who took all three points thanks to Ryan Manning’s wonderfully-taken goal, but the visitors finished the game hanging on to that 1-0 lead, and they had Conor Gleeson to thank for some good saves.
Wexford Youths are a solid side that make up for a certain lack of skill with a honest workrate and a physical presence that has seen them defeat the likes of Shamrock Rovers B (twice) and Shelbourne this season, although they were beaten in their last home game by Waterford United in the south-east derby.
For Galway FC’s part, they are operating from a skeleton squad due to suspension, injuries and squad departures, and with a crunch League tie coming up away to Shelbourne on Friday, so the temptation to rest some players for that game is not an option for Dunne, but it is one he would not consider in any event.
“The next game is always the priority, and for us that is the quarter-final with Wexford. When you are in the latter stages of cup competition, you take it as seriously as you can. Going to Wexford is an opportunity to advance to the last four of a national cup competition, but we know it will be tough,” he said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.