Galway United hoping to avoid second postponed league tie in a week

It’s an Irish piseog to put a Child of Prague statue outside on the night before a wedding in the hope of being blessed with good weather on the big day, so expect the groundsmen at the likes of Tolka Park and the Tallaght Stadium to do just that tonight (Thursday), with both grounds scheduled to hold League of Ireland games tomorrow.

League champions Shamrock Rovers have yet to play this season, having see their first two games postponed because of water-logged pitches, the opening night game at home to Dundalk, and last Friday’s clash with Shelbourne in Tolka Park.

It is to Tolka Park that Galway United will hope to be heading to tomorrow for a meeting with Shelbourne (7.45pm), having also seen their game last weekend called off, a similarly-sodden Richmond Park pitch seeing the plug pulled on their game with St Patrick’s Athletic.

That will have given John Caulfield and company plenty of time to mull over the opening night defeat to Drogheda United, when a bluntness in attack left the Tribesmen to rue what might have been.

The rarity of a missed David Hurley penalty was the obvious flaw in that opening night game; while Wasiri Williams hit the crossbar with a header, and fellow debutant, Arthur Parker, saw a goal-bound effort deflected out for a corner.

One of the problems is that of those three gilt-edge chances, two of them fell to defenders – Williams and Parker – so it was a surprise to see United sending Academy graduate, Cillian Tollett, out on loan last week to First Division side Athlone Town for the rest of the season.

United struggled for goals last season, finding the net just 37 times in 36 games, and with Dara McGuinness out injured for the opening weeks of this year’s campaign, one would have thought that United would have kept all options on the table until at least the June transfer window.

True, the Oughterard native has yet to open his account for the senior side, but this is a player who would have gone to last November’s U-17 World Cup with the Republic of Ireland had he not been ruled out by injury.

Maybe the move to the Midlands side will be the making of him, but coming just a couple of weeks after the United manager spoke of the need to be bringing players through the club’s Academy system and into the first-team squad, it is disappointing to see the striker leaving the club.

As for tomorrow’s game, United head to Drumcondra looking for a first win at the northside ground since 2014, when goals from Ryan Connolly and Jake Keegan sealed a 2-1 win in the second-leg of their promotion play-off semi-final, sending the Tribesmen through to the final 4-1 on aggregate. They have drawn once and lost six times in the seven games since that memorable win.

Padraic Cunningham, Enda Curran, and Marc Ludden were part of the United squad that 2014 season, and all three played a major part in helping the Galway & District league to capture the Oscar Traynor Cup last weekend for the first time in 55 years.

United fans will hope that feelgood story for Galway football will permeate to the League of Ireland representatives against a Shelbourne side that opened their league account with a 1-1 draw away to Waterford on the opening night of the season.

No more than at United, there have been changes in personnel at the Reds since last season, the most notable being the departure of captain, Mark Coyle, who has joined Coleraine in the NIFL.

Former United shot-stopper, Conor Kearns, has gone to Dundalk, as has Tyreke Wilson; while Ryan O’Kane has joined Sligo Rovers. It was not all one-way traffic, with the return of Will Jarvis a particular boost, having spent last season at Notts County after two seasons on loan at Shels.

The league has confirmed that Friday’s postponed game with St Pat’s has been rescheduled for Monday week, March 2, in Richmond Park (7.45pm).

Pictured: John Caulfield