Hurley continues to rack up consecutive appearances for Galway United

David Hurley’s introduction from the bench in last Friday’s FAI Cup win over Tolka Rovers was his 142nd consecutive appearance for the club, which is by some distance a club record.

Goalkeeper Alan Gough started 105 consecutive league games for the club between 2004 and 2006, but missed a few League Cup games during that three-season spell; while Gary Shanahan played in 102 of 103 United games from 2014 to 2017, missing one League Cup game in that run.

Hurley is in a league of his own, and continues to be a key player for United in what is his fifth season at the club.

His introduction last Friday injected some tempo and pace into United’s play, and it was his 73rd minute goal – his 40th for the club – which finally put the seal on an unimpressive win, but he brushes away suggestions that his introduction made all the difference.

“It was a tough game, Tolka are obviously a good team if they made it this far in the FAI Cup, you know, they have to get to a certain stage in the intermediate Cup so they obviously did well enough to get here, so we knew they were going to cause us some problems.

“We had to be professional, it probably wasn’t our best performance, but we got a clean sheet and got the win. We haven’t been going well the last few weeks, but we got the goals, and got a clean sheet as well,” he said.

He joined United from Cobh Ramblers ahead of the 2021 season, having caught the eye when pulling the strings from midfield as the Cork side drew 2-2 with United in St Colman’s Park in August of that season, before claiming a 1-0 win in Eamonn Deacy Park a month later.

Hurley provided the assist for all three Cobh goals, and United manager John Caulfield saw enough to lure Hurley – who grew up just a stone’s throw away from Turners Cross, the home of Cork City – to the banks of the Corrib ahead of the 2021 season.

His 56th minute introduction last Friday was his 165th game for the club, and his 142nd game in a row. Incredibly, in his four and a bit seasons at the club, he has missed just four games, all in 2021.

The first three absences were due to injury, and the fourth was the final game of the regular season when he, like most of the starting XI, was rested for the dead-rubber against Cork City, as United prioritised the promotion semi-final with Bray Wanderers which was coming up five days later.

That play-off didn’t work out as planned, the Wicklow side winning the two-leg tie 1-0 on aggregate; and while United also made the 2022 play-offs, beating Longford in the two-leg semi-final, they lost the one-off First Division final to Waterford.

It was clear that United’s best hopes of achieving promotion was to win the league, and they did that in style in 2023, with Hurley finishing the season as the club’s top scorer with 24 goals, 21 of which came in the league.

So in his time at United, he has experienced both the highs and lows, and he is smart enough not to get carried away with either scenario.

“We’ve lost a few games, it’s natural that you are probably second-guessing yourself but we’re still going strong and training hard,” he says when asked if the recent poor run has hit confidence in the dressing room.

“We're still working 100% every day, so we just hope that our fortunes will turn in the league,” he says. The departure of Moses Dyer – whose move to Cambodia was confirmed this week – must have been a blow, considering he was the top scorer not just for United, but in the league, with 10 goals in 20 games, but Hurley says no-one is dwelling on that.

“It’s just the way football is, you know it’s natural, you will always have loads of people coming and going. We just know we believe in the strength in the squad. So there is a ‘next-man-up’ kind of mentality that we have enough quality in the squad to get us through.”

He started on the bench last Friday as United looked to get game-time into new signings like Aaron Bolger and Axel Piesold, but it is not as if Hurley was just passing the time in the dugout before being sent out to warm-up.

“You’re watching the game, seeing how you can influence it when you’re coming on. Obviously you don’t want to be sitting on the bench but you know, you need to be professional, looking at how you can impact the game, see where you can get space.

“The lads are good on the bench, we have lots of discussions, you know it’s not just sitting there for the sake of it, you are working all the time.”

United face a crunch league tie with Waterford tonight, with both sides struggling for form and for wins, and he hopes that win over Tolka Rovers will be the catalyst for an upturn in fortunes.

“The cup is a bit different when you’re playing team like Tolka Rovers you know, it’s good to get the confidence back get the win into the next round but now we’re straight back on the league with a massive game against Waterford, so we’ll have to be ready for it,” he says.

Pictured: David Hurley climbs above Darragh Markey of Drogheda United back in April.  Photo: Joe O'Shaughnessy.