United make 10-man Cobh pay the penalty in easy win

Galway United 4

THE scoreline suggests an emphatic win, while the manner of the goals may hint at something else – as is usually the case, the truth of Galway United’s victory down in Cobh last Saturday night lies somewhere in the middle.

Three penalties and an own-goal accounted for United’s haul at St Colman’s Park for a first win of the season earned on the pitch, but they were full value for a victory that lifts them into the top half of the table.

The game’s first of two turning points came in the 19th minute when the visitors were awarded their first spot-kick of the evening for a deliberate handball by Charlie Lyons, which stopped a Ruairi Keating header on the line.

The indiscretion earned the centre-back his marching orders, and despite Sean Barron almost getting a hand to it, he was unable to keep out Keating’s spot-kick, setting the foundation for a badly-needed United win.

Of some concern was the fact the visitors struggled for a time to capitalise on their numerical advantage, and it was only the introduction of Padraig Cunningham just past the mid-way mark of the second-half that saw United take total control of the game.

A quick look at the stats after the game was somewhat revealing – by my count, the home side had just two efforts on target throughout the 90 minutes, compared to United’s 14 . . . and that doesn’t count the four goals that they scored.

The concern is that they had 14 shots on target and failed to convert any of them, though the fact that both Keating and Cunningham both got on the scoresheet for a second successive game should instil a bit more confidence in a frontline that is finally starting to click.

Once again, John Caulfield made some changes to his starting XI from the previous game, at least one of which was enforced. Maurice Nugent had started in the 2-2 draw with UCD, but was ruled out of last Saturday’s game through injury.

Ronan Manning and Mikey Rowe both dropped to the bench last weekend, with Killian Brouder, Mikey Place, and Wilson Waweru all coming into the side, though Waweru lasted just the opening half, being replaced at the break by Rowe.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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