Utd steal the points thanks to Farragher’s late winner

Shamrock Rovers B 1

Keith Kelly at Eamonn Deacy Park

GALWAY United were given the runaround by a bunch of kids last Friday night, but just when it looked like they would have to settle for what would have been a scarcely deserved draw, Kevin Farragher popped-up to head home a winner four minutes into injury-time for the grandest of larcenies this side of the Belarussian election.

As good as they were against UCD the previous Monday, United were well below par on Friday night against a second-string Shamrock Rovers side that featured nine teenagers in the starting XI – including one 15-year-old and two 16-year-olds.

In another time, United would have wobbled away with a draw – at best – but the new-found confidence instilled in the side by John Caulfield since his arrival less than a month ago is plain for all to see, and while the win didn’t mean the gap on the top five was closed, what it does give is momentum, and coming towards the end of a season, that is a precious commodity.

As for Caulfield, Friday’s win means he is only the second-ever manager in United’s history to begin his managerial tenure by winning his first three league games. The only other man to achieve that feat was the legendary Tony Mannion, who took charge of United for the first time in the 1985/86 season and saw his side win their first five league games.

In fact, Mannion presided over a 16-match unbeaten run in that 22-game league season, with the first defeat coming in what was effectively a title-decider against Shamrock Rovers in Terryland on March 2. If Caulfield can match that kind of start, you can be sure it will lead to a spot in the play-offs.

“It was a game I was really worried about all week. We played two games away, a midweek match that saw us get home at 2 in the morning, and Rovers are a dangerous team, very quick, beautiful on the ball, and we were second best for much of tonight,” Caulfield said after the game.

“There haven’t been a lot of smiles around the club in a while, and coming off the pitch and winning those two games last week, you could see the smiles on their faces, and it was the same there tonight.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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