Galway United went into their clash against Longford Town at Eamonn Deacy Park on Friday evening knowing a win would see them leapfrog Longford Town in the First Division table, but instead the Tribesmen suffered a 4-1 defeat and saw their promotion
Galway United went into their clash against Longford Town at Eamonn Deacy Park on Friday evening knowing a win would see them leapfrog Longford Town in the First Division table, but instead the Tribesmen suffered a 4-1 defeat and saw their promotion hopes dissipate with it. United boss Alan Murphy, the club’s all-time top scorer and player-manager, kept the team in for half and hour after the game before addressing the media, and he was damning in his assessment of what the result means for the team. “I think the honeymoon period is over – I think that’s the best way of putting it,” Murphy said. “Passion, endeavour, hard work, ability – there was none, unfortunately. So, that’s the league done in terms of any progression. So, it’s now the cup.” When asked what his post-match team-talk was about, Murphy explained that it was less to do with addressing just the Longford result, and more to do with “life in general”. “Guys need to look at themselves in the mirror now, not just performance-wise, but they genuinely need to look in the mirror in terms of whether they want to be a League of Ireland player or not. The sacrifices you make with your home, your life, family, your fitness, the way you mind yourself – all these things need to be looked at. “We have a squad at the moment that was cruising for a long time, at a level of mediocrity and they have jumped into that pool of averageness again tonight. “Longford are a decent passing side, but when you look back on the first goal tonight, it didn’t come from any great passing ability from Longford. It came from a long ball from the ‘keeper up the pitch, one header, pass out wide and a cross into the box. That’s simple tactics if you want to call it that, but simple tactics to be able to defend as well. “You don’t win the first ball? You might win the second ball. You don’t win the second ball? Stop the cross. You don’t stop the cross? Defend the cross. Consecutive errors. I don’t think it’s anything to do with coaching, that’s to do with want and professionalism,” he explained. United were pushing for three home wins on the trot, but they are now facing into the final few games knowing that the FAI Cup (and the impending clash against Bohemians) is their only real hope of salvaging something from the 2018 campaign. SSE Airtricity League reporter Trevor Murray asked Murphy how difficult it would be for the side to lift themselves ahead of that away clash – and despite the gloom around Deacy Park, Murphy was upbeat in his assessment of getting a result. “The viable objective is that some players that have not had a chance will be given a chance now, and rightly so – that will be refreshing for the club to be in a situation to be able to do that to give guys a chance that may not have got one if we were still in the hunt for a play-off position. That’s a positive in my book. I didn’t want it to be like that, but everyone has to start somewhere. In my own career, I started for five or 10 minutes down in Sligo Rovers and my first touch I kicked the ball straight out of play, so they’re the things that have to happen in order to progress. “In terms of winning something or silverware, yes the cup is huge now in order to keep this club going in terms of finance, confidence, publicity around the place. Do I still think a win next week against Bohs is achievable? Absolutely, I do, because I still have faith in mine and Mark [Herrick]’s ability to be able to organise a team for a one-off game at this present moment in time.”
