Galway away

**GUISAUltra** · 08/08/2008, 11:44 AM

sound we'll see ye sometime after 5

**pineapple stu** · 09/08/2008, 7:15 PM

Vital win. Fitz started at left wing especially to annoy Kenna, and within ten minutes he'd set up the goal and gotten Lester sent off. We went to sleep then - maybe assuming the rest was a formality - and Galway could well have been level by half time. Second half we started off well, but Galway got a deflected equaliser and had a penalty call turned down, though YouTube seems to show it was a dive. But after that, Galway started getting tired and we had a few chances before Timmy pounced at the end.

Timmy had a great game, Gregg was excellent, very calming; Meenan did well up front and Finn was superb when he came on. Overall, it was the same old story for large bits really - not creating much in the way of decent chances at crucial stages, but a win's a win.

**Claret Murph** · 10/08/2008, 12:17 PM

I would say the best team won on the night as we could not handle the pace which you had going forward . But when it came down to it you moved up a gear when it was 1-1 and got the winner I can't say much else really but well done .

**Poor Student** · 10/08/2008, 6:03 PM

Originally Posted by Claret Murph

I would say the best team won on the night as we could not handle the pace which you had going forward . But when it came down to it you moved up a gear when it was 1-1 and got the winner I can't say much else really but well done .

Funny, I thought Galway edged it in terms of quality and possession. Very disturbing considering you had ten men. Your defending was poor but you gave it great effort and brought the game to us. I felt Mahon got his tactics right in terms of blitzing Galway for pace, particularly putting Fitzgerald on Kenna but our midfield play was very loose and we failed to impose ourselves there. I'm absolutely delighted to have taken the three points and hope it can spur us onto better form but I'd have expected us to do better against 10 men.

I'm also delighted to see Purcell get back into the team and score. Meenan looked lively up front also but I feel he'd be better used on the left wing with Fitz on the right. McWalter played poorly in spite of putting in his usual excellent workrate. His inability to lose the man and his general wastage of the ball in threatning situations is helping to blunt the team and leave us ineffectual in attack.

**Schumi** · 11/08/2008, 9:21 AM

Originally Posted by Poor Student

our midfield play was very loose and we failed to impose ourselves there.

I thought both sides had that problem. When we had the ball, we went through Galway quite effectively but the reverse was also true.

**Trainee** · 11/08/2008, 9:31 AM

when we were 1 nil down and down to 10 men we were by mile the better team prob should have been 1 all at half time.

when we got to 1 it looked like Gufc would score 2 or 3 and win the but UCD made 1 -2 subs which worked for UCD as they got on top in last 20 mins, got a chance, scored and won the game.

**Schumi** · 11/08/2008, 9:49 AM

That's a fair summary, I was impressed by Galway after they went to 10 men and for a period after they equalised they looked more likely to win it. It seemed to be tiredness as much as anything else that did for them near the end which surprised me given that they're full time.

**gufct** · 11/08/2008, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by Schumi

That's a fair summary, I was impressed by Galway after they went to 10 men and for a period after they equalised they looked more likely to win it. It seemed to be tiredness as much as anything else that did for them near the end which surprised me given that they're full time.

The Match against Derry took a lot out of our team not making an excuse though.

**Terry-Lander** · 11/08/2008, 11:46 AM

Obviously I'm disappointed we lost but I don't think we ever looked like winning. I couldn't see where a goal was going to come from. Players trying to tee the ball up instead of having a shot, with the exception of Murphs and Jay (both midfield). We needed Glynn on earlier to inject pace and run at the defence. Ye deserved your win (imo) but if I was unfortunate enough (

) to be a ucd supporter I would be very worried at the inability to finish off ten men with no real midfield, a very slow rb and deadwood fitz at cb. Having said that Mahon got the tactics spot on.
Good luck for the rest of the season.

**HarpoJoyce** · 11/08/2008, 2:12 PM

Originally Posted by Terry-Lander

Obviously I'm disappointed we lost but I don't think we ever looked like winning. I couldn't see where a goal was going to come from. Players trying to tee the ball up instead of having a shot, with the exception of Murphs and Jay (both midfield). We needed Glynn on earlier to inject pace and run at the defence. Ye deserved your win (imo) but if I was unfortunate enough (

) to be a ucd supporter I would be very worried at the inability to finish off ten men with no real midfield, a very slow rb and deadwood fitz at cb. Having said that Mahon got the tactics spot on.
Good luck for the rest of the season.

That highlighted part is sufficient to describe us this season. We have tried to walk the ball into the net numerous times or don't trust our shooting and lay and re-lay the ball off to another player. Not to be too painful, but our first goal had up to four UCD players in the box getting a touch.

Regarding the future, I'm thorn wheather the four-way tussle is an indoor cycle race (with each competitor waiting for the other to make a move) or a slow bicycle race, where last is first.

I do think Finn Harps have shown they can win themselves out of trouble (5 excellent wins) and Galway have the best shape to force another/continue a succeeding run. UCD need to keep with the others. We play some of that knot of mid-table teams at the same time, that has been our route out in the past.

**pineapple stu** · 11/08/2008, 3:40 PM

Originally Posted by HarpoJoyce

Not to be too painful, but our first goal had up to four UCD players in the box getting a touch.

Just the two, as the highlights show (though it was intended for Timmy, not Kinger)

Agree we struggled much more than we really should have done, but on the other hand, we've now gone through the second series of games without a defeat against a bottom half team (taking Sligo as a bottom half team; it's not technically true, but I'd expect Rovers to finish ahead of them at this stage - Sligo's squad is so stretched they only had ten players for their last A League game, of whom two came off injured!), while we lost to all the top half teams!

**Schumi** · 11/08/2008, 3:46 PM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Just the two, as the highlights show (though it was intended for Timmy, not Kinger)

Yeah, I thought Timmy had touched it back to King at the time. It wasn't quite as messy as I'd thought. The Evan tackle doesn't look like a peno from that angle either but I'd like to see it from the side we were on again before being sure.

taking Sligo as a bottom half team; it's not technically true, but I'd expect Rovers to finish ahead of them at this stage

Hmm.