Hat-trick hero Eoin McCormack was happy with a job well done after Galway United avoided a potential banana skin by beating North End United in their Irish Daily Mail FAI Senior Cup tie in Ferrycarrig Park on Saturday. McCormack's treble and a goal
Hat-trick hero Eoin McCormack was happy with a job well done after Galway United avoided a potential banana skin by beating North End United in their Irish Daily Mail FAI Senior Cup tie in Ferrycarrig Park on Saturday.
McCormack's treble and a goal from Conor Barry had the westerners four goals to the good at half-time against the FAI Junior Cup holders, although the attacker says it could have been a different story but for some decent saves from goalkeeper Tadhg Ryan.
“They were well in it in the first 20 minutes but Tadhg kept us in the game. They had two or three one on ones and if they had got one of them it would have been totally different, we would have been chasing the game. We're just happy with the win and to get into the next round. That's what cup football is all about,” he said.
McCormack was unsurprisingly delighted with his own contribution as he confidently took his chances to snuff out any whiff of an upset.
“That's the first hat-trick I've got since the Connacht Cup final (when Ballinasloe Town beat West United 3-2) but you go through good and bad runs. In the first-half of the season, I couldn't hit a barn door but thankfully things went right for me today.”
With games running out it's unlikely that Galway will be able to claim a coveted First Division play-off place as they sit six points behind fourth placed Drogheda United, but McCormack says they haven't given up the ghost just yet, although he does admit that a good cup run might be their best hope of finishing the season on a high.
“We're still going to give it our best go. We had a great chance last week (against Drogheda United). We were 2-0 up at half-time but they clawed their way back into the game. You live and you learn in football.
"We'll keep pushing at the league but we're not too sure how that's going to go. We need to win our remaining four games. A nice cup run would definitely keep us going for the end of the year and keep it interesting,” he said.
