Galway United came away from Belfield on Friday night with a point following a 1-1 draw with UCD. Danny Furlong notched his fourth goal in just two games to give the visitors the lead, but they held it for less than ten minutes, as Josh Collins heade
Galway United came away from Belfield on Friday night with a point following a 1-1 draw with UCD. Danny Furlong notched his fourth goal in just two games to give the visitors the lead, but they held it for less than ten minutes, as Josh Collins headed the Students level.
Manager Shane Keegan tells our reporter Peter Branigan that poor planning meant they started the game on the back foot.
"We were very sloppy in the first-half.
"To be fair, that’s a management issue. We left Galway too late, didn’t allow enough time for traffic. So that’s something for us to correct.
"The last twenty minutes were our best of the game, and we looked then like we were going to be the team to nick it."
It was an end-to-end game at the Bowl, with both keepers having to make saves. Keegan says this was part of the plan, from his point of view.
"We were a little bit open in the middle of the field. That meant they found spaces in that area of the park. We went for a very attacking midfield line-up because we wanted to hunt them in their half of the field.
"Tadhg Ryan made one outstanding save off Georgie Kelly, and we need him to keep doing things like that. He is top notch, he’d be as good as any keeper in this Division."
Having finished third last season, UCD, perhaps surprisingly, haven’t been included in many pundit’s predictions for a top-four finish in 2018. But Keegan believes they’ll do well.
"I think they’ll finish top three. You could count on one hand the amount of times they’ll be beaten at Belfield this year.
"Daire O’Connor was excellent for them, he’s a class act. He’s a fella we’ll be showing video clips of to the lads, in terms of his movement. I was scratching my head throughout the game trying to stop him."
For Galway, they’ll face Dublin opposition next week once more in the shape of Cabinteely. The Kilbogget Park side have made a disappointing start to the season, and Keegan says there are points there for the taking.
"If we play to our potential, it’s a game we feel we can win. But we haven’t quite reached that level so far in the couple of games.
"It’s the exact opposite to last year, when we were playing well, but getting few points. This season, we could definitely be playing better, but we are managing to pick up the points. So I’d take that every day."
