Galway United beaten by dominant Dundalk
Galway United 0
Dundalk FC 3 P. Doyle, 8’, D. Leahy, 22’, J. Adams, 25’.
Galway United fell to a 3-0 defeat against Premier Division side Dundalk FC in Eamonn Deacy Park on Wednesday night.
With both teams in the middle of pre-season, it was clear that this friendly was an experiment for both sides. Dundalk gave minutes to new signings, with Darragh Leahy the only player from the previous campaign in the starting XI. Galway, meanwhile, handed appearances to a number of trialists, with defender, Evan O’Connor, going straight into the side following his unveiling on Wednesday afternoon.
It was evident that this was a Galway side that were still getting to grips with one another, as Dundalk flew out of the traps from the first whistle. This was rewarded in just the sixth minute, as Joe Adams found himself in acres of space on the left wing. His accurate cross found Paul Doyle in the box, and the former UCD man tucked away a fine first-time finish to get his first goal for the Lilywhites.
Galway had their moments, but were lacking some cohesion, as one of the trialists tried to pick out Francely Lomboto with a through-ball but couldn’t work it to the striker’s feet.
Dundalk doubled their lead in the 22nd minute. A fluid team move saw Robbie Benson and Keith Ward combine to win a corner on the left. The cross was swung in, and this time it was Leahy who was on hand to power a header home, despite the best efforts of Galway’s trialist goalkeeper.
The moment of the match came three minutes later. Adams, who has joined Dundalk from Premier League outfit Brentford, picked up the ball in the Galway half and set off on a mazy run. He stole into the box, dummied the Galway defender magnificently to get back onto his right foot, and capped a fine move off with an elegant lob over the onrushing keeper. As the Eamonn Deacy Park crowd applauded, Dundalk were 3-0 up and out of sight at half-time.
Galway started the second half well. Lomboto found himself through again but was stopped by an excellent recovery tackle from the experienced Mark Connolly at the heart of the defence.
By the 60th minute, Galway manager John Caulfield had seen enough, and rung the changes, making nine subs and changing the entire team. Immediately this new side were more direct, with Jordan Adeyemo doing well to find Wilson Waweru in space, but he delayed his shot and Dundalk were able to clear with ease.
Although Galway kept pushing for a goal, Dundalk were able to draw on their experience to see the game out. They handled the last quarter with relative ease, and although Galway left-back Alex Murphy got a header away from a free kick in the dying minutes, it sailed harmlessly over the bar, compounding Galway to defeat against a very strong Dundalk outfit.
Galway United: Trialist, Stephen Walsh, Gary Boylan, Charlie Lyons, Manu Dimas, Shane Doherty, Francely Lomboto, Evan O’Connor, Trialist, Conor McCormack, Trialist.
Subs: Conor Kearns, Conor O’Keefe, Mikie Rowe, David Hurley, Jordan Adeyemo, Wilson Waweru, , Killian Brouder, Alex Murphy, Ronan Bambara, Trialist
Dundalk: Nathan Shepperd, Mark Connolly, Sam Bone, Robbie Benson, Keith Ward, John Martin, Darragh Leahy, Steven Bradley, Dan Williams, Joe Adams, Paul Doyle.
Subs: Peter Cherrie, Michael Keys, Patrick Hoban, Tadgh Walsh, Mark Hanratty, Ryan O’Kane, David McMillan.
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