Ollie Horgan bats away Euro talk as Galway United defy lacklustre Bohemians

And while Galway United coach Ollie Horgan, standing in for touchline duties as boss John Caulfield serves a five-game dugout ban, has cooled talk about European qualification for his in-form side but still spoke of his pride in seeing Galway overcome challenges and deal with all-comers.

Yesterday’s 1-0 win away to Bohemians, a result gained despite playing for a third of the game with 10 men after winger Karl O’Sullivan was sent off, was no smash-and-grab, though it did sum up the anti-Dublin mood of the Bank Holiday fixture list as Bohs, Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic all lost to provincial clubs in games they’d have expected to win.

​Galway were better than Bohs in every department and not just the scoreline, taking the lead on 19 minutes with Maurice Nugent’s first goal of the season. Bohs delivered one of their worst displays in some time as under-performing players may not just have played themselves out of the team but also out of the club, such was the poverty of their display.

“There’s huge pride there, huge togetherness. That will never be faulted with a team that John’s involved in or I’m involved in and, if it is, we’ll have to look at ourselves. I don’t think that’s ever a criticism of the changing-room in there,” Horgan said after the Dalymount win which put his side into the European places as he urged calm.

“Don’t get me wrong, I said this inside, I remember Finn Harps won the first three games of the season and they were talking about going to Europe so, come on, we’re long enough around the place. It is a good result, we stuck together, they’re a good group, they’re very much together. The first goal was crucial.”

After successive displays where they were less than convincing, away to bottom side Dundalk and at home to champions Shamrock Rovers, Bohs fans would have demanded better from this home tie.

Their dismal first-half efforts can be summed up in the fact that Alan Reynolds made three changes at half-time, taking off the ineffective Dylan Connolly, Danny Grant and Michael Lilander and the Bohs side were out on the field and ready for the second half while Galway were still in the comfort of the dressing room.

The home side just never got going while United looked at ease and it was no shock when Galway took the lead with the first real chance.

Reynolds and his staff will be horrified at the soft nature of the goal, Nugent given far too much space out on the left as he ghosted past Connolly and sent in a shot which Kacper Chorazka appeared to have saved but he somehow palmed the ball over the line.

Bohs were way off the pace and it took until the last minute of the first half for them to mount any sort of an attempt on goal, from defender Paddy Kirk.

Reynolds was ruthless with those three half-time changes and there was a chink of light for Bohs when Galway were reduced to 10 men on 57 minutes, O’Sullivan dismissed for two bookable offences but Bohs struggled to make the most of the one-man advantage. They had the bulk of possession but 10-man Galway stood firm.

Everything about Bohs lacked conviction, illustrated on 71 minutes when James Clarke did well to create a chance with a cross into the box but the header from James Akintunde lacked power.

BOHEMIANS: Chorazka; Lilander(Matheson 46), Mills, Keita (McDaid 65), Kirk; McDonnell, Flores; Connolly (Piszczek 46), Clarke (Reinkort 78), Grant (Miller 46); Akintunde.

GALWAY UTD: Clarke; Esua, Brouder, Slevin, Kazeem (O’Keeffe 78); O’Sullivan, Hurley (Gaxha 78), Hickey (McCormack 70), Nugent (Borden 54), McCarthy; Walsh.

REF: P Norton