SEÁN BOYD knows at first hand how Ollie Horgan likes to talk his teams down.
But the Shelbourne striker is under no illusions about the size of the task facing his side at Eamonn Deacy Park tonight.
Shels are still leading from the front, four points clear of Derry City, with champions Shamrock Rovers a further four adrift.
A late win on Corribside on Monday night — courtesy of a Garry Buckley own goal — means the Hoops cannot be discounted.
But the Reds forward is fully aware — from his time playing for Horgan under Finn Harps — that the Galway assistant’s modesty about his current side, who are just three points off third, can be taken with a pinch of salt.
Boyd said: “Galway are brilliant if you think about it, aren’t they?
“They’re probably similar enough to the Finn Harps team we had a few years ago.
“Ollie is there too but they have really good players throughout their whole team, dangerous players. They are really effective.
“I said to Ollie when we played them in Tolka, ‘Yiz are flying, aren’t yiz?’ and he was like, ‘No, no, no’, playing it down but that’s Ollie in a nutshell.”
Horgan’s fatalistic — or he would argue realistic — outlook even when things were going well became the stuff of legend during his time in charge of Harps.
Boyd said: “We used to laugh as players and I’m sure the Galway players are similar.
“They’re looking around the dressing room and saying, ‘There’s good players here, we’re really good’.
“Ollie is the way he is, I don’t know what way to describe it but he’s probably always worried about losing.
“I think there’s a big fear of losing, disappointment or whatever.
“He’s like that in the media and he would never big up any team he’s managed or coached.
“He just gets on with his job and wants the best.
“I don’t know John Caulfield but a couple of lads played under him and they loved him as well so there’s no surprise.
“They’ve got really good players and two great men leading the charge.
“We went up there before and Galway ripped us to shreds.
“We didn’t really have a chance so it’s a tough game.
“It’s probably as hard as they come. It will be very tough but we’re looking forward to it.”
HISTORY
Boyd, 26, previously played on loan at Harps before signing permanently ahead of the 2021 season after a year out as a result of tearing his ACL whilst playing for the PFA Ireland’s out-of-contract side.
And he revealed that Horgan had to be persuaded to take a chance on him by then-assistant Paul Hegarty.
Boyd said: “I actually don’t think Ollie was the man who wanted to sign me at Finn Harps.
“I had to ring Paul Hegarty and be like, ‘Come on, get me in’.
“It was just training originally and eventually Ollie came around it.
“He gave me a chance, signed me, so I’ll be forever grateful, he’s a great man.
“I have to say I love him, I would still try to keep in touch with him. He helped me a lot, he’s amazing.”
Shels got the better of Galway at home in the FAI Cup last month, winning their second-round clash on penalties.
Boyd missed that game with a calf injury but came on in the quarter-final defeat by Derry City last week.
COMPETITION
While he was sidelined, former Ireland international Aiden O’Brien arrived at Tolka Park.
But Boyd is hoping to convince his gaffer Damien Duff that they can play alongside each other.
He said: “I’ve probably been careful.
“You don’t want to come back too early and be out for the rest of the season if it happened again.
“Aido has been great, he’s real mature, a real leader, he’s kind of taken the dressing room and really fitted in.
“Hopefully we can get on the pitch together at some stage and see what we can do.
“We played a few minutes against Derry but obviously the game, the way it went, it was hard to really get any momentum going.”
