11th-14th March Fixtures

[Charlie Darwin]

Deservedly lose to Harps, deservedly beat Cork - deeply weird start to a season.
How about those Brandywell dugouts though?

[WoodquayBoy]

Two wins from two, delighted with that start. Bray were absolute pants last night, we missed chance after chance after chance, thought it was going to be one of those nights. Then we score and at same time Bray go down to 10 men when Harding limps off and Bray having already used their 3 subs. They had a couple of chances to snatch a goal but they just tired and we hit 3 in last 10 mins for a deserved, and unflattering, win. For the first time in years I'm actually a small bit confident ahead of a visit to the Showgrounds on Monday

[D24Saint]

Who said it that my & another posters pre season assessment of Bray was the kiss of death.

[outspoken]

Longford started OK and should have been 1 up after a couple of minutes when Haverty was left unmarked in the box but had his shot blocked. Did very little after that though and Pats were on top for most of the game

Sending off was for 2 yellows and both absolutely deserved. Ref was rubbish all night but gave both teams some iffy decisions

In the second half. Longford played very deep and Pats took their time going forward. Goal was well worked. Longford stayed very very defensive until about 5/10 to go and then had a bit of a go. Restricted to shots from distance though

First yellow was very harsh, second tackle was nothing short of brain dead. Referee was awful and there was a clear push in the back on one of our centre backs for the Fagan goal. Very unimpressed with pats, bar Fagan they don't look anything special at all which is a shame as they are usually one of my favourite teams to go and watch.

[Charlie Darwin]

Who said it that my & another posters pre season assessment of Bray was the kiss of death.
To be fair, Mick Cooke picking Alan Byrne in midfield was the kiss of death.

[WoodquayBoy]

And leaving last year's club player of the year, Hugh Douglas, on the bench. And Corcoran as well.

[D24Saint]

Cooke doesn't seem to rate Douglas for some reason, decent CB at LOI level.

[SwanVsDalton]

How about those Brandywell dugouts though?

Much better than last week, although Kenny Shiels has floated the idea of putting the home dugout on 20-foot stilts for an even better tactical view.

[D24Saint]

Put it in the graveyard even better again.

[oldyouth]

Very disappointing to leave without anything at Tallaght. Had some good chances but didn't take them and were punished. I think Youths built up Rovers away up to more than actually presented itself on the night. Lesson learned. Anyway, much better than the previous game.

On a side note, Rovers stewards very friendly, courteous and helpful. Credit where it is due

[passinginterest]

Rovers - Youths was fairly turgid. Youths won most of the physical battles on the night and arguably had the more clear cut chances but Rover ground out the win. Murphy and Furlong will need to be taking the type of opportunities they missed if Youths are going to avoid relegation. Rovers still lacking any real creativity, apart from the odd flash, and they look lacking a bit of physicality too, can't see Killian Brennan and Gary McCabe striking fear into too many other central midfield pairings this season. Youths lack pace up front but they are well organised and worked hard, Murphy up top has a bit of class about him but still needs to lose a bit of timber.

[oriel]

Apart from the alleged trouble pre match in Derry, discussed on a separate thread, can any Cork fans who were at the match comment on the match? what were the reasons for the defeat, as this is a match that cork have recently done very well in.

Was the Bolger red card warranted? Also does he miss the Longford game on Mon or the Dundalk one next Friday or both? I'm undecided if I want to see him play or not, he won't be popular with Dundalk fans for a variety of reasons, not giving 100% when he was with Dundalk is the top one, bailing out after one season is next (after being injured for months) but whatever the reasons getting a red in your second competitive game for your new club is not a good start.

[DRDoc]

Was the Bolger red card warranted? Also does he miss the Longford game on Mon or the Dundalk one next Friday or both? .

He misses Monday

Depending on what he was sent off for he could be given additional ban

What was he sent off for?

[White Horse]

I'm undecided if I want to see him play or not, he won't be popular with Dundalk fans for a variety of reasons, not giving 100% when he was with Dundalk is the top one, bailing out after one season is next (after being injured for months) but whatever the reasons getting a red in your second competitive game for your new club is not a good start.

If Cork are without Bolger, they will have to revert to their route one game. They don't have anyone else near the class of Bolger to pull the strings and link the back four and midfield. People were raving about Maguire after the Bohs game but it was Bolger who impressed me.

I always liked him as a player but as you say he did not cover himself in glory in his time at Dundalk. We had a good team that year but he looked uninterested. Didn't he only come to Oriel as his move to Sporting Fingal fell apart when the franchise went bust?

[D24Saint]

AFAIK Fingal paid UCD 20k for him but went bust soon after.

[pineapple stu]

Without seeing the Bolger red, I think we can assume it was warranted.

Yep, afaik we never got the transfer fee out of Fingal - but we took their Setanta Cup spot when they went bust, so it balanced out in a LoI kind of way.

UCD v Cabo saw the sons of a one-time UCD strike force up front - Ben Hanrahan for Cabo (who scored) and of course Ryan Swan for UCD.

That's about as interesting as the game got really.

[oriel]

If Cork are without Bolger, they will have to revert to their route one game. They don't have anyone else near the class of Bolger to pull the strings and link the back four and midfield. People were raving about Maguire after the Bohs game but it was Bolger who impressed me.

I always liked him as a player but as you say he did not cover himself in glory in his time at Dundalk. We had a good team that year but he looked uninterested. Didn't he only come to Oriel as his move to Sporting Fingal fell apart when the franchise went bust?

That's correct Bolger had already signed with Fingal then he became a free agent and joined Dundalk just before start of 2011 season. He will definitely miss tomorrow night, wonder if it's just a one game ban. He did well in that live TV match v Bohs on the opening night.

[brendy_éire]

Cork were poor enough on Friday night. Granted, we started well and controlled the pace of the game, but the tempo and drive that we were expecting from Cork just didn't appear. They'd a few wee chances, but nothing of note really, and I'd say we were good value for our win.
Cork are still a quality side though, you can tell that. Maybe they could just put it down to a bad day at the office?

As for the Bolger red, definitely. It was a mad challenge, miles away from the ball, just inside the Cork half. Can't understand what he was thinking. I'd dare say he got some bollocking after.

Some grainy footage is available here. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=46f84vX8mik
The goal is at 3:02, the challenge at 4:02.

[White Horse]

The goal is at 3:02, the challenge at 4:02.

That was a dreadful kick by Bolger, high and from behind.

[wonder88]

Really bad foul that by Bolger.
I was impressed by Kevin Devaney in the Galway Bray game, reminds me a bit of Tony Galvin. Bray lost 4 players to injury on the night as well, and apart from one cross Dylan Connolly had little influence on the game. Ref, who was called Buttimer, had a good game.

[D24Saint]

That was a dreadful kick by Bolger, high and from behind.

Part of the course with Bolger his whole game is played on the edge which sometimes he treds over , one of the best DM I've ever seen.

[Ezeikial]

Ref, who was called Buttimer, had a good game.

I'm still trying to make sense of that sentance

[El-Pietro]

Harps worked hard but had very little up front. Their main threat is set pieces but Dundalk are so good at defending those.

Don't think we lost a single game away from home in the league last year.

[El-Pietro]

Cork fans very conspicuous by their absence!

Long way home from Derry!

[ForzaHoop]

Monday night is brutal especially with Paddies day coming up
Rovers as appreciated will have small support tonight which is a a shame for Harps

[El-Pietro]

Don't think we lost a single game away from home in the league last year.
I'll correct myself, we got battered by Rovers 3-0 in Tallaght.

[White Horse]

Monday night is brutal especially with Paddies day coming up
Rovers as appreciated will have small support tonight which is a a shame for Harps

It's ridiculous. We have to get to Wexford. Just one bus going, and perhaps another 20-30 by car. I'd be surprised if we even get 100 there.

[outspoken]

It's ridiculous. We have to get to Wexford. Just one bus going, and perhaps another 20-30 by car. I'd be surprised if we even get 100 there.

I think I may be the only car making the trip from Longford to Cork. Second year in a row we've had cork away on a Monday.

[Town Legend]

I think there's one or two other cars going down to Cork, same as last year!

You'd think the league would have the games midweek more localised to allow more away fans the chance of travelling. Derry v Harps, Galway v Sligo and Longford, Dundalk and Bray playing Dublin clubs and Wexford play Cork.

Im surprised the league didn't put Harps and Cork playing each other!

[nigel-harps1954]

I'm particularly miffed that I cannot travel to Donegal tonight either. These weekday games are both senseless and pointless at the same time. We've already one of the longest off-seasons in Europe, extending the league out another 3 or 4 weeks either at the start or the end of the season should be looked at to get rid of this nonsense.

Besides all else, for the part-time teams in the league it means a full day or at least half day off work for some players. It just doesn't make any sense.

[Yossarian]

I'm particularly miffed that I cannot travel to Donegal tonight either. These weekday games are both senseless and pointless at the same time. We've already one of the longest off-seasons in Europe, extending the league out another 3 or 4 weeks either at the start or the end of the season should be looked at to get rid of this nonsense.

Besides all else, for the part-time teams in the league it means a full day or at least half day off work for some players. It just doesn't make any sense.

This all makes perfect sense but the problem is the clubs don't want to extend the season as it would mean they have to pay players for the extra 4-6 weeks or whatever the time.

[Dodge]

Don't think we lost a single game away from home in the league last year.

Cork won just 9 away games last year. Same as a poor Pats team

[nigel-harps1954]

This all makes perfect sense but the problem is the clubs don't want to extend the season as it would mean they have to pay players for the extra 4-6 weeks or whatever the time.

Isn't that exactly the sort of amateur thinking that has the league left behind the rest of Europe though? Proper budgeting takes care of that sort of thing.

[PartySaint]

You'd think the league would have the games midweek more localised to allow more away fans the chance of travelling. Derry v Harps, Galway v Sligo and Longford, Dundalk and Bray playing Dublin clubs and Wexford play Cork.

!

The problem with that is the the big derby games that would get decent crowds get hit. We play Bohs tonight, one of our biggest gates of the season, now a good few hundred is taken off it. I'd much rather we had a Longford or Galway tonight tbh.

[White Horse]

Really bad foul that by Bolger.

Should only have been a yellow card according to John Caulfield!

[oriel]

I saw that challenge by Bolger this am on u tube, it was a wild chop down and there was no reason for him to take the guy down like that, as he was just inside the half. Looked like a moment of madness.

Totally agree on the ridiculous scheduling of games tonight with the additional long trips put on clubs that could easily have been planned better by the lge. Rovers in Donegal, Longford in Cork, Dundalk in Wexford, plus some teams already had very long trips on Fri night.

[El-Pietro]

I saw that challenge by Bolger this am on u tube, it was a wild chop down and there was no reason for him to take the guy down like that, as he was just inside the half. Looked like a moment of madness.

Totally agree on the ridiculous scheduling of games tonight with the additional long trips put on clubs that could easily have been planned better by the lge. Rovers in Donegal, Longford in Cork, Dundalk in Wexford, plus some teams already had very long trips on Fri night.+
We have two of our four longest away trips (Derry and Dundalk, with Sligo and Harps being the other two) 7 days apart with a home game thrown in for good measure, there's clearly been no thought put into this.

[Mr A]

The other side is that if you put derby games on weekdays the home team would suffer from a reduced crowd. The happy compromise would be to schedule mid week games for bank holidays instead but that doesn't seem to be considered.

[Yossarian]

Isn't that exactly the sort of amateur thinking that has the league left behind the rest of Europe though? Proper budgeting takes care of that sort of thing.

Of course. There are only three rounds of games scheduled for midweek this season so surely extending the league season by three weeks at the least wouldn't have a major impact financially, with some proper forward planning (which I realise is a fanciful notion in the LoI).

[osarusan]

hahaha look at all of you worried about trips for Monday night games.

Premier Division losers.

[gufcfan]

Isn't that exactly the sort of amateur thinking that has the league left behind the rest of Europe though? Proper budgeting takes care of that sort of thing.

Sure why don't we just reduce the Premier to 8 teams and play two rounds of seven, like WNL, but do it over three months. THINK OF THE SAVINGS!

Champions League here we come!

[Trainee]

Cork, St Pats & Sligo all 1 up

[patrickccfc]

City 3 up at half time.. should've been more but by the way it's going there probably will be more

[Longfordian]

Yeah 4-0 now. I had a look at our team and was expecting something like this to be honest. It's going to be a long season I think.

[Longfordian]

6-0, blow it up ref for the love of god.

[kksaints]

6-0, blow it up ref for the love of god.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAUY1J8KizU

[Nesta99]

Cork City home and away are two completely different animals altogether, As long as it stays that way for their trip to Oriel!

[SwanVsDalton]

Sounds like it was pretty comfortable for us down in Bray. Another clean sheet and two more for R Patz - things are looking up.

[nigel-harps1954]

Sounds like it was pretty comfortable for us down in Bray. Another clean sheet and two more for R Patz - things are looking up.

Watched some of it. Bray were bloody awful. Criminal defending for some of the goals.

One mistake cost Harps tonight. Sickening that a penalty separated the sides.

[El-Pietro]

Longford were appalling. We could have scored 10 or 12. They had no fight in them at all, stood off us for the whole game.