LOI fixtures Fri 23rd March thru Monday.

[RathfarnhamHoop]

I didn't see the banner, but it sounds like it was intended to goad and incite local fans.

Why not simply support your own team rather than insult others?

Pot kettle black

[micls]

In my opinion, neither Dundalk or Cork are as good as they were last year. They are both rebuilding their sides having lost key players.

Cork won the title on the back of a player who started for the national team within a year of leaving them. How often does a talent like that come from the league?

The difference between the rebuilding at Dundalk and Cork is that I can see Dundalk getting significantly better as the season progresses.

The difference from your perspective, of course. From ours, we'd see our own situation similarly. McLoughlin has come in at the back as a young lad, and been outstanding since he did. Our starting right backs have been injured and Benno hasn't played yet. As I said, defense is a concern, without a doubt. But JC's teams have always been solid defensively, and I expect him to sort it out and for us to improve significantly there.

I think we've the best central mid in the league and I'm not concerned by our ability to score. We've got more than enough talent up front. Also, I absolutely love Barry McNamee. We've got a star there, which is brilliant considering how we signed him!

We were never going to match last years start, and I doubt that was anyone's expectation, but I do expect us to be pushing to retain the league, something we've never done.

All in all, it makes for an interesting year ahead. I genuinely don't see Rovers or Waterford being serious title contenders this year, purely on the back of what we've seen so far. But who knows, it has to happen sometime! The dundalk City thing can't last forever.

[RathfarnhamHoop]

Third loss from 8 games for Rovers. 0 wins from 4 games against the rest of the top four (City, Dundalk and Waterford) and their Derby with Bohs. I didn't see tonights game as I was at the Cross for the MSC final and I missed the City - Dundalk game as I was out of the country. I've seen Rovers twice and Waterford once. Waterford looked the better team to me in that game.

Thats funny because Waterford fans that have seen Rovers, Dundalk and Cork are saying Rovers are the best of the 3, and thats with 10 men for 80 minutes and a centre mid in left back for 45 minutes

[outspoken]

I watched the game back this morning. I thought Rovers were absolutely crap, especially first half. They’ll go no where with Bradley.

[micls]

Thats funny because Waterford fans that have seen Rovers, Dundalk and Cork are saying Rovers are the best of the 3, and thats with 10 men for 80 minutes and a centre mid in left back for 45 minutes

Judging teams on one game against you is inherently flawed, but very common on here. Anyone judging us on our game vs Dundalk would think we should be relegation candidates, not top of the league. There's also recency bias, I ****ing hate that club bias, and more.

We'll have a decent idea at the end of the first series where teams actually stand.

[RathfarnhamHoop]

Judging teams on one game against you is inherently flawed, but very common on here. Anyone judging us on our game vs Dundalk would think we should be relegation candidates, not top of the league. There's also recency bias, I ****ing hate that club bias, and more.

We'll have a decent idea at the end of the first series where teams actually stand.

I know, thats what I was pointing out about el'p's post. I'd honestly say I won't judge any team until the end of series two, home and away can be a huge decider in some games, this season especially.

[micls]

I know, thats what I was pointing out about el'p's post. I'd honestly say I won't judge any team until the end of series two, home and away can be a huge decider in some games, this season especially.

In reality though, by the end of series 2 some teams will be well out of it, whatever the head to heads show. But yeah, it should be fairly clear by then who's in it.

[RathfarnhamHoop]

Don't be alarmed everyone but Athlone are winning a game. 1-0 Athlone vs Longford in the first minute Rory McCullough with the goal

[patrickccfc]

Don't be alarmed everyone but Athlone are winning a game. 1-0 Athlone vs Longford in the first minute Rory McCullough with the goal

They are now losing 3-1. Dundalk also 1 up in sligo.

[pineapple stu]

5-1 now.

Is Kilkenny's record under threat?

[Longfordian]

Could have easily been 10 according to reports. They signed a keeper from UCD’s LSL team apparently who managed to make some good saves. Must be demoralising for the players.

[sulywaterfordfc]

Thats funny because Waterford fans that have seen Rovers, Dundalk and Cork are saying Rovers are the best of the 3, and thats with 10 men for 80 minutes and a centre mid in left back for 45 minutes

Personally think of the three Dundalk played the better football. Finn is classy though, Burke could be some player. Cleary at back would of made some difference to Rovers, Rovers have worst keeping of the three Imo

[outspoken]

Could have easily been 10 according to reports. They signed a keeper from UCD’s LSL team apparently who managed to make some good saves. Must be demoralising for the players.


And all Town fans would agree we were f*cking **** tonight. Brutal game of football. They need to be kicked from the league I’m sorry but a tin pot set up to say the least

[ToberonaTornado]

Nice win for Dundalk in Sligo tonight.I wish we could start matches as well as we finish them with Rovers almost catching us cold early but once the Hoban goal hit the net the match was as good as settled.
Mick Duffy(motm) on the wing was brilliant for us and his goal was superb.
Sligo,as we expected,played well albeit in patches but lacked the killer punch in front of the nets with Rogers and the defence dominant and quick to cut out any threat.(a rovers player? missed from about 8 yards with the goal at his mercy)
Great also to see the return as a sub of John Mountney.Benson getting his form back it seems.Sean Hoare is a player guys.

Looking forward to the Bohs match now on Friday.

[bluemovie]

Personally think of the three Dundalk played the better football. Finn is classy though, Burke could be some player. Cleary at back would of made some difference to Rovers, Rovers have worst keeping of the three Imo

Yeah Dundalk were very impressive last week. Rovers were good with ten men. Cork underperformed against us, but had enough wiliness to get on top in the second half and win.I'd see Rovers as a clear third ahead of the rest with us battling with Pats, Derry, Bohs for midtable spots. 14 clear of Bray already and 8 clear of Sligo. Early days, but I don't see us in relegation trouble come the end of the year. Winning without Kenny Browne was massive for us. Feely is our third choice centre back and he's out so Comerford had to play out of position and did a great job. Duffus is starting to find his sharpness, Vigouroux has been excellent and Stanley Aborah is magnificent. Great game, win, attendance and atmosphere. Lots of momentum behind us after a decade in the doldrums.

[Ezeikial]

Stephen Kenny praises Sligo Rovers with a positive assessment for their prospects in the season ahead-


Sligo created more chances tonight against us than any other team, by some distance – they probably created more than the whole of the rest of the matches together We haven’t conceded that many chances and I think they created quite a few. I think they will cause teams problems – home and away this season. Sligo have had a few draws alright, and here is nothing in the league table between fourth and ninth. They’ll to alright this season.

https://audioboom.com/posts/6747861-stephen-kenny

To his credit no mention of the robust challenges and dangerous play from a number of Sligo players, in particular Kyle McFadden - it was a mystery how he managed to stay on the pitch.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Nice win for Dundalk in Sligo tonight.I wish we could start matches as well as we finish them with Rovers almost catching us cold early but once the Hoban goal hit the net the match was as good as settled.
Mick Duffy(motm) on the wing was brilliant for us and his goal was superb.
Sligo,as we expected,played well albeit in patches but lacked the killer punch in front of the nets with Rogers and the defence dominant and quick to cut out any threat.(a rovers player? missed from about 8 yards with the goal at his mercy)
Great also to see the return as a sub of John Mountney.Benson getting his form back it seems.Sean Hoare is a player guys.

Looking forward to the Bohs match now on Friday.

Thought Dundalk were certainly the better team but very disappointed that we handed ye the 2 goals. As we have been doing for most of the season. Still encouraged enough with the performance. Great save by Rogers right at the start.

[White Horse]

Thought Dundalk were certainly the better team but very disappointed that we handed ye the 2 goals. As we have been doing for most of the season. Still encouraged enough with the performance. Great save by Rogers right at the start.

That performance will get you points in most games. Players need to be more careful with desperate tackles though, bookings can mount up into reds, and giving away so many frees puts your back four under a lot a pressure. Pressure that they buckled under last night.

Having said that, Kenny is right in saying that Sligo created more against Dundalk than the other six teams we played against did in the other six games.

[pineapple stu]

Is seven clean sheets in a row at the start of the season a record?

[White Horse]

Is seven clean sheets in a row at the start of the season a record?

Technically yes, as Drogheda kept seven clean sheets at the start of a season in the 2000's. However, one of those games was later expunged from the records.

[Mr A]

Ah, a good old fashioned expungment.

By golly it's been a while.

[seand]

Drogs conceded 12 minutes into their 8th game in 2006 so that's the next mini benchmark for Dundalk's defence (assuming you count Drogs' clean sheet against Dublin City, which would of course be wrong )

[Ezeikial]

Drogs conceded 12 minutes into their 8th game in 2006 so that's the next mini benchmark for Dundalk's defence (assuming you count Drogs' clean sheet against Dublin City, which would of course be wrong )

So, a packed defence for the first 13 minutes against Bohs on Friday?

[patrickccfc]

Scenes when bohs score on 11 minutes

[SeanDrog]

Drogs 1-0 Harps c. 20mins Harps down to ten men for handball in the box.

[SeanDrog]

Drogs 2-0 Harps

Purdy got the second.

[wonder88]

Was up at the Sligo v Dundalk match, Duffy very good for Dundalk and they were clearly the better team. However two bad errors from Sligo defenders caused the Dundalk goals, and Sligo had/created good chances which they failed to take. Noticeable difference between the strength of both teams, Sligo players were often brushed off the ball by their opponent, work to do here by Little.
Enjoyable game for a neutral and a nice welcoming setup at the Showgrounds.

[SeanDrog]

Drogs 2-0 Harps

Purdy got the second.

Drogs 2-1 Harps FT - injury time goal from Harps

[sbgawa]

Trevor clarke out for rest of season......gutted for the kid just at the wrong time for him. This was the season for him to really push on.
Feared the worst when he went off in tears the kid is hard as nails. Good luck to him coming back. Massive loss to rovers but secondary concern really.

[Ezeikial]

Trevor clarke out for rest of season......gutted for the kid just at the wrong time for him. This was the season for him to really push on.
Feared the worst when he went off in tears the kid is hard as nails. Good luck to him coming back. Massive loss to rovers but secondary concern really.

That's a big blow, for the player in the first place but also for the team. Taking Kavanagh to LB probably the only solution (unless O'Brien goes to Lourdes). Clarke is probably the most exciting young player in the league

What is the injury?

[nigel-harps1954]

Drogs 1-0 Harps c. 20mins Harps down to ten men for handball in the box.

Unbelievable decision by the ref. One of the best defensive blocks you will see in any game of football.

Referee had a complete nightmare, as did the linesman in front of the Harps support.

Thought it was a poor game. Any chance of a game of football breaking out was killed by Harps red card. It was one of Paddy McCourts poorest games in a Harps jersey, we missed Tommy McBride and Ciaran Coll through a bug, their presence on the field was sorely missed. Michael O'Connor worked his balls off but was left isolated up front by himself feeding off scraps.

We lacked any sort of urgency when we went 2-0 down too. It almost felt like an acceptance of defeat, so early on in the game.

[sbgawa]

Kavanagh was doing fantastic further up so will be missed for that if he go's to LB but could happen alright.
Don't know what t he injury is kinda assume it's ligaments given the way he went off.....beyond gutted for him , he played All over the place filling in for us last season deserved a chance to play consistently in his best position of LB. He turned 20 today !!Great birthday present

[Charlie Darwin]

That's a big blow, for the player in the first place but also for the team. Taking Kavanagh to LB probably the only solution (unless O'Brien goes to Lourdes). Clarke is probably the most exciting young player in the league

What is the injury?
It was a fairly innocuous tackle he made that seemed to be the last straw. He could have been injured before so hard to know, but reading the context you'd guess it was knee ligaments. He didn't seem to be in a huge amount of pain but those can be the worst injuries.

For LB, Luke Byrne would be the main man but he has his injury problems too. Kavanagh has done a lot of defensive work to let Clarke forward this season so should be able to slot in fairly easily, but obviously you're losing an attacking player then.

[Ezeikial]

For LB, Luke Byrne would be the main man but he has his injury problems too. Kavanagh has done a lot of defensive work to let Clarke forward this season so should be able to slot in fairly easily, but obviously you're losing an attacking player then.

The Rovers defence is dodgy enough as it is, without Luke Byrne adding more calamity.

Lee Grace is the only half decent fit defender on front of possibly the worst keeper in the league. Bradley watch will be particularly interesting over the coming weeks

[White Horse]

Trevor clarke out for rest of season......gutted for the kid just at the wrong time for him. This was the season for him to really push on.
Feared the worst when he went off in tears the kid is hard as nails. Good luck to him coming back. Massive loss to rovers but secondary concern really.

Terrible news for the young lad. Many thought that this was going to be his season to make his mark.

These injuries can take a yard of pace away from a player.

[Charlie Darwin]

The Rovers defence is dodgy enough as it is, without Luke Byrne adding more calamity.

Lee Grace is the only half decent fit defender on front of possibly the worst keeper in the league. Bradley watch will be particularly interesting over the coming weeks
First Division for us so.

[RathfarnhamHoop]

Was bound to happen sooner or later, only way most defenders can stop him is by kicking him, easily the most fouled player in the league, and most of them go unpunished.
That said the foul in waterford was a fair one. Just hope the lad doesn't lose a yard of pace because of it.

[Ezeikial]

That said the foul in waterford was a fair one.

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air"