Weekend fixtures 27/28/29 July

[ToberonaTornado]

Forgot the Shams v Rovers match is on Eir.
N i c e 1.

Bray Wanderers v Cork City
Derry City v St Pats
Limerick v Waterford
Shamrock Rovers v Sligo Rovers

First Division
Athlone Town v UCD
Galway United v Cabinteely
Shelbourne v Longford Town
Wexford v Drogheda United

Saturday, 28th July:
Cobh Ramblers v Finn Harps

Sunday, 29th July:
Dundalk v Bohs

[micls]

3-0 to us in the Carlisle at HT. Shep with 2 and Buckley with the other.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Crazy game in Limerick. 1-0 home side, both teams down to ten at HT. Limerick man sent off after 2 minutes, last man back. Holland saves the peno. Limerick score one at the other end. Waterford man sent off after a bad tackle he got the worse of.

[dong]

Tunes at half time in Tallaght.

[Philosophizer]

Watts has already become Rovers best player.

[redarmyfaction]

Seems to be a very poor crowd at Tallaght.

[El-Pietro]

Cracking free kick from Gary McCabe

[Philosophizer]

Goal by Watts

[pineapple stu]

Come on Wexford!

[ToberonaTornado]

Karl Moore scores a hat-trick on his debut for Shels who are currently thrashing Longford 5-1
Didn't he only join them from Bohs Weds or yesterday :confused:

[Real ale Madrid]

4 red cards at the Brandywell?

[pineapple stu]

Looks it - Bermingham, Thomas Byrne, Toal and AN Other. And Pat's missed a peno.

[Philosophizer]

2-0 rovers. Finish by Shaw after keeper parried a Watts shot from outside box

[pineapple stu]

Wexford 0-0 Drogheda result. Fantastic stuff from the home side after playing the last 40 with ten men.

7 point gap at the top now. We don't seem to have been great - only beat Athlone with an early penalty - but at least got the win. Starting to look very good for us now I think.

[NeverFeltBetter]

We are not dead yet. An incredible night at the Markets Field and badly, badly needed.

[CraftyToePoke]

We are not dead yet. An incredible night at the Markets Field and badly, badly needed.

I thought last week was the end of us, but you never know after tonight. Five home grown players and six local in all played a part ? Great evening, and as you say badly needed.

[TonyD]

Looks it - Bermingham, Thomas Byrne, Toal and AN Other. And Pat's missed a peno.

Don't know the circumstances, but Thomas Byrne is a head case and a loose cannon. Always seems to be on the verge of getting a card, either red or yellow. Shame, as he is a serious talent. He really needs to sort his head out though.

Nothing going right for us at the moment, last weeks comeback aside.

[osarusan]

Considering the financial troubles and all that, the f**king heart in the Limerick squad is fantastic. Lads all over the pitch busting a gut all night long.

[sbgawa]

Def cheering for you boys now.

[dong]

2-0 rovers. Finish by Shaw after keeper parried a Watts shot from outside box

Was a fairly even game for the most part but couldn't say it was an unfair result either.
Worst atmosphere I can ever remember against Shams. Small enough crowd and those who were there very quiet. I suppose when your season is over its harder to get too excited and not like ye are pushing for a title either. Still though I remember some great times the last time we were sh1t when ye were in Tolka.

[placid casual]

Rudimentary win for Rovers.
Sligo came for a draw, and got what they deserve. Poor 1st half, but 2nd half only one team wanted to win. Watts was the best player on the pitch -thanks bozos.
Onwards.

[Dalymountrower]

Rudimentary win for Rovers.
Sligo came for a draw, and got what they deserve. Poor 1st half, but 2nd half only one team wanted to win. Watts was the best player on the pitch -thanks bozos.
Onwards.
He is a good player alright , your fans seem to have deserted you though.
With your dwindling crowds you will be hard pressed to keep paying his wages .

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

It was like being at a friendly game there tonight. Shocking atmosphere.

As for the game thought we did well first half and should have scored the chance that hit the bar but second half only one team looked like doing anything.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Down from Dublin for the weekend, first MF game since the win over Bray, was expecting a fairly straightforward Waterford win, went more just to pay-in and help the team.

Two minutes in, Wearen off, had my view obstructed by a pillar, presume it was last man back not helped by some mouthing off. Tremendous save from Holland.

From there, was stunned by how well Limerick played, actually passing the ball around when they had it and not hoofing at every opportunity. They had to give Waterford space, especially on the right - Hutchinson should have been a critical player, but wasted a lot of great positions - and it worked out with the penalty at the other end (too far away to see it clearly and give a judgement). The Waterford red I initially thought was going to be a second Limerick sending off. I hope that since he went off with assistance and without the stretcher it might not be too bad. Terrible coming together however it was.

Hery's equaliser was maddening, with Limerick getting sucked in to an early attack and leaving so much space at the back. Hery just kept coming on and coming on and the Limerick defence kept backing off and backing off, waiting for the lay-off, until Hery was past the penalty spot and just had to kick it into the gaping net. Thought that was the beginning of the end, and Waterford had so much ball, so many corners, so many chances and half-chances, they should have put us away. At least one decent penalty shout for a trip on Akinade too. Paul Keegan had so much space in midfield, he was running the show for Waterford, and they missed him when he was subbed.

Duggan's winner was incredible, can only presume the Waterford goalie saw it too late. He was a bit off his line too. Obviously too far away to comment too much on that last Waterford chance, they all seemed certain it had crossed the line (and the corner it came from, looked like it hit a Limerick hand on the way out). Limerick lost out to officials last week, this week was different.

I wouldn’t even say Limerick were all that good. A lot of determination shown, from Duggan, Fitzgerald and Holland especially, others were not so good. Maguire and Ellis were criminally slow before both were brought off, Coleman looked like he was playing with an injury. But they held on, riding their luck big-time. This group of players, this club, needed a result like this and they gave it to us.

Just over a thousand in the gate, would have been more but for the weather, but still a decent crowd. A good proportion of it were Waterford fans, maybe 150/200?

I don't want to under estimate what this night meant. More distance from Bray, just a win away from Sligo and outright safety. More than that, it was an enthralling game of football that serves as a reminder that Limerick FC should exist. We can't let this club die, not with nights like these.

[ToberonaTornado]

Good post ^^^ passion in it/
:pyou probably NEVER FELT BETTER after watching the match. :eek:
Good luck to Lims for the rest of the season,decent club,good skins down that direction.

[nigel-harps1954]

Shades of 2015 about these Limerick posts..

Let's hope it ends in a similar fashion, as I do believe UCD have effectively wrapped up the First Division title. Barring an awful collapse, they should win it now, being 7 points clear with five games to play.

[Philosophizer]

It was like being at a friendly game there tonight. Shocking atmosphere.
I brought along a German mate to the rovers match tonight. He's a regular at Dalymount the last couple of years and even though he admitted that rovers set up is far superior in almost every way to Dalymount he said Dalyer has something Tallaght doesn't - a soul!
Although you have to take into account how sickening it was for him to see Watts absolutely running the show for Rovers.
Tallaght is actually a brilliant venue when you think about it. Perfect transport links with the Luas line and excellent accessibility by car. Hundreds upon hundreds of parking spaces. Shopping centre only 2 mins away with lots of restaurants etc, There are bars and hotels closeby. The ground is modern, and still expanding.
But it was just so flat tonight.

[RathfarnhamHoop]

Very poor crowd in Tallaght, suppose poor opposition and on TV didn't help but still poor, and the football didn't exactly inspire those that were there. Sligo were poor, I'd be very worried if I were a Sligo fan especially with Limerick winning.

[sbgawa]

Flat atmosphere tonight , did people expect a routine win after the AIK and Waterford games??
On a great run of form at the moment hopefully will continue. Great win for limericks tonight Sligo and bohs need to be careful

[Charlie Darwin]

Was a fairly even game for the most part but couldn't say it was an unfair result either.
Worst atmosphere I can ever remember against Shams. Small enough crowd and those who were there very quiet. I suppose when your season is over its harder to get too excited and not like ye are pushing for a title either. Still though I remember some great times the last time we were sh1t when ye were in Tolka.
Atmosphere has been poor for the last few games Sligo have played here. Sligo are good at taking the tempo right down and we're still not good enough to dictate things when decent teams do that. Poor attendance too, which I don't understand.

[trevy]

Only 1 win in 5 now for Waterford so we are struggling to hold on to 3rd place with Shamrock Rovers only 1 point behind and in much better form. Great report Never Felt Better. It sounds like we were in hard luck again but we can't blame luck alone for our recent form.

[CorribsideSteve]

Very poor crowd in Tallaght, suppose poor opposition and on TV didn't help but still poor, and the football didn't exactly inspire those that were there. Sligo were poor, I'd be very worried if I were a Sligo fan especially with Limerick winning.

Looked to be only 1500 - 1800 at it, if even. Shams really should have higher crowds than they get. Their league average attendance isn't much better, circa 2,500. Still, solid win last night, unbeaten stretch growing nicely.

[Poor Student]

Shades of 2015 about these Limerick posts..

Let's hope it ends in a similar fashion, as I do believe UCD have effectively wrapped up the First Division title. Barring an awful collapse, they should win it now, being 7 points clear with five games to play.

3 wins out of 5 games against Cabo, Cobh, Harps, Drogs and Longford required. Only teams who could conceivably catch us by now would be Drogs or Harps but they'd need to win 100% of their run in. Harps also have the disadvantage of a poor goal difference.

[Philosophizer]

Fair play to the students. It's even more impressive when you hear that this year they've gone 100% with scholarship students - absolutely no outside players at all. Last year it was 90% apparently, and they felt they could improve team ethic if every player was in exactly the same situation i.e. on scholarship. I think it was a brilliant move, and clearly they're reaping the rewards!

[brendy_éire]

Don't know the circumstances, but Thomas Byrne is a head case and a loose cannon. Always seems to be on the verge of getting a card, either red or yellow. Shame, as he is a serious talent. He really needs to sort his head out though.

None of us were sure what happened with the sendings off.
Ball went out for a Pat's throw, whilst in the box a City player went down. Que a red card (maybe to Byrne), a bit of handbags, and two more reds. Didn't seem to be a whole lot in it really. We'll have to wait for the replay on that one.

On the match itself, we were ok. Just ok. Pat's were slightly the better side, though a draw would have been a fair enough result. Both teams were missing chances they really shouldn't have been.
Needless to say, Pat's should have had the three points with the penalty. Lovely to see Killian Brennan, of all people, have it saved. Atmosphere was buzzing after that.
Pat's came very close to scoring then, Ryan Brennan's shot was blocked on the line, but we went up the pitch and scored.
Patterson, in typical form, barely celebrated, gave the finger to someone (maybe the bench), and sauntered on off he pitch at FT without engaging the crowd, not even shaking Shiels's hand. Classic Rory.

Second time this season we've stolen the win from Pat's at the Brandy. Harsh on them, any other time, they'd have got at least four points from those games.

[Ezeikial]

Pat's came very close to scoring then, Ryan Brennan's shot was blocked on the line, but we went up the pitch and scored.
Patterson, in typical form, barely celebrated, gave the finger to someone (maybe the bench), and sauntered on off he pitch at FT without engaging the crowd, not even shaking Shiels's hand. Classic Rory.
.

I get the impression that you consider his behaviour in a positive light almost as some sort of admirable laddish affectation.

[Philosophizer]

Patterson, in typical form, barely celebrated, gave the finger to someone (maybe the bench), and sauntered on off he pitch at FT without engaging the crowd, not even shaking Shiels's hand. Classic Rory.

I don't know much about Patterson. I take it this type of thing is commonplace for him?
Always thought he was a very good CF whenever I've seen him. Is he not an automatic starter these days??

[osarusan]

Two minutes in, Wearen off, had my view obstructed by a pillar, presume it was last man back not helped by some mouthing off. Tremendous save from Holland.

Wearen pulled his shirt, which can't be considered a legitimate attempt to get the ball, so he had to go. If he had tackled and flattened him, it would probably just have been a yellow.

[MattB11]

Harps win in Cobh to go joint second Mikey Place penalty the only goal of the game, that's 13 point's from 15 since the break and 5 clean sheets

[ToberonaTornado]

Ref and lino unsighted and miss goal for Waterford in Friday's match at the MF

https://twitter.com/rayhibs/status/1023242147955437570

[NeverFeltBetter]

Yeah, that was 93rd minute and all. I was at the opposite end as stated, but I bunch of us around me thought it was in from the way the Waterford players reacted. I will say that between Holland's body, the packed penalty area from the refs perspective, and the rain, people shouldn't be too harsh on the officials for this specific incident.

Doesn't change the fact that the officials are bad in the league. Limerick found that out the previous weekend, and I know we will again before the season is over.

[brendy_éire]

I get the impression that you consider his behaviour in a positive light almost as some sort of admirable laddish affectation.

It's more a weary acceptance of it at this stage of the game.
He's well known for having an attitude problem which probably doesn't do a lot of good for the team, but he won't change. It can be an entertaining soap opera to watch, mind.


I don't know much about Patterson. I take it this type of thing is commonplace for him?
Always thought he was a very good CF whenever I've seen him. Is he not an automatic starter these days??

There's always something. He was dropped for the Cork match for some rumoured misbehaviour in Minsk.

He's a good CF, with a noticeable improvement in his passing of late, but he's not an automatic starter, no. Realistically, he can't perform at 100% for 90 minutes.
Personally, I'd use him as a second half sub.

[Candystripe]

I agree with Brendy about Patterson. The guy is an arrogant git. But he's our arrogant git.
Defo not a starter especially since Roy signed.

On to the game and Pats must feel absolutely robbed twice in the Brandywell this season.

But what an end to the game from the penalty save til the 5 mins of injury time the Brandywell was rocking. Hopefully that gets us an extra 400+ in for the game against Sligo on Friday night.

[oriel]

Bohs made it very tough for Dundalk tonight, they were well set up and we had to work hard enough for the 3 points.

Some decent patches of play by Dundalk in the second half especially when McEleney came on, but overall quite a tired performance. Just glad of the win and back on top.

[Kingswood Rover]

Looked to be only 1500 - 1800 at it, if even. Shams really should have higher crowds than they get. Their league average attendance isn't much better, circa 2,500. Still, solid win last night, unbeaten stretch growing nicely.
i think the average is better than 2 .5 k, i think after 5 years of abject mediocrity our average is just about acceptable, had Cork and Dundalk had the same served up to their paying public they could struggle to get that average. BEST SUPPORTED AVERAGE TEAM IN THE COUNTRY IS THE HOOPS.

[Ezeikial]

. BEST SUPPORTED AVERAGE TEAM IN THE COUNTRY IS THE HOOPS.

That's brilliant.

A new mediocrity measurement.

[sbgawa]

Lol like that definition. It has the right ring of optimism and beaten down acceptance of a rovers supporter in the post Miltown era ....it's the hope that kills you 🤩

[El-Pietro]

i think the average is better than 2 .5 k, i think after 5 years of abject mediocrity our average is just about acceptable, had Cork and Dundalk had the same served up to their paying public they could struggle to get that average. BEST SUPPORTED AVERAGE TEAM IN THE COUNTRY IS THE HOOPS.

This is an interesting point, so I took a look at our clubs averages over the past few years and I don't think there's much real difference between the support levels at Shamrock Rovers and Cork City. I think our highest is potentially a little higher, and maybe your absolute bottom level is a littler higher but in a mediocre season where our club isn't fighting for the title but is maybe looking at getting into Europe via 3rd or 4th I think we'd draw similar crowds. Its hard to do an exact comparison because we haven't ever had identical seasons



Attendance

2018

2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010


Cork City
4488
4559
2,533
3,263
3,777
1,965
2,786
2,128
1,693


Shamrock Rovers
2806
2809
2,041
2,890
2,269
2,763
3,127
3,779
3,794


League Position

2018

2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010


Cork City
1-2
1
2
2
2
6
6
1
6


Shamrock Rovers
3-4
3
4
3
4
5
4
1
1



Our league title winning season, and the following season (we could yet retain it we will have to wait and see) we had higher crowds than your title seasons by about 20%. Our worst Premier Division season in recent years we fell below 2k, and I'd be surprised if you bottomed out that low, though I suspect we have done some work to ensure we don't fall to that level again either.

Overall though, if we take out the title seasons from both clubs (including us this year) and our first division seasons and we average right about the same.
Our average attendance from 2012 to 2016 is 2865. Yours between 2012 and 2018 is 2672. Given that we have a few second place seasons in there that probably explains the slight difference. Maybe if you had been consistently in the top two over the past few years you might have averaged slightly higher, its hard to know.
Given how far from contending for titles you have been the last two seasons I think Rovers crowds are generally very good.

[sbgawa]

That's interesting stuff.
I'm inclined to agree if you consider how far off chalwnging we have been the crowds have been reasonable.

[Mr A]

I was over at a conference in Manchester and got chatting to one of the community officers at FC United. When I mentioned Rory Patterson to him he described him as one of the worst human beings he had ever come across. Good footballer though.