LoI Fixtures 1 March to 4 March

[Ezeikial]

1
Premier Division


FRI
Cork City
19:45
Derry City


FRI
UCD
19:45
St Patrick's Athletic


FRI
Waterford
19:45
Bohemians


FRI
Finn Harps
20:00
Sligo Rovers


FRI
Shamrock Rovers
20:00
Dundalk


2
First Division


FRI
Bray Wanderers
19:45
Limerick


FRI
Shelbourne
19:45
Cabinteely


FRI
Wexford
19:45
Galway United


SAT
Cobh Ramblers
19:00
Athlone Town


SAT
Longford Town
19:30
Drogheda United







1
Premier Division


MON
Shamrock Rovers
20:00
Finn Harps

[Ezeikial]

Dates on thread title incorrect - perhaps a mod could amend to 1 March to 4 March

[Ezeikial]

After a stuttering start to the season, I'm very much looking forward to the match in Tallaght.

Dundalk have been creating loads of chances but have not been clinical in converting them. The defence has also been coughing up goals with no clean sheets so far this season. The injuries to Benson & McEleney have also disrupted midfield. The fitness of Sean Murray & Jamie McGrath is a concern and likely to be vitally important.

If Rovers come out to win rather than sit in for a draw, it could make for a cracking game

[patsdad]

Why was Hoops v Harps brought forward from May?

[Asterix]

Why was Hoops v Harps brought forward from May?

Tallaght is being used for the U17 championships in May.

[patsdad]

Ah... forgot that. Thanks for clarifying. A bit tough on Harps to have trips to Dublin on successive Mondays.

[joey B]

Ah... forgot that. Thanks for clarifying. A bit tough on Harps to have trips to Dublin on successive Mondays.

http://www.donegalsporthub.com/ollie-horgan-unhappy-with-harps-tallaght-trip-as-fixture-suggestions-fall-on-deaf-ears/?fbclid=IwAR0L28raWhVY8SJof8iyG_GRJlL1riwvRMICcOPb 7eOhFaAObwpiesoxPjo

Ollie not happy with it,numerous suggestions since December been put to the FAI to avoid this but of course no budging,Rovers played away on the 15th of February and won't leave Dublin for a fixture until the 22nd of March ironically against us,very kind scheduling for Rovers when you think about it.

[total hoofball]

http://www.donegalsporthub.com/ollie-horgan-unhappy-with-harps-tallaght-trip-as-fixture-suggestions-fall-on-deaf-ears/?fbclid=IwAR0L28raWhVY8SJof8iyG_GRJlL1riwvRMICcOPb 7eOhFaAObwpiesoxPjo

Ollie not happy with it,numerous suggestions since December been put to the FAI to avoid this but of course no budging,Rovers played away on the 15th of February and won't leave Dublin for a fixture until the 22nd of March ironically against us,very kind scheduling for Rovers when you think about it.
Yeah kind on Rovers harsh on Harps. I presume Harps would have lobbied for it to be played on a bank holiday (18th March/May 6th/June 3rd doesn't clash with any fixtures) or even switched it with your home game against Rovers on 22nd March?

[joey B]

Yeah kind on Rovers harsh on Harps. I presume Harps would have lobbied for it to be played on a bank holiday (18th March/May 6th/June 3rd doesn't clash with any fixtures) or even switched it with your home game against Rovers on 22nd March?

All suggested I think and rejected of course, we're not looking for much just a little understanding that players asking for time of work 2 Mondays in a row for trips to Dublin is tough......

[RathfarnhamHoop]

Yeah kind on Rovers harsh on Harps. I presume Harps would have lobbied for it to be played on a bank holiday (18th March/May 6th/June 3rd doesn't clash with any fixtures) or even switched it with your home game against Rovers on 22nd March?

Not really kind on rovers either, a second Monday night game in two weeks, after a big game against Dundalk, against a smaller team won't be kind to the attendance. Obviously worse for Harps than rovers being away and part time but it's not kind on anyone and I doubt either club is happy about it.

[Kingswood Rover]

The importance of games this early in the season really cant be underestimated. Looking at this logically all Mr Bradley will as a minimum want to do is avoid defeat and thats where we could come unstuck setting up that way plays in the teams mindset and one mistake later..... well we know the rest. We are Rovers we are at home if we want to finish closer to the top we need to be winning these games, simple as, Byrne up top instead of Bambi please Mr B.

[The Lilywhites]

Ollie not happy with it

Is he ever happy? Harps and their fans are the biggest moaners in the league. Get on with it.

[joey B]

Is he ever happy? Harps and their fans are the biggest moaners in the league. Get on with it.

Are you being ironic?

[Jack B]

Please jesus no more 3 at the back tonight.

[joey B]

Is he ever happy? Harps and their fans are the biggest moaners in the league. Get on with it.

La Liga passed a motion stopping Monday games today because of fans protests,I suppose all them pesky Spaniards are 'moaners' aswell!!!!!!

[The Lilywhites]

La Liga passed a motion stopping Monday games today because of fans protests,I suppose all them pesky Spaniards are 'moaners' aswell!!!!!!

Harps and their fans moan about everything. Monday games is only the latest thing for Horgan to complain about. It's tiresome to listen to.

[sbgawa]

On what planet is it unreasonable of a part time team to complain about having to play two successive Mondays in dublin when there plenty of other bank holidays etc?
The fai should take account of difficulties for clubs in the league, it's called running the league properly

[Nesta99]

Ollie Horgan is funny in how he plays things down but I dont see him as overly moaning about stuff, he's not in the same league as Kenny Shiels for random complaints. It is a burden for a semi pro team to have to travel away 3 times in 10 days for a few reasons. The scheduling doesnt get much thought but at the same time it isnt a big country and in relative terms we do a lot more complaining about travel than leagues in much bigger countries where long distance travel isnt an issue. Whats the longest trip time - 5 hours by coach or 45mins flight from Cork to Derry?

Few observations about the fist half in Tallaght -Rovers look nervy, very much like they fear losing more than anything. Dundalk generally better going forward with larger share of possession. Couple of wasted corners where the first man wasnt beaten. A bit of luck with the breaking ball in the box and there were chances there, other than that its been half chances with Dundalk looking more like creating something. The final ball hasnt been great with moves breaking down. Rovers definitely need a better presence up top to try and get on the end of a relieving clearance but having said that the keeper issue is well sorted and they could weel be behind bar a cool head in nets especially in added time of the 1st half. Some nice football being played but its sparring rather than the toe to toe stuff I expected, that will change and I think Dundalk can up the tempo and Rovers certainly have the ability in midfield to do something. Good crowd with the guts of a 1000 Dundalk fans there.

[marinobohs]

FT Waterford 0 Bohs 0. Decent away point. Still unbeaten and still to concede a goal.

[Nesta99]

How do you do a full half hour goal highlights shows with only 5 goals across the league lol

[ger121]

How do you do a full half hough goal highlights shows with only 5 goals across the league lol

Peter Collins is going to do Karaoke for 15 minutes

[pineapple stu]

Huzzah! A point thingy.

Think we're starting to find our feet now - but the next two games are huge

[Longfordian]

Cabo blow the First Division title race wide open.

[ger121]

Lovely view from up here. We'll enjoy it for as long as it lasts.

[nigel-harps1954]

Never in my life have I seen a more inept referee performance.

[Dalymountrower]

Brilliant Bohs performance tonight.
A really enjoyable game.
Stadium is like a morgue though, and no pub within two miles.Must
be the most pub bereft urban area in the 26 counties.

[Nesta99]

Lovely view from up here. We'll enjoy it for as long as it lasts.

I said similar after the first 3 games of Foster's tenure and took a screen cap of the league table thinking its probably as close as we'll get for a long time, little did I know what was to come :D

[Jack B]

****e again tonight, had a spell of about 15-20 minutes in the first half around when we scored where we were dominant but outside of that another stodgy performance where it looks like the players aren't sure of what their jobs exactly are. Certain players stand out individually but the team as a whole looks like it has a while to go yet before it all clicks.

UCD were ok, they played their way into the game and looked better the longer it went. They've got their style nailed down but are let down by certain players being well off the level of their better ones. They're very much learning on the job though so I wouldn't be surprised if getting their first point tonight will get them going.

[ToberonaTornado]

Funny old match at Tallaght.An exciting enough match without a lot really happening on the goal scoring front.A midfield tussle,scrap or whatever, that if it had of ended in a win for either side the other side would have felt aggrieved about the outcome. :)

We had a couple of claims for pens waved away(the Gannon one was a peno from my angle)Shams had one also when a flying ball hit an arm.Hoare smacked the bar and Shams cleared off the line.
Yer man Voijic nearly scored early for Shams and that was all he done.0)
Hoban was getting double man marked and looked very frustrated at times(Georgie Kelly to sub him wouldve have been the move ?) and Shields continued to be shields.Breaking up play everywhere and getting pain for doing so.Was MOTM.Dan Kelly,who started beacause Mountey got injured in the warm-up) was decent.
Dundalk are defo missing Benson and McEleney.


Not a great match by any stretch but still i thought it was a strange & entertaining one.

[Nesta99]

Rovers closed Duffy with 3 men at times which Benson/McEleney would have thrived with the space created arriving late. Looked to be a great battle with Kelly down the other wing too. Strange one with Mountney and as one of the more robust lads in the squad that has really bulked up the last couple of seasons he has become very injury prone. A few sloppy balls by both teams just played out to touch so it did have that early season feel to it. Its hard to compare where Rovers are at compared to last season with players out injured so it wasnt like for like with last season it that makes sense. I thought they looked reluctant to get forward in support of the front man and lacked a bit of confidence. I was watching on the skor feed so not great but Tallaght Stadium looks super with the additional stand, there looked to be a very big crowd up from Dundalk, just shy of half the stand. Would loved to have seen the main stand to see how it looked crowd wise. Pitch was in great condition. Was it narrowed as the technical areas looked huge or is that the norm. I was of the opinion that pitch dimesnions were submitted to the whichever association preseason and therefore couldnt be altered much during the season. I have no idea where I got that idea from but wouldnt be the worst rule to have but obviously thats 'cause it suits us to have the full possible width currently.

[dundalkfc10]

Rovers closed Duffy with 3 men at times which Benson/McEleney would have thrived with the space created arriving late. Looked to be a great battle with Kelly down the other wing too. Strange one with Mountney and as one of the more robust lads in the squad that has really bulked up the last couple of seasons he has become very injury prone. A few sloppy balls by both teams just played out to touch so it did have that early season feel to it. Its hard to compare where Rovers are at compared to last season with players out injured so it wasnt like for like with last season it that makes sense. I thought they looked reluctant to get forward in support of the front man and lacked a bit of confidence. I was watching on the skor feed so not great but Tallaght Stadium looks super with the additional stand, there looked to be a very big crowd up from Dundalk, just shy of half the stand. Would loved to have seen the main stand to see how it looked crowd wise. Pitch was in great condition. Was it narrowed as the technical areas looked huge or is that the norm. I was of the opinion that pitch dimesnions were submitted to the whichever association preseason and therefore couldnt be altered much during the season. I have no idea where I got that idea from but wouldnt be the worst rule to have but obviously thats 'cause it suits us to have the full possible width currently.

How’s many games have we played in Tallaght and you are asking were the technical areas bigger?

Neither team wanted to push on but rovers are terrible, long ball after long ball
Least we tired to play football

[Asterix]

How’s many games have we played in Tallaght and you are asking were the technical areas bigger?

Neither team wanted to push on but rovers are terrible, long ball after long ball
Least we tired to play football

At least we got shots on target :o

[Kingswood Rover]

Rovers closed Duffy with 3 men at times which Benson/McEleney would have thrived with the space created arriving late. Looked to be a great battle with Kelly down the other wing too. Strange one with Mountney and as one of the more robust lads in the squad that has really bulked up the last couple of seasons he has become very injury prone. A few sloppy balls by both teams just played out to touch so it did have that early season feel to it. Its hard to compare where Rovers are at compared to last season with players out injured so it wasnt like for like with last season it that makes sense. I thought they looked reluctant to get forward in support of the front man and lacked a bit of confidence. I was watching on the skor feed so not great but Tallaght Stadium looks super with the additional stand, there looked to be a very big crowd up from Dundalk, just shy of half the stand. Would loved to have seen the main stand to see how it looked crowd wise. Pitch was in great condition. Was it narrowed as the technical areas looked huge or is that the norm. I was of the opinion that pitch dimesnions were submitted to the whichever association preseason and therefore couldnt be altered much during the season. I have no idea where I got that idea from but wouldnt be the worst rule to have but obviously thats 'cause it suits us to have the full possible width currently.
Disspointing from my perspective as i said before the game with Greene out Bradley was making sure he did not loose. Carr and Vohic are not up to this standard from what i have seen this year and being able to hold the ball up is to my mind the number one priority of a lone front man. Geene can do that with the result that our mid-field gets up and around the danger areas as a unit. We never did that last night. some nice interplay in both mid fields last night but the stray pass killed a lot of the moves. The best away crowd from a LOI team i have seen in Talla for years. The move of the ultra's to the south stand has fcuked up our volume levels as a lot of the joiner inners who added their voices in the east stand have gone to the west in scatter groups. we stood in the old away end for the Derry game and then the end at the south stand. All of us agreed that the west is just too quiet. The joiner inners me included are reluctant to go in the south as we feel that you would only see half a game. so while the crowds have been excellent i think we need to work on creating a bigger volume of noise from our support.

[White Horse]

I thought both sides tried to play football and that there was some nice play in the midfield area. Dundalk looked dangerous down the wings and Daniel Kelly is looking like a vice nice addition. Dundalk didn't have the creativity in midfield areas and missed Benson and McEleney. As others mentioned, Rovers were very overloaded in their right hand side, and there was a lot of space to exploit in central areas, which Dundalk failed to do.

Rovers, as expected, lack a cutting edge up front.

Its very early in the season and both sides should get better with games.

[placid casual]

Agree with all of that.
Dundalk look like once they kick into gear they will be too much for any team, including a impotent looking Rovers.
Could have been a peno for both sides in 2nd half.
Shields has taken over the once-tackled-drop-like-a-stone-freekickick-winning role from odonnell so continuity there anyway!
Hoban for dundalk looked completely dissinterested all night.
Oki for Rovers just looks pi$$ poor. A long season of same old same old for Rovers it seems.

[total hoofball]

Cabo blow the First Division title race wide open.
It was open before the season kicked off, too many people underestimated that Shels have taken a serious gamble hiring a young inexperienced coach who will have to learn game by game despite with the quality of some of the players at his disposal

[RathfarnhamHoop]

How’s many games have we played in Tallaght and you are asking were the technical areas bigger?

Neither team wanted to push on but rovers are terrible, long ball after long ball
Least we tired to play football

Clearly you were watching a different match. If anything we were guilty of trying to play too much in the wrong areas.

[oriel]

Thought Dundalk shaded it last night but I still don’t think we did enough to win the game. Rovers as expected were strong in MF and given the absence of McEleney, Benson, and Mountney (just before ok) we probably battled ok in the end there and got on top in the second half.

Hoban should have been replaced by G Kelly with 15-20 mins to go not 8 mins. Then again this was the key observation of the game, neither side were good up front.

Overall happy with the point and our first clean sheet.

Ps. That is some stadium now, easily up to League 1 standard or SPL now.

[micls]

Dundalk fan on twitter saying Hoban had a strop when he was taken off?

Yed want to clamp down on that. Couple of weeks on the bench should sort him out....

[White Horse]

Dundalk fan on twitter saying Hoban had a strop when he was taken off?

Yed want to clamp down on that. Couple of weeks on the bench should sort him out....

I didn't notice that. He was subbed in the 88th minute, so was hardly taken off early.

Be careful what you wish for, many Dundalk fans would like see Georgie Kelly getting more game time. He is in fantastic condition, has pace that Hoban lacks, and is a great finisher.

[DFCForever]

Dundalk fan on twitter saying Hoban had a strop when he was taken off?

Yed want to clamp down on that. Couple of weeks on the bench should sort him out....
From his body language he looked diappointed and he sort of slumped into his seat on the bench. Hardly a strop, it could easily just be him being frustrated with his performance.

[ToberonaTornado]

Dundalk fan on twitter saying Hoban had a strop when he was taken off?

Yed want to clamp down on that. Couple of weeks on the bench should sort him out....

Stop,please.Some Dundalk fan on Twitter says....

I'm not going to even ask you to link me to the tweet.

Some Dundalk fan on Twitter says...

[ToberonaTornado]

From his body language he looked diappointed and he sort of slumped into his seat on the bench. Hardly a strop, it could easily just be him being frustrated with his performance.

but some dundalk guy on twitter....

[Yossarian]

Hoban has a strop this time last year when he was taken off and that turned out ok.
I think though that he should’ve been taken off a lot earlier, he hasn’t played well at all this season and looks disinterested at times.

[micls]

Stop,please.Some Dundalk fan on Twitter says....

I'm not going to even ask you to link me to the tweet.

Some Dundalk fan on Twitter says...

Thats a dramatic reaction to a tongue in cheek suggestion to drop the leagues top scorer.

Do you think there aren't any dundalk fans on twitter that might post something like that?

https://twitter.com/Curtis__94/status/1101772960631848960?s=19

[mcgonigle]

Shields has taken over the once-tackled-drop-like-a-stone-freekickick-winning role from odonnell so continuity there anyway!


Spot on, continuity is key. He's also taken over the best-player-in-the-league role as well

[Longfordian]

Longford 3 Drogs 0 full time. Fantastic win.

[osarusan]

Longford 3 Drogs 0 full time. Fantastic win.

Excellent win. I thought you looked decent in midfield but not all that threatening up front against us last week, but tonight must have been different.

[Longfordian]

Excellent win. I thought you looked decent in midfield but not all that threatening up front against us last week, but tonight must have been different.

We have a couple of young forwards in Dobbs and Byrne who will likely be a bit inconsistent but both are talented and scored tonight. Verdon coming back will give us another 10-15 goals all going well.

[joey B]

Disappointing night for us last night, Sligo will be delighted with the win given their injury problems and probably deserved too given they looked solid at the back without doing that much going forward,as for us we're struggling to create chances from open play,Boyd for a big man doesn't hold the ball up well enough , McAleer was excellent when he came on and has to start I'd say, tough game on Monday now ........