LOI fixtures 22/23 March

[joey B]

Premier Division
FRI Finn Harps v Shamrock Rovers

First Division
FRI Cobh Ramblers v Shelbourne
FRI Athlone Town v Longford Town
FRI Galway United v Drogheda United
FRI Wexford v Bray Wanderers
SAT Cabinteely v Limerick

[outspoken]

Midlands Derby has live online commentary tonight from 7:30pm on Mixlr.com/BetweenTheStripes

Expecting this to be a close run thing. Athlone a very decent team this season, Longford still yet to fully find their groove but certainly showing glimpses that they will. We haven't played on this new 4g before, when I watched Athlone in pre season the pitch was only a few days down and it was very slow and lacking in any real bounce, I'd imagine it probably hadnt been brushed right because a lot of people have commented how quick it is and with a bit of drizzle falling this morning it may take a good 10-15 minutes for us to settle into the game.

If we are talking about promotion and the play offs this year we have to win this game as we are already playing catch up and have Shels and Bray coming up in next 3 weeks. I reckon we nick it by the odd goal but could be an absolute classic.

Have to say it's great to have the derby back again, it has been simply a walk over in years gone by with no hype no atmosphere but if expect a good 200-250 to travel over tonight and they had almost 700 at their last game so could we see 800-900 tonight? I'm hoping so

[wonder88]

interesting to see what attendances will be like at 1st division games this weekend with the pitch nearly all to itself.
important game n Terryland for both sides. Galway should have an idea to what level they are after tonight.
Big opportunity for Stephen Bradley's team up in Donegal always better to have the points on the board, than games in hand.

[Longfordian]

So have Athlone fans stopped their boycott now that they’re enjoyable to watch then? Has anything changed in terms of club management?

[Briuk]

Is there going to be Soccer Republic this week?
It would be great if for once they'd cover the first div.

[Scrufil]

No Longfordian there is still a significant amount of the former support who have not returned. There are a few who did drift back but I am not amongst those. I think the novelty of the new surface attracted people for the first game but by and large the main group going down were parents with a kid attached to the football side of things.

This may not be the correct place on the forum to air my grievence about Mr Delaney and the FAI but how in heavens above were Athlone ever granted a licence after the betting scandal? This should be asked before the upcoming political argey bargy of committee questions. Second was it true that the same crowd attempted this with Galway? The FAI due diligence is like having a blind Lollipop Man guide you across the street.

There are still players owed money by Athlone. But somehow the FAI and Athlone Town AFC have swept this under the carpet.

Would love to be watching the game tonight but my mental health comes first!

[SeanDrog]

Mad 1st div results

Cobh 2-1 Shels
Athone 0-1 Longford
Galway 0-1 Drogs
Wexford 2-0 Bray

[Longfordian]

The First Division is a mad place. We can go top in theory if we win our game in hand but a lot could happen between now and then.

[total hoofball]

The First Division was always going to be more open than bookies and experts were predicting so those results do not surprise me. Wexford didn't look too terrible from what I saw of them last week and Morris is having a mare already at Shels now with his next 4 fixtures tougher than the first 5

[sbgawa]

Great win for rovers makes playing it loom smart now.
Fair play to bradser and the boys

[Kingswood Rover]

one banana skin de bananaed, thank fook we got out of their with a win, a game we would have drawn last year, massive south side derby next Friday east stand going to be hard pressed to hold the away masses

[sbgawa]

Ucd will love the space in tallaght, will be a decent game of ball

[wonder88]

Poor from Galway tonight. Looked dis-organised and passed the ball poorly especially in the first half. The Argentinian lad who come on at half-time improved things in mid-field, should really have started on this display.
Huge win for Shamrock R., this could well be their year.

[placid casual]

Good win for Rovers up in Donegal.
Game looked fairly scrappy on the stream(which was awful btw), but Rovers dug it out and got the win.
This will give the team.squad/management the belief that they can dig it out when required .

7 points clear is better than 7 points behind, irrespective of games in hand.

Next week is cork-dundalk with Rovers playing the students(bag o $hite!), and the following week is Rovers are down in cork.
Early stages I know but if Cork were to lose to both dundalk and Rovers , I'd be more confident of Rovers finishing 2nd in the league- ifs and buts of course.

Rovers have started well this season so far , and only for fatty ward conning the ref twice against bozos, we;d be further ahead.
cest la vie

[micls]

Next week is cork-dundalk with Rovers playing the students(bag o $hite!), and the following week is Rovers are down in cork.
Early stages I know but if Cork were to lose to both dundalk and Rovers , I'd be more confident of Rovers finishing 2nd in the league- ifs and buts of course.


Don't think anyone would disagree with you there. If we lose both, we're done for in terms of top 2. Not many predicting us for it anyway.

No one else has looked a possibility, Pat's disappointing.

[sbgawa]

Ucd are no mugs I reckon they will stay up.
They have been in most of the matches.

The dundalk cork match is really interesting, could go either way .

[micls]

Ucd are no mugs I reckon they will stay up.
They have been in most of the matches.

The dundalk cork match is really interesting, could go either way .

I wish I agreed but I don't. If it was in Turners Cross it'd be a different story, but with dundalk hitting form I'd be worried.

A draw would be a great result.

[Charlie Darwin]

Ucd are no mugs I reckon they will stay up.
They have been in most of the matches.

The dundalk cork match is really interesting, could go either way .
UCD will definitely stay up as they're better than Sligo and Harps but they will struggle against Rovers. They'll keep the ball but they have nothing up front. Cue a 3-0 win in Tallaght to make me eat my words!

[oriel]

I'm trying to think without checking, but I`m almost sure Cork have only beaten Dundalk once in Oriel Park since 2014, the 3-0 hammering by Sean Maguire (2017), I don't see them getting anything more than a draw on Fri, but I`d still be confident Dundalk will win.

I also have a feeling though that Cork will bounce back a week later and beat Rovers at home.

[Pablo Escobar]

I'm trying to think without checking, but I`m almost sure Cork have only beaten Dundalk once in Oriel Park since 2014, the 3-0 hammering by Sean Maguire (2017), I don't see them getting anything more than a draw on Fri, but I`d still be confident Dundalk will win.

I also have a feeling though that Cork will bounce back a week later and beat Rovers at home.
We definitely won another league game 1-0, I think it was 2016. By contrast, I think Dundalk have only won in Turners Cross once since 2015. Home form is so important.

We haven't looked great, but the Bohs game was a huge improvement. I don't think we're under any illusions, a draw in Oriel would be a great result. But we'll be expecting (hoping for) a win the following week no matter what. If we can't do that, then we're not doing much this year.

[Ezeikial]

We definitely won another league game 1-0, I think it was 2016. By contrast, I think Dundalk have only won in Turners Cross once since 2015. Home form is so important.

We haven't looked great, but the Bohs game was a huge improvement. I don't think we're under any illusions, a draw in Oriel would be a great result. But we'll be expecting (hoping for) a win the following week no matter what. If we can't do that, then we're not doing much this year.

Spot on - Sean Maguire scored a second half penalty to take the points in a 1-0 win in Oriel Park in 2016.

Cork set up ultra defensively that day and came looking for a draw, but naturally were delighted to win with a goal through a questionable penalty, given for a very dubious hand ball against Dane Massey.

I imagine the match next Friday will be typical of the the matches between the sides in recent years. Dundalk's recent form is encouraging with 3 successive clean sheets including the 2-0 away to Derry and 4-0 at home to Waterford.

Cork may have had a very poor start, but have got a string of decent result together in recent weeks. Even if the squad is weaker than last season, the starting team remains dogged and strong.

I'm cautiously optimistic but fully realise that a home win is far from certain

[oriel]

Double Post

[oriel]

Yes, I remember that now, 2016 game, the peno was scored at the away end I think, 1-0 win for Cork. Its a definite feature of league games between the two since 2014, home wins. Correct also that Dundalk have only won twice since 2015 in TC, I was lucky to have been at both games, and my two only visits also to TC !

I'd agree a home win on Fri is far from certain, Cork have a decent first xi, and Buckley / Morrissey / are very good in the middle, esp the latter, I think after the first xi though this season, the quality is not great with Cork.

[micls]

Cork may have had a very poor start

The waterford game was appalling but apart from that I don't think it's been as bad as made out in parts. Definitely stuttering and still not clear where regular goals will come from, but only 2 points off yourselves at the same time.

I think the struggle to score is more of a concern than the points total. Huge 2 games ahead. 2 losses (which is far from unimaginable) could see us hit a spiral of poor confidence. A couple of draws or a win and things look brighter.

I'd snap your hand off for 3 points from the 2 games at this stage.

Consistently home form has been hugely important in games between us and there's a bigger gap in overall quality this year I would say. So attitude, confidence and ability to dig it out against odds (a la Caulfields first couple of seasons) will be even more vital.

[Johnnie C]

What will be shown on Soccer Republic tomorrow night? Hopefully they'll feature the First Division games this week.

[oriel]

I don't think SR have the rights to show FD games regularly, my guess would be the single PD game and mix of u17's and today's u21 game.

Would like to see the FD games though, would have been a perfect showcase for them.

[nigel-harps1954]

I don't think SR have the rights to show FD games regularly, my guess would be the single PD game and mix of u17's and today's u21 game.

Would like to see the FD games though, would have been a perfect showcase for them.

Think the cameras were out around FD grounds on Friday night.

[outspoken]

They were certainly at the Clasico anyway

[marinobohs]

Good win for Rovers up in Donegal.
Game looked fairly scrappy on the stream(which was awful btw), but Rovers dug it out and got the win.
This will give the team.squad/management the belief that they can dig it out when required .

7 points clear is better than 7 points behind, irrespective of games in hand.

Next week is cork-dundalk with Rovers playing the students(bag o $hite!), and the following week is Rovers are down in cork.
Early stages I know but if Cork were to lose to both dundalk and Rovers , I'd be more confident of Rovers finishing 2nd in the league- ifs and buts of course.

Rovers have started well this season so far , and only for fatty ward conning the ref twice against bozos, we;d be further ahead.
cest la vie

Those derby results still not bothering you :D stick to playing Finn harps every week.

[sbgawa]

I actually agree with Marino bohs here :plane::pig: how are you letting that bother you? and we are 7 points clear.
We are playing them again in Tallaght in a few weeks and Dundalk on the Friday...I'd happily lose to bohs on Tuesday for a win on the Friday.
Its the same 3 points but a win over Dundalk is taking 3 points off the team that are odds on to win the league.

[marinobohs]

I actually agree with Marino bohs here :plane::pig: how are you letting that bother you? and we are 7 points clear.
We are playing them again in Tallaght in a few weeks and Dundalk on the Friday...I'd happily lose to bohs on Tuesday for a win on the Friday.
Its the same 3 points but a win over Dundalk is taking 3 points off the team that are odds on to win the league.

Or mention the clear penalty Dundalk were denied as much as the penalty that Boh's got :cool:

[WeAreRovers]

Soccer Republic, Monday 25 March, 7.30pm, RTÉ2

Tonight's Soccer Republic features action from the SSE Airtricity League Premier and First Divisions, the FAI Women's National League as well as highlights of the Republic of Ireland's win over Gibraltar and the U21 side's victory against Luxembourg.