Linfield v Glentoran

[Dublin12]

Was watching the game last night on the TV,good game too.Anyway what was the story with the ref's hair :eek: ,it was like a black mullet with gold patches,like some sort of leopard print design :eek:,who was the ref??

[holidaysong]

The ref was Alan Kelly from Cork.

I enjoyed it, it was the best match in the Setanta Cup so far. :)

[crc]

I only saw the goals on TV3, but it looked like a decent game. Big two games normally attract way more attention than any other game in the IL, there's another one this weekend in the Oval which should have a big bearing on whether the title goes to east or west Belfast.

[Dublin12]

The ref being from Cork sounds about right :D

[Libero]

Pretty dire attendance at the Linfield-Glens match. Not more that 1,500 I hear. This fixture traditionally attracts large crowds so it doesn't bode well for the future of the competition. Apathy killed the previous versions of this competition and it will finish this one as well if there is not a big collective effort to promote its merits.

[Rovers Fellow!]

Only saw the second half but was very impressed with Glentoran especially, played some very good football. But I believe the first half was a different game with Linfield comfortably in the lead. Pity about the bad attendance though, wouldnt be worried about future of competition or stuff like that, its only the first year.

[pete]

I get the impression not much knowledge of Setanta TV in NI? Lets face it if it wasn't included as part of basic cable package on NTL then would be far less publicity about in the ROI too.

Once again IL sides good going forward but shocking defending.

[pineapple stu]

Pretty dire attendance at the Linfield-Glens match. Not more that 1,500 I hear.
Didn't think it was that bad watching it - there was nobody in the bottom tier facing the camera, which looked bad, but the top tier had some in it, as did the camera-side stand and I think one of the stands behind the goal.

That said, it was nowhere near the crowds you hear of for these games. I was thinking alright that the Setanta Cup mightn't be taking off up North, but then I suppose the ticket restrictions seem to be making it harder for people to head along to the match on a whim...?

[Macy]

Setanta Cup dead in the water already. Getting sod all coverage on Radio and TV. Is the problem the sponsor? i.e. RTE etc not willing to promote a rival?

I don't know, kinda proves that an All Ireland League would only be the start of the battle for domestic soccer, not the immediate shot in the arm some think....

[Ronnie]

Dead in the water- are you mad, 150k for the winner and a guaranteed 30k for qualifying the clubs are definitely going to be up for it every year.
Setanta guy isn't that bothered about crowds, more interested in viewing figures. From a Longford view, crowd at Linfield game was poor, but much better than a league crowd.
The game they have Saturday is a far more important game as the League title rests on it so thats what the fans are aiming at, but no club north or south can afford to not take this competition seriously.

[Jimmy]

Small crowd last night. Maybe 2,500. Lowest crowd at a big two game in memory. Lack of coverage by BBC and UTV (understandably) could be partly to blame with the game not even getting a mention.
Also this saturday's almost 10,000 sell out for what is virtually the league decider will have been a major factor. I suspect that the return at the Oval will attract a lot more fans.

[Éanna]

I thought it was a very poor game. The defending by both sides was brutal. I'd fancy Doyler to take either of them apart.

[pete]

I think Portadown may well be out of compteition by the time they play city at the cross but would be great if they brought down even 200 supporters & get 6000 into the cross. Probably only group game left that can get decent attendance.

I can't see final attracting large crowd no matter who is partaking. game will probably be in Dublin where shels are the only local team.

[Fortuna1886]

Small crowd last night. Maybe 2,500. Lowest crowd at a big two game in memory. Lack of coverage by BBC and UTV (understandably) could be partly to blame with the game not even getting a mention.
Also this saturday's almost 10,000 sell out for what is virtually the league decider will have been a major factor. I suspect that the return at the Oval will attract a lot more fans.


UTV have shown clips from both the matches involving Linfield, it just hasn't caught peoples imaginations, YET.

[Fortuna1886]

I only saw the goals on TV3, but it looked like a decent game. Big two games normally attract way more attention than any other game in the IL, there's another one this weekend in the Oval which should have a big bearing on whether the title goes to east or west Belfast.

If it Goes to East Belfast i'll be gutted, if it goes to West Belfast i'll be bloddy amazed seeing as we are based in South Belfast :p

[adamcarr]

If it Goes to East Belfast i'll be gutted, if it goes to West Belfast i'll be bloddy amazed seeing as we are based in South Belfast :p :D :D

[crc]

we are based in South Belfast :p
hmmm, maybe you're not stereotypical West Belfast, but you certainly aren't posh enough to claim that you're from South Belfast! :D

[Fortuna1886]

hmmm, maybe you're not stereotypical West Belfast, but you certainly aren't posh enough to claim that you're from South Belfast! :D


I'm even Posher than that, I'm from the Gold Coast, (thats North Down by the way)*








* conveniently forgets to mention he originally lived in West Belfast*

[crc]

I'm even Posher than that, I'm from the Gold Coast, (thats North Down by the way)
oooh, excuse me! :eek:

[Plastic man]

hmmm, maybe you're not stereotypical West Belfast, but you certainly aren't posh enough to claim that you're from South Belfast! :D


Hmmmmmmmm Lisburn Road .Windsor Avenue ...definately South Belfast

[De Town]

Glens have just beaten Linfield 3-2 in what was basically the league decider. Former Linfield player scored in the last minute to win it for Glens.

[-lamb-]

riot on the pitch at the final whistle too

[pete]

Last games next week:

Crusaders v Glentoran
Linfield v Cliftonville

[Libero]

Why is there no live TV coverage of a game like this? We were instead treated to live bowls on BBC 2 for a good part of today. I can't imagine that's too popular.

[pete]

Why is there no live TV coverage of a game like this? We were instead treated to live bowls on BBC 2 for a good part of today. I can't imagine that's too popular.

That bowls is cracking stuff. I have insomnia & got a great afternoons kip after a few miniutes of "live" bowls.

:D

[Libero]

Glorified marbles does not deserve to be shown ahead of a sell-out league-deciding 3-2 cracker with a riot thrown in for a bonus.

[Libero]

Oops, just saw some pictures of that riot and it looked very ugly. Just hope no-one was hurt. Another nail in the coffin for those trying to promote Irish soccer as a night out for all classes of people.

[pete]

BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/irish/4477177.stm)

Seems was Linfield "fans" who got onto the pitch.

Maybe this is why supposed to be so much security for Setanta Cup games.

[Libero]

Linfield have some serious questions to answer. The defence usually offered is:

1) "They are not really our fans. I've not seen them at the games before."
2) "This is a problem for football as a whole. Other clubs have just as much problematic supporters."

That just doesn't wash. If they are in the ground supporting you, then they are your fans, regardless of how casually they attend matches.
Derry, Shamrock Rovers and others all have their bad element. But (some)Linfield supporters are the biggest offenders and I think action needs to be taken against the club. The authorities can't keep fudging this.

We all tolerated what someof their fans did in Longford even though it was pretty disgraceful when you hear the full facts.
Now this! Something must be done. :mad:

[De Town]

Oops, just saw some pictures of that riot and it looked very ugly. Just hope no-one was hurt. Another nail in the coffin for those trying to promote Irish soccer as a night out for all classes of people.
Where did ya see those pics?

[MariborKev]

Derry, Shamrock Rovers and others all have their bad element.

Libero could you point to the evidence of Derry fans being involved in trouble?

[Stevo Da Gull]

Shame to see the game marred ny these scenes. Why the fudguk are'nt these games televised, what a great add that game would have been for the league football-wise and with such a fantastic attendence, I'd definately watch it. Can any1 who goes to the Lins-Glens matches regularly give me a general assesment of football quality, atmosphere,attendence,pre-match hype around the City/Country and so on so fourth

[CollegeTillIDie]

Glentoran V Linfield

The only time RTE has mentioned the Irish League on the news on Saturday night all season is to mention the trouble in this encounter.

If we have to mention Leagues outside the jurisdiction can we at least mention the results of the League in the other part of this island on a consistent basis?

I don't condone crowd trouble but it is typical RTE not to mention soccer on this island for months on the main news on a Saturday and only when there is trouble to feature it.

[steveyg2004]

Despite some of the most disgraceful scenes I have ever seen from a bunch of Glentoran and Linfield scumbags, I think it would be a travesty if that match got lost as a result. There will be plenty of talk about the sh*te after the match and rightly so, but for a Glentoran supporter, it doesnt get much better than that!

That was the best match of my life, and Chris Morgan's goal was undoubtedly the best moment of my life (im not married and have no kids).

Before the match I looked around the Oval and it was just something else - If only it could be like this every week. Packed to the rafters, a sunny day, a sea of blue on one side and a sea of green and red on the other.

Parky's goal gave me hope, but McAreavey's goal brought me back down to earth. Once we were 2-1 up, it was the most nervous I have felt at a footy match. Holding on to a slender lead for 35 minutes would be difficult. But then we were still looking comfortable and there was only 10 minutes left, and then f*cking Davey Larmour got a goal from a punt upfield by the goalkeeper. It literally made me want to cry like a girl. When Halliday's header was cleared off the line, I knew it was over.

And then....the angel from heaven....the legend....Chris Morgan - Unbelievable - From absolute despair to ecstasy - The best feeling, the best moment of my life! Chris Morgan has scored 3 goals against Linfield this season since David Jeffrey got rid of him - The winner in the league Cup Final, an equaliser in the traditional boxing day game, and of course.....todays match winner.

Glens - you were absolutely brilliant today - You were legends - When it was 2-2 you kept your heads and just tried to play the football that would carve open the Linfield defense.

So many outstanding performances, all legends. Still a job to be done..... :p

[Colie]

Before the match I looked around the Oval and it was just something else - If only it could be like this every week. Packed to the rafters


Looked to be a really big croud from what I saw on UTV. Musta been some buzz at 2-2.

Wish we coulda watched it tho. Doubt there's any chance of Linfield V Cliftonville being on d'telly, unless there's a riot of course. :rolleyes:

[Libero]

Libero could you point to the evidence of Derry fans being involved in trouble?

I could have mentioned other clubs than Derry and Rovers but those are the only ones with supporters that I've personally seen causing problems at matches. Here's what I know:

The attack on the Linfield bus was carried out in your name if not by the fans themselves. You can't wash your hands of it I'm afraid. I know that inside the ground your fans were mostly a credit but that is not enough.
In Athlone, we had a very unpleasant experience a few years back when Derry were going for the title at St. Mel's Park. Athlone managed to get a draw as I recall, thwarting Derry's chances. Some of the travelling Derry support acted disgracefully at the end; several of our players were spat upon as they left the field.
The next year we were up at the Brandywell desperately needing a point to stay up and just managed it with a late Warren Parkes goal. Similar scenes were apparently repeated (I remember reading about it in our match programme for the promotion/relegation playoff that followed).
Derry are a great club and a great asset to our league but you can't deny that you have a bad element too.

[Libero]

Where did ya see those pics?

Saw a bit on the news and on bbc website. There are much better pictures on Irish League Forums now.

[De Town]

Saw a bit on the news and on bbc website. There are much better pictures on Irish League Forums now.
Was just on there. Terrible scenes :(

[crc]

Just saw the highlights on UTV. A cracking game, with a good crowd on a sunny day. They didn't show any of the crowd trouble really, which is maybe just as well - the important news is that the Glens now have the upper hand going into the last day of the season.

If it turns out that the Glens win the league, the Setanta cup will become of paramount importance for Linfield.Hopefully there'll be a big crowd for the return Setanta big two fixture on May 16th. Its on the same night as the Cork City v Ports game, so Setanta may have headache deciding which one to show live!

[Éanna]

IThe attack on the Linfield bus was carried out in your name if not by the fans themselves. You can't wash your hands of it I'm afraid. I know that inside the ground your fans were mostly a credit but that is not enough.
It happened outside the ground. It was done by people who weren't at the game. How can Derry be blamed for it?! The people responsible are the same people who have shouted things like "free state *******s" etc at myself and other city fans when we arrived in the Brandywell. They are idiots out on the street looking for hassle, and nothing to do with Derry City. As for the Derry fans, they must be among the soundest in the league- when we beat them at the Brandywell last season, several of them came over and congratulated us and wished us luck, not one bad word from them.

[BleusAvantTout]

The attack on the Linfield bus was carried out in your name if not by the fans themselves.
No one from the wider Linfield family has criticised Derry City fans. As far as we are concerned it wasn't their fans who stoned our buses but wee spides who had congregated outside the ground with one thing in mind - attack the Bluemen. DCFC and their fans aren't IMO in the dock on this one!


As for yesterday there appears to be a lot of point scoring on both sides. I am informed by a prominent Linfield member that trouble was brewing for the last 20 minutes. I didn't see any as I was watching both my watch and the match after glentoran went 2-1 up. Anyone from anywhere who fights or breaks the law at a football game deserves psychiatric treatment and/or the "short, sharp, shock"!

[pete]

Saw some of the highlights on UTV this afternoon. Was hoping they'd show some of the fighting but seemed to censure by skipping it at the end.

Big crowd alright & ground didn't look too bad.

Totally different tactics than any big eL match. No eL team would send 5 people up for corner when 2-1 up in last 10 minutes. Linfields defending for winning goal was disasterous - fullback when awol when should have had a tight back 4 in a line pushing up. no defender within 20 feet of forward tapping in the rebound.

[steveyg2004]

Saw some of the highlights on UTV this afternoon. Was hoping they'd show some of the fighting but seemed to censure by skipping it at the end.

Nope, you must have missed the start of the show because they showed all the trouble which occured at the outset of the show. They then covered today's Gaelic matches before taking a break, the match highlights started after this first commercial break.

I thought that UTV were spot on with their coverage. They didnt gloss over what happened at the end, but they didnt let it take over and dominate the show and therefore spoil what the highlights of what was a great match. The sequencing of it was genius - The trouble shown first and seperated from the match highlights.

If the trouble hadnt happened we would be talking about one of the best days for domestic football in all of Ireland for decades. The crowd was just amazing, the Oval looked amazing again, it was so special, it is now tarnished! :mad:

[MariborKev]

In Athlone, we had a very unpleasant experience a few years back when Derry were going for the title at St. Mel's Park. Athlone managed to get a draw as I recall, thwarting Derry's chances. Some of the travelling Derry support acted disgracefully at the end; several of our players were spat upon as they left the field.
The next year we were up at the Brandywell desperately needing a point to stay up and just managed it with a late Warren Parkes goal. Similar scenes were apparently repeated (I remember reading about it in our match programme for the promotion/relegation playoff that followed).

The events in question happened a decade ago. Are you saying that we haven't moved on in a decade? Derry fans don't display tricolours anymore, never mind singing sectarian songs at their players(which happened in the past). If we moved on in that regard, yet you claim we still have a bad element. How come there has been no "incidents" in the last decade?

While the spitting was unacceptable and in no way justified, if we are going to sling mud the behaviour of Athlone players that day was hardly angelic. Goading City fans with "Ah, you Brits f***** it up again" after Curran penalty save and refusing to shake hands with Felix Healy after he went to your dressing room to congratulate them at the end of the game,



The attack on the Linfield bus was carried out in your name if not by the fans themselves. You can't wash your hands of it I'm afraid. I know that inside the ground your fans were mostly a credit but that is not enough.


Carried out in our name? That is the most warped logic I have heard in a long time.Hypothetical situation. Crowd of children stone a Derry City bus a half mile away from St Mels, none of those involved wearing any Athlone gear, rather they are dressed in replica shirts of the "true" Irish club. Ergo Athlone have a hooligan problem? If that is the basis of your argument then we should stop here.

[OneRedArmy]

In Athlone, we had a very unpleasant experience a few years back when Derry were going for the title at St. Mel's Park. Athlone managed to get a draw as I recall, thwarting Derry's chances. Some of the travelling Derry support acted disgracefully at the end; several of our players were spat upon as they left the field.
The next year we were up at the Brandywell desperately needing a point to stay up and just managed it with a late Warren Parkes goal. Similar scenes were apparently repeated (I remember reading about it in our match programme for the promotion/relegation playoff that followed).
Derry are a great club and a great asset to our league but you can't deny that you have a bad element too.
I was at the game in St. Mel`s & remember none of what you mention above, which is not to say it didn`t happen.

What I do remember is being spat at & stoned by some of the lovely kids that reside in that homely estate that surrounds St. Mels Park.

Indeed I`ve encountered similar on a number of visits to the ground. But i`ve never associated it with Athlone Town FC, rather just accepted that its unfortunate that the ground borders a scummy estate in a town that is the ar*ehole of Ireland.

However, having read your enlightening piece on the Derry v Linfield game, I`ve decided to change my mind & I hold ATFC & their "bad element" responsible.

I trust you wouldn't disagree with this view?

[Schumi]

The attack on the Linfield bus was carried out in your name if not by the fans themselves. You can't wash your hands of it I'm afraid. I know that inside the ground your fans were mostly a credit but that is not enough.
Sensible logic. :rolleyes: I saw two people fighting in Athlone last year before our game against you. Athlone must have a terrible hooligan problem so. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[holidaysong]

Also seen the highlights on utv yesterday - cracking game, pity it was overshadowed...

[dcfcsteve]

I could have mentioned other clubs than Derry and Rovers but those are the only ones with supporters that I've personally seen causing problems at matches. Here's what I know:

The attack on the Linfield bus was carried out in your name if not by the fans themselves. You can't wash your hands of it I'm afraid. I know that inside the ground your fans were mostly a credit but that is not enough.
In Athlone, we had a very unpleasant experience a few years back when Derry were going for the title at St. Mel's Park. Athlone managed to get a draw as I recall, thwarting Derry's chances. Some of the travelling Derry support acted disgracefully at the end; several of our players were spat upon as they left the field.
The next year we were up at the Brandywell desperately needing a point to stay up and just managed it with a late Warren Parkes goal. Similar scenes were apparently repeated (I remember reading about it in our match programme for the promotion/relegation playoff that followed).
Derry are a great club and a great asset to our league but you can't deny that you have a bad element too.


Libero - if you were any bigger a turkey you could seek EU membership for yourself as an individual....

The stoning of Linfield buses as they drove through the Brandywell area of Derry was NOT done "in the name of the club". You are an absolute feckin' eejit to even suggest that, let alone think that. How exactly was it done "in the name of the club", as opposed to "in the name of blatant yobbishness/sectarianism, unnconnected to football" ? Idiot....

Secondly - I can't comment on the 2 minor alleged incidents you mention, as I didn't see them myself. All I can say is that Derry fans are consistently held-up as being amongst the very best in the league by other fans. Numerous threads over the last year on this very site have concurred with this. Fans spitting at anyone is despicable - but if one or two isolated incidents of this is all you can use to claim Derry fans are up-there with Rovers fans in terms of reputation for having trouble-makers, then you really should sit yourself down in a dark room and continue with your therapy.... :mad:

[dcfcsteve]

Nope, you must have missed the start of the show because they showed all the trouble which occured at the outset of the show. They then covered today's Gaelic matches before taking a break, the match highlights started after this first commercial break.

I thought that UTV were spot on with their coverage. They didnt gloss over what happened at the end, but they didnt let it take over and dominate the show and therefore spoil what the highlights of what was a great match. The sequencing of it was genius - The trouble shown first and seperated from the match highlights.

If the trouble hadnt happened we would be talking about one of the best days for domestic football in all of Ireland for decades. The crowd was just amazing, the Oval looked amazing again, it was so special, it is now tarnished! :mad:

Cracking picture stevey. Great to see a football ground anywhere on the island filled to the rafters without a visiting English/Scottish team having to be involved !

What's the chances of a big crowd for the Setanta Big-2 game at the Oval ? Is there just not the same level of passion for it, or will that change once the real business of the League is over with ?