Fixtures 16th-20th October

[joey B]

Dundalk V Bohs
Rovers v Derry
Cork v Waterford
Shels v Sligo

Harps v Rovers

Drogs v Wexford
UCD v Cabo
Rovers II V Athlone
Longford v Cobh

Galway v Drogs

Rovers can confirm the title with a win on Friday and defeat for Bohs.

Cork can get off the bottom with a win against Waterford.

[sbgawa]

Even a draw for bohs would leave us able to win the league with 3 points against Derry.
No jack Byrne or Burke but if we play like we have been lately we should have enough.

[joey B]

Aaron Greene tested positive for covid and a number of other players isolating due to close contact, how does that PPG work again?!!

[D24Saint]

Aaron Greene tested positive for covid and a number of other players isolating due to close contact, how does that PPG work again?!!

That will Rovers out of action for two weeks. I wonder will Rovers B be affected by the positive result. It’s safe enough to assume they all share the same facilities up in roadstone off the naas road.

[sbgawa]

All do share the same facilities but train at different times although there is movement between the squads Dean Williams / Pohls/ Oluwa so you wouldn't know.

Thats Burke, Byrne and Greene out plus "other" close contacts, hard to see it going ahead.
If Dundalk would do the decent thing and beat bohs this weekend we might not have to play again anyway :)

[Yossarian]

If Dundalk would do the decent thing and beat bohs this weekend we might not have to play again anyway :)

Much as it pains me, we’d be delighted to oblige 😀

[joey B]

The Rovers game will be off I’d say so any chance they’d shift the Dundalk/Bohs game to 7.45 and televise that instead?

[sbgawa]

The are only show in gv the rovers game because they want to be there when/if the league is won. They don't care enough to move would be my prediction. I remember being secretly happy a few years ago when they had to show about 4 cork matches in a row when cork kept screwing up winning the league ;)

[DCSIL]

That was funny.. we were due playing down at Turners Cross and one of the stand roofs collapsed in a storm(One Ollie said you can play in no bother)

For the sake of more live free football you can screw up tommorow if you want.

[joey B]

The are only show in gv the rovers game because they want to be there when/if the league is won. They don't care enough to move would be my prediction. I remember being secretly happy a few years ago when they had to show about 4 cork matches in a row when cork kept screwing up winning the league ;)

https://bohemianfc.com/?p=15887


Bohs player tested positive now, they'll be showing nothing until 2021 soon!!

[DCSIL]

Confirmed Derry Rovers is off

[Yossarian]

Confirmed Derry Rovers is off

Along with Rovers other two games next week. It’s all escalating very quickly.

[D24Saint]

We will be nearly a month without a game at this rate.

[Real ale Madrid]

Should cancel the league now. It's a farce at this stage. Let's not anymore of our fellow citizens contract this terrible disease for the want of a few people kicking a ball around a field. I hope the FAI show some common sense now and call a halt to all this nonsense.

[D24Saint]

Should cancel the league now. It's a farce at this stage. Let's not anymore of our fellow citizens contract this terrible disease for the want of a few people kicking a ball around a field. I hope the FAI show some common sense now and call a halt to all this nonsense.

Bit OTT imo.

[sbgawa]

Tongue in cheek i think :)

[sbgawa]

Bohs embarrassing themselves tonight putting out a statement saying they have two players out due to covid (1 positive and 1 contact) but "we have not asked for the game to be postponed"......if they didn't have rovers to whinge about they wouldn't have anything.
Surprised they didn't say the players were gargled :)

[nigel-harps1954]

Harps going three weeks without a game.

[sbgawa]

Deleted post

[D24Saint]

I’d say we can just get the league wrapped up. I’d say the FAI cup is in huge danger.

[nigel-harps1954]

Drogheda v Wexford this evening postponed now too. A Wexford player is positive for Covid.

It's looking increasingly like we'll not see the end of the season.

[The Lilywhites]

Do we actually know where sport stands in level 5?

Government plan says no sport, NPHET letter last week said sport can continue (although maybe their letter this time said different), and yesterday Varadkar & Michael McGrath said the All Ireland championships would be off in L5.

It's getting very close to our game with Molde to arrange an alternative venue should we end up moving to L5 early next week.

[pineapple stu]

Why is Bohs v Dundalk still going ahead?

Seems strange two clubs would be allowed take different stances after a positive case

[oriel]

It does seem strange, as it was Pats who requested the Dundalk game off a few weeks ago with only 1 covid confirmed case.

Under L5 does elite sport not still be ok, or is that only at L4?

[holidaysong]

The different levels have turned into a bit of a pick & mix at this stage, but in theory at level 5 all sport is off.

[Yossarian]

I heard on radio earlier that elite professional sport might be ok but amateur won’t as professional sport can keep their players in a more controlled environment, though the last couple of days wouldn’t help that theory.

[sbgawa]

Why is Bohs v Dundalk still going ahead?

Seems strange two clubs would be allowed take different stances after a positive case

Bohs have 2 out of action , apparently Rovers are at 10 or 11 so there was no real way to go ahead...at least that's what i am hearing.
Rovers have played matches in the past when missing a couple of players as when you think about it more often then not you are missing a couple of players through injury so it doesn't surprise me Bohs are going ahead they could have a different couple of players injured next week if they postponed.
There does need to be a hard and fast rule put in place with numbers of players out of action required to cancel a game etc

[WeAreRovers]

As things stand Level 5 will be ok for elite (pro) sport hence the GAA's difficulties as they can't operate in bubbles.

Bohs only have 1 player out, Rovers have 8 (2 with Covid, 6 close contacts)

[Yossarian]

I thought Bohs had two out, one positive case and one close contact?

[pineapple stu]

as when you think about it more often then not you are missing a couple of players through injury so it doesn't surprise me Bohs are going ahead
No, I get that - I thought with covid though, once you had a case, it was game off.

Who makes the call then - is it the club or the FAI? Or is there definitive guidelines so that if you have, say, 3 people out either as confirmed or close contacts, then the game is off, but 2 is ok?

Wexford only have one confirmed case (https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/arid-40066106.html), but then there's "the potential identification of a number of close contacts" which is all a bit vague at the moment. In theory there could be no close contacts I guess, but their game is off.

[The Lilywhites]

As things stand Level 5 will be ok for elite (pro) sport hence the GAA's difficulties as they can't operate in bubbles.

Bohs only have 1 player out, Rovers have 8 (2 with Covid, 6 close contacts)

That's based on the first NPHET letter.

Surely even in that scenario, the First Division is under threat. How many players in the FD get their sole income from football?

Rovers players couldn't behave themselves when they got a couple of days off, that's why they have 8 unavailable (plus a suspension and some injuries).

[El-Pietro]

No, I get that - I thought with covid though, once you had a case, it was game off.

Who makes the call then - is it the club or the FAI? Or is there definitive guidelines so that if you have, say, 3 people out either as confirmed or close contacts, then the game is off, but 2 is ok?

Wexford only have one confirmed case (https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/arid-40066106.html), but then there's "the potential identification of a number of close contacts" which is all a bit vague at the moment. In theory there could be no close contacts I guess, but their game is off.

This was exactly the debate that was being had in MLB in late July, early August. One team had a number of positive tests and continued to play games, by the end of the weekend half their team had tested positive and so they and their opponents were shut down for over a week, which caused a massive headache in a sport where they typically play 5-6 games a week. I'm not sure what the threshold should be for cancelling LOI games but it seems neither does the league.

[joey B]

This was exactly the debate that was being had in MLB in late July, early August. One team had a number of positive tests and continued to play games, by the end of the weekend half their team had tested positive and so they and their opponents were shut down for over a week, which caused a massive headache in a sport where they typically play 5-6 games a week. I'm not sure what the threshold should be for cancelling LOI games but it seems neither does the league.

This is the biggest issue in the whole thing,nobody in the league seems to have planned for what happens if players/coaches started testing positive for Covid ,shockingly bad oversight .........

[Nesta99]

Reasonable game in Oriel. Better chances to Bohs early on. We still look a bit laboured in the final third. Bit like Ireland of recent with decent enough build up play but not really creating a whole lot. Playing out from the back slow build up, changing points of attack, high press - all the rage these days in football, technically good but isnt half dull at times to watch. There isnt a zip to the pass for us, that sort of lingering preseason feel when ye wait for a team to click.

2 points dropped in the I feel. Hoban had 2 or 3 great chances from the head if he had hit the target. Another one fizzed across the goal mouth. Lots of corners that didnt test Bohs at all. 1 good chance for Bohs which Rogers got in the way of but didnt know too much about it. Some injury concerns with Kelly going off, Oduwa seemed to be concerned about a niggle but it could have been just a strange feeling for him to have stepped in to his own half. Rogers looked to have damaged his elbow after a bad landing, painful but seemed to play it off.

Hard to know what to think as Bohs are no mugs, yet they were outplayed for long spells and we never really laid a glove on goal. Sums up the strange season this is.

[pineapple stu]

UCD v Cabo live stream here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrrYg0cd7qU).

Edit - three camera angles and action replays too. Notions!

[ger121]

We shall take that and move on. The Cup the focus now with Europe sewn up.

[sbgawa]

That result in oriel wraps up the league assuming we get to finish it. DFC could have die with the 3 points. Hard to see them missing Europe but they don't have an easy run in.

[wexfordned]

2nd place wrapped up in the unlikely event the league gets finished. Great to have European football secured for 2nd season in a row. The country will more than likely be in lockdown this day next week so that's a good way to finish the season

[The Lilywhites]

Thought we played okay, but that certain recruitment lad - who it turns out is still deeply involved in that role in Oriel - trying to feed supporters that we rejected a near 100k offer for Dummigan last year. Yeah!!

I won't comment much more on us because with him involved in recruitment, we're going only one way. Plus it sounds like Peak6 are on their way out. So we're going only one way.

As for the game, McEleney was particularly poor. We just weren't good enough in the final third. Thought we did okay overall but it was fairly strange from Bohs to play for a draw. They had 1 real shot in the 2nd half and showed zero ambition to win the game considering they're going for the title (in their own heads anyway). They're a fairly average side who nicked a lot of lucky points lately.

Also, Damien McGraith should have remained as a linesman. He's not a referee.

Fair result overall.

[placid casual]

Dundalk 16 points behind Rovers, and looking at the game tonight you can see why. If they hadn't jammed their way into the EL group stages, we could have been seeing something similar to Cork next year. They need major major surgery on that team to compete again.
Bohs are bohs, a tough nut to crack and very much deserving of 2nd best team in Ireland. Its just so sweet that Rovers are Ireland's number 1.

[The Lilywhites]

Dundalk 16 points behind Rovers, and looking at the game tonight you can see why. If they hadn't jammed their way into the EL group stages, we could have been seeing something similar to Cork next year. They need major major surgery on that team to compete again.
Bohs are bohs, a tough nut to crack and very much deserving of 2nd best team in Ireland. Its just so sweet that Rovers are Ireland's number 1.

A little bitter about the EL group stage qualification. It shows how much you're hurting over it.

But yeah, I wouldn't hold out much hope for us going forward. Peak6 have no interest, certainly by the sounds of that interview published today.

Rovers top after 9 years thanks to Covid. Enjoy it.

[kksaints]

The UCD stream is of an excellent quality. Very professional. Mind you I've been impressed with the Wexford stream also so it's very good to see that the First Division clubs have proven well up on the streaming.

Match was enjoyable also, both teams liked to attack and Mahdy and Whelan for UCD look very promising, how long is left on their scholarships? We could do with one of them.

[pineapple stu]

Rovers top after 9 years thanks to Covid. Enjoy it.

Thanks to covid.

Jaysus, would you stop. And you accuse placid of being bitter?

[pineapple stu]

Match was enjoyable also, both teams liked to attack and Mahdy and Whelan for UCD look very promising, how long is left on their scholarships? We could do with one of them.
Not sure, but this is Whelan's debut season (he's a big part of why Waterford won the U19s last year). Mahdy is in his fourth season and probably is getting close to moving on. He's moved up to ninth in our top scorers list with that brace tonight.

[D24Saint]

A little bitter about the EL group stage qualification. It shows how much you're hurting over it.

But yeah, I wouldn't hold out much hope for us going forward. Peak6 have no interest, certainly by the sounds of that interview published today.

Rovers top after 9 years thanks to Covid. Enjoy it.

Begrudger of the year award material that one.

[wexfordned]

Thought we played okay, but that certain recruitment lad - who it turns out is still deeply involved in that role in Oriel - trying to feed supporters that we rejected a near 100k offer for Dummigan last year. Yeah!!

I won't comment much more on us because with him involved in recruitment, we're going only one way. Plus it sounds like Peak6 are on their way out. So we're going only one way.

As for the game, McEleney was particularly poor. We just weren't good enough in the final third. Thought we did okay overall but it was fairly strange from Bohs to play for a draw. They had 1 real shot in the 2nd half and showed zero ambition to win the game considering they're going for the title (in their own heads anyway). They're a fairly average side who nicked a lot of lucky points lately.

Also, Damien McGraith should have remained as a linesman. He's not a referee.

Fair result overall.
Bohs have been aiming for 2nd place for weeks now. Bohs had the best chances and Andre should have scored early on in the 1st half. Considering Bohs played without a recognized centre half in their defence they were well worth the draw.

It was surprising they sat back in the 2nd half and allowed Dundalk have the ball. Dundalk were there to be taken. Bar a few half chances from Hoban headers Dundalk created very little. Talbot hardly had to make a save all night. Maybe Long wanted the draw as we haven't had one all season!!!

It will be tough for them to push on again next season, but hopefully Long can work more magic and sign a replacement for Twardek out wide and they can hold on to the younger players like Danny Grant, Devoy and Lyons

[kksaints]

Not sure, but this is Whelan's debut season (he's a big part of why Waterford won the U19s last year). Mahdy is in his fourth season and probably is getting close to moving on. He's moved up to ninth in our top scorers list with that brace tonight.

I hope to see Whelan do well, he's from what would be my local club, it would be great to see another Kilkenny player do well in the LOI. The twp of them would be good options for most Premier Divison clubs in the next season or two.

[The Lilywhites]

Thanks to covid.

Jaysus, would you stop. And you accuse placid of being bitter?

So if Rovers are awarded a title after 14 games, it's a real league? Yeah.

Same way you probably consider the FD "elite" level and the 5th placed donkeys deserve a shot at the PD. Lol.

[pineapple stu]

Well your second paragraph is just weird, cos I never said anything about any of that.

Given that Dundalk are essentially mid-table (about as close to Cork as to Bohs) and Rovers have dropped just four points all season, I think any pretence that this is all because of covid is increasingly pathetic tbh.

[The Lilywhites]

Well your second paragraph is just weird, cos I never said anything about any of that.

Given that Dundalk are essentially mid-table (about as close to Cork as to Bohs) and Rovers have dropped just four points all season, I think any pretence that this is all because of covid is increasingly pathetic tbh.

Funny fella. Change your avatar to a Rovers crest.