Matches Weekend 18th 19th March

[sbgawa]

Premier Division

Friday 18th

UCD v Bohs 17:00
Drogheda v Dundalk 19:45
Shels v Finn Harps 19:45
Derry v St Pats 19:45
Shamrock Rovers v Sligo 20:00

First Division

Treaty v Cork 15:00
Wexford v Longford 19:45
Athlone v Galway 19:45
Cobh v Bray 19:45

[sbgawa]

Top 4 playing each other so big weekend in terms of consolidating a good start or reaching for the Valium.
If Rovers beat Sligo i think on balance we will be happy enough with the start, lose and we are 4 points behind them and they have a game in hand.
Big game between Pats and Derry , id give Derry the edge based on what ive seen so far but chance for Pats to lay a marker down.

Likewise for Shels a win and they are firmly in "good start" territory conversely Harps need a result badly.
If Bohs drop points at UCD i expect 007 to come under real pressure even this early.

With Treaty playing Cork, there is a decent chance Galway could go top they beat an Athlone team without a point to date.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

I see there’s already talks of a pitch inspection in Limerick.

Our pitch better then before again last night but still nowhere near right. Harps nearly had an own goal when the ball bobbled as McGinley went to clear. Apparently should be ok in 6 weeks but we’ll see.

[NeverFeltBetter]

I see there’s already talks of a pitch inspection in Limerick.


Noon tomorrow I understand. There isn't meant to be much rain in Limerick for the next few days, so no more excuses from the LEDP. The pitch is either capable of holding a game (of football, not schools rugby) or it isn't.

[Martinho II]

Noon tomorrow I understand. There isn't meant to be much rain in Limerick for the next few days, so no more excuses from the LEDP. The pitch is either capable of holding a game (of football, not schools rugby) or it isn't.

Awful pity that the pitch has to ruin all the great work that Treaty do for the local community. Got copy of Treaty Longford Town program in post today and it blew me away. 60 pages! Very impressive indeed from those guys!

[Finlay Harp]

Harps badly need a result. We need to start hitting the net and cutting out the stupid stuff at the back. I fancy UCD to get something from Bohs.

[Jd2793]

tough game away in limerick for us . id be very worried about that pitch its in terrible nick apparently. galway should walk their game. harps been a bit strange, they were actually alright up until monday imo. think that'll be a borefast though as shels are struggling to create. bohs should be winning easily v ucd, big problems there if they dont put on a perfomance.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Mike Aherne, press officer for Treaty, was interviewed on Between The Stripes today on the situation with the pitch

-Pitch was deemed playable on Friday morning, then heavy rain later changed the situation
-They had to wait for the match officials to arrive for a later inspection, hence the late call off
-They followed protocols regards comms, with the league announcing cancellation first
-There's a penalty area-sized section of the pitch that was dangerous for players as it stood
-LEDP and club volunteers are working on it all the time
-Can't say if the pitch will be ready for Friday

[Jd2793]

sooner or later they'll have to be penalised. gone beyond a joke to have a pitch in that condition so far into the season.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Match going ahead, another inspection on Friday: https://twitter.com/TreatyUnitedFC/status/1504091330686988297

[CraftyToePoke]

Mike Aherne, press officer for Treaty, was interviewed on Between The Stripes today on the situation with the pitch

-Pitch was deemed playable on Friday morning, then heavy rain later changed the situation
-They had to wait for the match officials to arrive for a later inspection, hence the late call off
-They followed protocols regards comms, with the league announcing cancellation first
-There's a penalty area-sized section of the pitch that was dangerous for players as it stood
-LEDP and club volunteers are working on it all the time
-Can't say if the pitch will be ready for Friday

All fair enough but are we any clearer in what has actually gone wrong here at the outset ?

[NeverFeltBetter]

No. That wasn't asked or addressed, which was not great. Aherne's line was that it's all just rain related. There was an odd moment where he talked about how there was "a drizzle" of rain today and he didn't know how much that would effect the pitch, which was a bit alarming: if the pitch can't take drizzle, what the hell can it take?

[CraftyToePoke]

Aherne's line was that it's all just rain related.

Well that excuse stopped holding water ( ;) ) as soon as Cobh, Cork, Galway, Waterford, Sligo played games after the very bad weather IMO.

[NeverFeltBetter]

100%. A badly maintained pitch is being made worse by rain, not rain creating a bad pitch where there was only perfection before.

[mackend6]

Tough one for us this week but looking at the fixture list everything is starting to look like a tough one.

Personally I was encouraged by our second half performance last week against Sligo, but given we didn't create a huge amount of clear cut chances in the second half and Monday's result in Derry it would appear that is completely down to Sligo taking the foot off the gas rather than our change from 3 to 4 at the back.

Hoping for a feisty game that isn't over after 20 mins and a Bohs and Shels win.

[Martinho II]

No. That wasn't asked or addressed, which was not great. Aherne's line was that it's all just rain related. There was an odd moment where he talked about how there was "a drizzle" of rain today and he didn't know how much that would effect the pitch, which was a bit alarming: if the pitch can't take drizzle, what the hell can it take?

Has Aherne a past as a media pundit in limerick or am I confusing the wrong guy?

[da bishop]

The pitch situ at Treaty has been shambolic ,all very well having a go at the people responsible for mantaining the ground ,rightly so,however the club have watched this farce carry on since the Munster senior cup game v Waterford almost a month ago and the club response has been pathetic .

[NeverFeltBetter]

Has Aherne a past as a media pundit in limerick or am I confusing the wrong guy?

Yeah, with 95FM. He used to do commentary on Limerick FC matches.

[sadloserkid]

Also played for Limerick FC.

[Guitd]

No. That wasn't asked or addressed, which was not great. Aherne's line was that it's all just rain related. There was an odd moment where he talked about how there was "a drizzle" of rain today and he didn't know how much that would effect the pitch, which was a bit alarming: if the pitch can't take drizzle, what the hell can it take?

So was talking to a treaty player who said a large area of the pitch has recently been resodded and ref was unhappy as it could be lifted like a piece of carpet and was very unstable for players to run on .This type of work isn’t very suitable this time of year as it can take a few weeks to grow in if sod isn’t cut thickly which in this case hasn’t

[Martinho II]

Yeah, with 95FM. He used to do commentary on Limerick FC matches.

Had a feeling he had media training when he was on Between the Stripes podcast. He seemed to brush things off like it didnt matter to him!

[oriel]

Its very tight at the top of the PD, top 4 playing off against each other should make for very interesting results. DFC in 5th could win and not even move a position or go to 3rd on GD.

Very competitive league this season, early days of course and not even one round complete, yet I had expected Rovers and Derry to be out in front and by a small distance by now.

We have only won one game, but still unbeaten, however the improvement from last year (wouldn't be that hard now) is remarkable and probably better than expectation, certainly performance wise anyway and how the new team seemingly has already gelled.

Still two big players in Leahy and Mountney to come into the squad, both will greatly add to the full back options which to be fair are being covered quite nicely by Bone and Macari currently, the latter was excellent v Rovers, won a lot / most of his balls, passing and support to the attack was top notch too. His grandfather would be happy with that display !

[sullanefc]

All fair enough but are we any clearer in what has actually gone wrong here at the outset ?


No. That wasn't asked or addressed, which was not great.
Jeez, you'd think that would have to be asked. Journalism fail from a podcast that likes to pat itself on the back an awful lot.

[El-Pietro]

The game in Limerick went ahead. Were 3-0 approaching half time. Two very good goals from Coffey and Bargary and Bargary capitalising on a mistake. We look much better than Treaty. Crowd isn't great, gold Cup and uncertain about the game probably didn't help

[joey B]

Bohs 1 up on UCD but don’t look too convincing,UCD have had a couple of decent chances,Whelan guilty of missing a big one after exploiting the Bohs high line…

[pineapple stu]

Yep - Bohs not much better than Harps/Shels I think, but they do have Omochere, who seems a quality player.

Kerrigan giving the entire Bohs left side the absolute run around too.

Bohs' goal was a cluster**** on our part. We really just need a break, even at this early stage of the season

[da bishop]

The game in Limerick went ahead. Were 3-0 approaching half time. Two very good goals from Coffey and Bargary and Bargary capitalising on a mistake. We look much better than Treaty. Crowd isn't great, gold Cup and uncertain about the game probably didn't help

Surprised at the small home crowd,though given recent events people are,nt too pleased with how the club handled things.Cork very impressive moved the ball well,lad in midfield ran the show Bolger ?.Tbh 4 nil flattered Treaty totally outplayed all game and rarely threatened Cork keeper.Treaty need to revert to what they were doing last season hard and all as it was to watch.

[nigel-harps1954]

First ten minutes it seemed like Bohs would steamroll UCD, but they faded poorly after that. Whelan really should have scored the one-on-one he had, and UCD certainly have had their chances. Interesting second half ahead. Good to see a packed house there.

[joey B]

UCD level and Sam Todd might never get an easier header in the opposition box,woeful defending….

[pineapple stu]

Draw was the least we deserved out of that. Whelan could have had a hat-trick and that'll be a concern. But quite an enjoyable game overall I thought, if fairly scrappy at times

[Shinkicker]

Draw was the least we deserved out of that. Whelan could have had a hat-trick and that'll be a concern. But quite an enjoyable game overall I thought, if fairly scrappy at times
Students should have won it on chances in the second half

[Jd2793]

ucd deserved the win there. bohs absolutely hideous for 85 mins .

[wonder88]

Went to the game at the Markets Field today. Having seen Treaty on Monday night, I expected more from them, but I suppose the poor start didn't help. Once they got the second goal, Cork were in total control. I would agree with point made earlier, that Treaty are trying to play too much football. The more direct style of the full-time clubs in the first division could make it difficult this season for the Limerick team. Small enough home crowd on a nice day weather wise. Poor form by the Cork supporter throwing flares onto the field.

[Nesta99]

Very scrappy game in Drogheda, tight pitch, little quality on the ball, stupid flares, missed sitters, burglar alarm head wrecking!!

[sbgawa]

Rovers losing 2 nil. Could be 3 or 4 up. Bizarre. Sligo scored 2 from nowhere. This isn't over though if rovers keep going

[TonyD]

Derry 1-0 up at half time. Deserved you’d have to say. Nice finish for the goal. Header over from Billy King was the best Pats could manage. We had a bit more of the play as the half went on, but will have to do better in the second half if we want to get anything out of this.

[joey B]

Harps 1 up at Tolka,hit the bar twice in the first 5 minutes,Shels have been pretty poor and have lost Jr Wilson to what looks like a bad injury,taken away straight to an ambulance…

[Calcio Jack]

Rovers losing 2 nil. Could be 3 or 4 up. Bizarre. Sligo scored 2 from nowhere. This isn't over though if rovers keep going

Agree all over them with by far ( bizzarly ) ) our best performance so far but firstly Sean Hoare missed clearing a cross he should have headed away and then an absolute gift by Cotter - Sligo created little themselves but 2-0 up at h/t - early goal for us and then see no reason not to win - lose and potentially 7 points off the top

[Nesta99]

Agree all over them with by far ( bizzarly ) ) our best performance so far but firstly Sean Hoare missed clearing a cross he should have headed away and then an absolute gift by Cotter - Sligo created little themselves but 2-0 up at h/t - early goal for us and then see no reason not to win - lose and potentially 7 points off the top

St Pats may be coming to the rescue!

[TonyD]

St Pats may be coming to the rescue!

Much better from us second half. Getting after Derry a lot more. Just as I type that, great chance for Derry, which Anang saves with his face !

[CorribsideSteve]

Well done Drogheda, thought they were brilliant. Great atmosphere. That's probably the noisiest and fullest I've seen Drogs ground. Stupid laddish behavior throwing those flares onto the pitch after 80 seconds. Dundalk very sloppy, lots of aimless balls from RB into nomans land was a symtop of their play. Eveything looked and sounded great on TV, but the stadium really shows how small-scale and part-time our product still is.

Some result for Finn harps. Great comeback from SRFC too. Galway going strongly in the Discover ireland league too after another good result.

[Finlay Harp]

Well I wasn’t expecting that.

[joey B]

Harps off the mark,Shels were pretty dreadful tbh but we defended well finally,Shels will be closer to the bottom if they play like that…..

[pineapple stu]

Feck sake - a solid draw against Bohs (and deserved the win), and then Harps and Drogheda both win. :rolleyes:

[sbgawa]

Bizarre game in Tallaght Rovers could have been 2 or 3 up at half time and find themselves 2 nil down from Sligos only two times almost in our half.
Sligo were so poor i didn't think it was over and 2 each was only down to luck and brilliance from McGinty.
Im actually pretty pleased over all best we have played in a long time

[nigel-harps1954]

Shels are really poor and don't seem to really know what they're meant to be doing.

Harps were full value for the win and probably could have tagged on another goal or two. Nice to see it click for us tonight though. We badly needed that.

[Calcio Jack]

Bizarre game in Tallaght Rovers could have been 2 or 3 up at half time and find themselves 2 nil down from Sligos only two times almost in our half.
Sligo were so poor i didn't think it was over and 2 each was only down to luck and brilliance from McGinty.
Im actually pretty pleased over all best we have played in a long time

Agree with above and will add that once we continue consistently perform at those levels we’ll win the league - Sligo like any team coached by Buckley were easy on the eye and tried to play skilful ball ( aside from 2nd half time wasting) but simply couldn’t live with the pace, intensity and quality of us particularly in 2nd half ; and both sides deserve to be commended on putting on a fantastic nights entertainment- also a big shout out to McGinty who produced a number of top class saves

[thebronze14]

Ah that was an enjoyable night. Didn't see it coming either!

[dong]

Thought we were poor enough. Gave away the ball a lot and coughed up too many chances. Stating the obvious, a draw is always a great result in Tallaght but I'd be hoping we can play better.

[ontheotherhand]

Thought we were poor enough. Gave away the ball a lot and coughed up too many chances. Stating the obvious, a draw is always a great result in Tallaght but I'd be hoping we can play better.

Thought the same. Was expecting Sligo to defend much better but they coughed up plenty of chances and looked all over the place at times. Some of that was down to Rovers playing good ball but a lot was self inflicted.

Very clinical up front though with Rovers inflicting a bit of damage on themselves and it all led to a really entertaining game.

Thought we'd nick it and don't think we would have been undeserved winners but can't complain about coming back from 2 down either.