Games 26th to 30th October

[sbgawa]

First Division Play offs

Wednesday 26th

Longford v Galway 19:45
Treaty v Waterford 19:45

Saturday 29th

Waterford v Treaty 19:45

Sunday 30th

Galway v Longford 16:00

Premier Division

Friday 28th

Sligo v St Pats 19:45
Shelbourne v Drogheda 19:45
Dundalk v Bohemians 19:45
Finn Harps v UCD 20:00

Sunday 30th

Shamrock Rovers v Derry 19:00

[sbgawa]

Dundalk look favourites to get third now imo , a miss fireing Bohs and the last match away to Derry who will most likely be resting their best players for the cup fiinal.

Harps v UCD a relegation play off final for all intents and purposes. Will probably pay the €7 to watch that one.

On the first division , John C must be a gonner if he lets the Comers down again and its hard to see them getting past bith Longford and Waterford.

Rovers v Derry is a dead rubber and both sides have bigger matches to worry about.
Two weeks until the cup final so Derry will probably have the stronger team out with Rovers concentrating on the last two European matches.

I wonder are any of the Derry or Shels players one booking away from missing the cup final....hopefully the club secretaries are on top of that its terrible to miss a cup final but it seems to have happened a lot over the last few years

[Martinho II]

Dundalk look favourites to get third now imo , a miss fireing Bohs and the last match away to Derry who will most likely be resting their best players for the cup fiinal.

Harps v UCD a relegation play off final for all intents and purposes. Will probably pay the €7 to watch that one.

On the first division , John C must be a gonner if he lets the Comers down again and its hard to see them getting past bith Longford and Waterford.

Rovers v Derry is a dead rubber and both sides have bigger matches to worry about.
Two weeks until the cup final so Derry will probably have the stronger team out with Rovers concentrating on the last two European matches.

I wonder are any of the Derry or Shels players one booking away from missing the cup final....hopefully the club secretaries are on top of that its terrible to miss a cup final but it seems to have happened a lot over the last few years

Matty Smith is the only person I have heard so far that cant play. He isnt allowed to play for Shels as his parent club is Derry City which is understandable.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

They changed that rule recently so a player won’t miss the cup final with yellow cards

[oriel]

For now Dundalk are favs as we are 2 points clear with 2 games to go, but its a slim margin. However one thing for sure, we are the only one that can secure 3rd on Friday, that can happen by these events:

1/ Dundalk Beat Bohs, and Pats draw or lose to Sligo.

2/ Draw with Bohs then Pats lose (would be a gap of 3 points then with a GD of +5 min in our favour), wouldn't confirm 3rd, but would mean we'd have to lose 2 or 3-0 away to Derry & Pats win same home to Shels.

Then again if Dundalk lose on Friday and depending on result from Showgrounds it should be advantage Pats last day, I'd also say if Dundalk don't win v Bohs it will advantage Pats, as I don't fancy going to Brandywell looking to better Pats result, certainly lots of permutations and lots to play for!

[sbgawa]

For now Dundalk are favs as we are 2 points clear with 2 games to go, but its a slim margin. However one thing for sure, we are the only one that can secure 3rd on Friday, that can happen by these events:

1/ Dundalk Beat Bohs, and Pats draw or lose to Sligo.

2/ Draw with Bohs then Pats lose (would be a gap of 3 points then with a GD of +5 min in our favour), wouldn't confirm 3rd, but would mean we'd have to lose 2 or 3-0 away to Derry & Pats win same home to Shels.

Then again if Dundalk lose on Friday and depending on result from Showgrounds it should be advantage Pats last day, I'd also say if Dundalk don't win v Bohs it will advantage Pats, as I don't fancy going to Brandywell looking to better Pats result, certainly lots of permutations and lots to play for!

Given the team selection by Derry against Sligo when they still had a slim chance of winning the league i suspect the under 15s will be playing you guys the week before the cup final

[oriel]

And coached by the tea lady !

Look taking nothing for granted, a win against Bohs nudges us closer to europe, we shall see where that leaves us on Friday night.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Treaty/Waterford delayed to 2000 owing to some traffic issues around Limerick tonight, officials have been delayed I hear.

[joey B]

Waterford leading after 5 minutes,great start for them…..

[TonyD]

Given the team selection by Derry against Sligo when they still had a slim chance of winning the league i suspect the under 15s will be playing you guys the week before the cup final

Derry better have their act together for the cup final, that’s all I’ll say. If I was a Dundalk fan I’d be pretty confident of third. Might be different if Derry still needed a result on the final day. Still, we live in hope.

[joey B]

Longford ahead now aswell…..

[joey B]

Waterford 2 up,Patterson with both,he’ll be playing at a higher level next season 1 way of another….

[sbgawa]

Waterford Longford in a one leg final...waterford obvious favs but in fairness to Longford they just keep on keeping on

[joey B]

2-2 in Longford and 2-1 now in Limerick,Waterford missed a penalty in the first half and didn’t let the man on the hat trick take it!

[joey B]

1 tie dead and buried,the other all to play for….

[NeverFeltBetter]

Disappointing that Treaty weren't able to make a better go of it, but it's just a repetition of the three goal loss to the same opposition a few weeks ago. Fifth in the FD is the level of the side, just good enough to be play-off bound but nowhere near what would be required to get to the PD. To be honest I can't see that changing all that much with the finances available. The FAI Cup run, which had plenty of good fortune in the drawing, might have covered that reality up a bit.

[brendy_éire]

Given the team selection by Derry against Sligo when they still had a slim chance of winning the league i suspect the under 15s will be playing you guys the week before the cup final

Two ways of looking at it. Do you rest players, save them from picking up a knock or a red (if they carry into the final), maybe see the last two league games as a chance to play some of the younger lads?
Or do you put out a fairly full strength side, so that players are kept match fit? The likes of Duffy and Fats, just with the knocks they've had this year, I'd not play for too long. Though, it will mean that they'll go over three weeks between their last proper game and the cup final. Also, we haven't actually secured second place. A couple of 2-0 losses for us, and a decent Dundalk win at home to Bohs will see us third. Though does it actually matter if we finish second or third really?

It's a hard call. For me, I'd probably go fairly strong for the match tomorrow, try and get the point, then rest everyone the following week.

[oriel]

Finishing 2nd v 3rd is not worth a huge amount of money, maybe 20-30k more I`m not entirely sure, but its more the achievement after a long season, if I was in your position I'd want to finish 2nd**

Had thought of that, us finishing 2nd but would take 3 results for that, and it won't happen, as you say a big win v Bohs, Rovers to beat Derry then Dundalk to win again in BW, I`m only concentrating of getting A win first to try and nudge closer to europe.

**The only other thing 2nd v 3rd is, for stats in years to come, when you search, it will generally only display league winners, league runners up etc.

[pineapple stu]

So with no chance of Drogheda doing us a favour against Harps next week (given they're 4-0 down in Tolka already), we need a win in Finn Park really.

Went 1-0 down but that lasted 64 seconds, so back level again and having slightly the better of play.

Took the commentators 25 seconds to mention that the pitch was cutting up...

[ger121]

The free kick which resulted in the 1st Dundalk goal really is a shocker. LOI refereeing at its finest.

https://twitter.com/rorykirke/status/1586072850007564291?s=46&t=YHTyQm1c7Gu2o_0SZN9Kxg

[Jd2793]

harps are an absolute rabble. holding onto horgan was the biggest mistake they made all year ... along with signing desperate keepers

[Dermobohs]

Oh man, I know we are ****e at times but that dive earning a free? Enough please I can’t take any more of these referees, mad altogether.

[joey B]

Lucky to be level at half time really…

[TonyD]

The free kick which resulted in the 1st Dundalk goal really is a shocker. LOI refereeing at its finest.

https://twitter.com/rorykirke/status/1586072850007564291?s=46&t=YHTyQm1c7Gu2o_0SZN9Kxg

Jesus, that’s shocking alright. I’ve seen yellows given for less obvious dives.

Some crowd trouble at the Showgrounds seemingly. Not sure who the guilty parties were.

Peno to Sligo. Dodgy challenge by Barrett, he should have known better. Crap.

[redarmyfaction]

Jesus, that’s shocking alright. I’ve seen yellows given for less obvious dives.

Some crowd trouble at the Showgrounds seemingly. Not sure who the guilty parties were.

Guilty party is Sligo Rovers FC who allowed a gang of pubescent boys and girls taunt and throw objects at the traveling Pats fans, when two or three of Pats got on the pitch the children all ran, no stewards, no guards, total disgrace and cringe, I left.

[pineapple stu]

Goal Sligo, which I think means Dundalk have third sealed up as it stands?

[CorribsideSteve]

Goal Sligo, which I think means Dundalk have third sealed up as it stands?
Indeed. They'd have a 2 point cushion on matchday 36 as things stand. On the refereeing for the Dundalk Bohs game, unfortunately our quality of refereeing ability is about on par with where we sit in the UEFA coefficients table.

[The Bowler]

Hoping I don't jinx **** here, but Harps are the worst team I've ever seen playing in the Premier division...ever.

[pineapple stu]

No jinxing anyway!

I think that was going wide before the Harps lad headed it in for us.

[placid casual]

2:1 to UCD. Gives me no pleasure to say, this is the worst Harps team I've seen in a long, long time. UCD, for all their naivety, are st least trying to play the game on the ground.
Harps need to reconsider how they want to play in the 1st division, as the kick and rush stuff is out of place in this era. That would mean the league long one if its "characters", but if Harps want to get their stadium built they need to be in the Premier division, and at least competing, cos at the moment they look by far the worst team in the league.
3:1 now, done and dusted.

[ger121]

No jinxing anyway!

I think that was going wide before the Harps lad headed it in for us.

Feeling good now?

[pineapple stu]

Feeling good now?
To be honest, I've been saying for months that both us and Harps are going down - so are we just putting off the inevitable?

At least we're going into the playoffs in good form. And given we started the season without a win in a dozen games or something, we've ended with a respectable enough season and I think that's about all we could have asked for given we were third in the FD last year.

[TonyD]

Goal Sligo, which I think means Dundalk have third sealed up as it stands?

Confirmed now. Disappointing for us. Couple of chances in the second half, but ultimately we didn’t do do enough. Just hoping Derry win the cup now.

[pineapple stu]

Serious performance for Dundalk to get third given the mess they were in last year. Didn't see that coming to be honest, but fair dues.

(Unless Sligo fielded a banger again, and it might go to next week!)

[The Bowler]

To be honest, I've been saying for months that both us and Harps are going down - so are we just putting off the inevitable?

At least we're going into the playoffs in good form. And given we started the season without a win in a dozen games or something, we've ended with a respectable enough season and I think that's about all we could have asked for given we were third in the FD last year.

I've been saying the same Stu all year, felt the pair if us were going down. But anything possible, a one off game and you could end up playing Longford even. The best that happened was Myler getting a 4 game ban, the boys have been on fire since, he will be back for the play off game, amd he is a lucky lucky manager, look at last year, Bray turned up devoid of motivation after they had been told during the week that Cabo were taking over, and then Waterford turned up without a manager. He's a jammy pr1ck, so don't rule out us staying up.

[DCSIL]

harps are an absolute rabble. holding onto horgan was the biggest mistake they made all year ... along with signing desperate keepers

Flapper Mckeown gets relegated two years on the spin.
Was invetiable.

[MattB11]

Prefer division 1 anyway

[pineapple stu]

I've been saying the same Stu all year, felt the pair if us were going down. But anything possible, a one off game and you could end up playing Longford even. The best that happened was Myler getting a 4 game ban, the boys have been on fire since, he will be back for the play off game, amd he is a lucky lucky manager, look at last year, Bray turned up devoid of motivation after they had been told during the week that Cabo were taking over, and then Waterford turned up without a manager. He's a jammy pr1ck, so don't rule out us staying up.
Won in Sligo too when he was suspended.

True on playoffs - I'm assuming we're playing Waterford, who weren't great when it came to playing Premier Shels in the FAI Cup. And yeah, we should have played Galway in the playoff semis last year but Bray beat them 1-0 with I think one shot in the entire 180 minutes. So let's see how it goes!

[Dermobohs]

Face it stu and bowler, much as you seem to want to be proven right and go down, we all know you’re staying up, and Myler will be hailed as a genius. Good eh?

[joey B]

Well deserved relegation,manager should have been gone in May but was given another opportunity to bring in another batch of useless journey men,Ollie has had a tough couple of months personally so I don’t want to go overboard but it’s his time now and a new direction is needed…..

[The Bowler]

Face it stu and bowler, much as you seem to want to be proven right and go down, we all know you’re staying up, and Myler will be hailed as a genius. Good eh?

Haha, be delighted to be proved wrong of course, Myler still a fraud whatever division we end up in, would prefer to be watching us play decent teams all over Dublin next year than watching away games on LOI TV, because the cost of travelling to all those away games in Div 1 is a non runner for sure

[joey B]

Fair play to UCD aswell by the way,excellent in the back half of the season after losing their 2 best players,good luck to them in the play offs,whatever about Myler ,William OConnor did good work with us in seasons past….

[oriel]

Said it many times on here, with SOD in year one and re-building, and with modest budget from new owners, to get europe by any method would have been amazing and they did it.

This is now the 9th season in 10 we have made it, coefficient will be high enough for seeding in two rounds, so good chance now to progress. Also means the budget will be increased and can attract better quality.

Sorry to see FH relegated.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Guilty party is Sligo Rovers FC who allowed a gang of pubescent boys and girls taunt and throw objects at the traveling Pats fans, when two or three of Pats got on the pitch the children all ran, no stewards, no guards, total disgrace and cringe, I left.

And then someone behind the goals racially abused the Pats keeper before the start of the second half. pats would have been well within their rights to walk off

An awful night for the club. Those toe rags in the jinks have been at that crap all season. Running down throwing stuff at the away fans whenever we score etc. saw how brave they were when a few of the Pats fans went after them.

[Finlay Harp]

If you play like a division one team you deserve to be in division one.
Glad that’s over. It’ll be a while before we get back near the Premier league.

[ontheotherhand]

Said it many times on here, with SOD in year one and re-building, and with modest budget from new owners, to get europe by any method would have been amazing and they did it.

This is now the 9th season in 10 we have made it, coefficient will be high enough for seeding in two rounds, so good chance now to progress. Also means the budget will be increased and can attract better quality.

Sorry to see FH relegated.

Surely your budget and squad meant Europe was at least a realistic prospect?

[oriel]

Europe was of course the aim, but we started off with a massive upheaval, just look at the quality who left and it just shows the task that was in place.

In no particular order, Duffy, McEleney, Dummingam, Patching (all Derry), then Cleary (SPL), Murray (Glentoran), Shields (Mid-Season - Linfield), Stanton (Scot Championship) and lastly Jurkoviskis the Latvian international.

Duds in Abibi (don't get me started), Nattestand (Bluffer) Korean chap Han, Zaha from Africa etc etc etc

All of this taken into account, and 6 first team players out injured since August this season, Hoban the main man, it was a big achievement qualifying for Europe.

[ToberonaTornado]

Surely your budget and squad meant Europe was at least a realistic prospect?

Deffo a realistic proposition at the start of the season but with a small enough squad we hit injury traffic :eek::rolleyes: at the back end of season and those who were left showed a lot of determination and grit to eventually get the job done.
The fans celebrations in the op bars were still going on *hic* when i left about an hour ago and who can blame them after what happened with P6 last year?!
Hard luck pats,sorry to see Harps going down and good luck to UCD,Longford,Waterford,Galway and Treaty in the p/o's.

[D24Saint]

And then someone behind the goals racially abused the Pats keeper before the start of the second half. pats would have been well within their rights to walk off

An awful night for the club. Those toe rags in the jinks have been at that crap all season. Running down throwing stuff at the away fans whenever we score etc. saw how brave they were when a few of the Pats fans went after them.

Only so much clubs and the authorities can do. There are scumbags in society when scumbags buy a ticket for a football match they are going to act the maggot.

[total hoofball]

Spectacular result for Shels to end our 11 game league winless streak though Drogheda were utterly terrible, on the flip side in all competitions we have only lost one of our last 9 and that was a stoppage time goal to Rovers

With injuries and suspensions to key players now cleared I don't think we can be in a better position going into the cup final, will be interesting to see if Duff plays any of our cup final starting XI against Pats with them having an vested interest in the result of the cup final and us having a chance of finishing 6th ahead of Bohs