Games weekend 24th / 25th Feb 2023

[sbgawa]

Friday 24th (All 19:45)

Premier Division

St Pats v Shelbourne
UCD v Sligo
Bohemians v Dundalk
Derry v Cork
Drogheda v Shamrock Rovers

First Division

Athlone v Finn Harps
Bray v Kerry
Cobh v Wexford
Galway v Treaty
Waterford v Longford

[sbgawa]

Must win game for Rovers tonight or the fans will be calling for change :) but we havent done well against Drogs lately so ill take a last minute deflected OG and get ready for the visit of Derry next week.
Cork looked woeful against Bohs so will be interesting to see tonight are bohs better then people thought or are Cork as bad as they looked.
Bohs Dundalk is a big match even this early , Dundalk wont want to go 5 points behind a likely Euro place chalenger.
Same kind of story for Shels and PAts a win for either and the seaon is off and running, for the loser its a bad start.

Another must win game for Caulfield :) . Bray Kerry will be interesting i expect Bray to win but maybe Cobh are better than we think hence the win in Kerry. Harps need to get soemthing in Athlone and i wouldnt put it past them, Longford who Athlone beat look very poor.

four of the five games in Premier Division sold out is prety mad stuff but great to see

[Nesta99]

Must win game for Rovers tonight or the fans will be calling for change :) but we havent done well against Drogs lately so ill take a last minute deflected OG and get ready for the visit of Derry next week.
Cork looked woeful against Bohs so will be interesting to see tonight are bohs better then people thought or are Cork as bad as they looked.
Bohs Dundalk is a big match even this early , Dundalk wont want to go 5 points behind a likely Euro place chalenger.
Same kind of story for Shels and PAts a win for either and the seaon is off and running, for the loser its a bad start.

Another must win game for Caulfield :) . Bray Kerry will be interesting i expect Bray to win but maybe Cobh are better than we think hence the win in Kerry. Harps need to get soemthing in Athlone and i wouldnt put it past them, Longford who Athlone beat look very poor.

four of the five games in Premier Division sold out is prety mad stuff but great to see

Agree with the above. I wonder if we had restricted capacity at grounds and hung out the sold out signs years back, could it have generated additional interest, play on the fomo tendencies of the Irish sporting public. Post pandemic surge/new season helps but need to take advantage eg. like Bohs have and incrementally increase capacity.

[dansultheman]

Premier Division

St Pats 2 - 1 Shelbourne
UCD 1 - 2 Sligo
Bohemians 1 - 1 Dundalk
Derry 3 - 0 Cork
Drogheda 0 - 1 Shamrock Rovers

First Division

Athlone 0 - 2 Finn Harps
Bray 1 - 1 Kerry
Cobh 2 - 1 Wexford
Galway 3 - 0 Treaty
Waterford 4 - 0 Longford

[pineapple stu]

Wrong thread Dan!

[SPXcyan]

I appreciate the Waterford result in any case ^^

[dansultheman]

Wrong thread Dan!

Apologies as a relatively newbie. I would have thought having match predictions would fall under this weekends games?

[pineapple stu]

There's a whole tournament to it here (https://foot.ie/threads/281468-2023-Predictions-League-Series-2-24th-February) (that's the week 2 link)

I see actually you missed week 1, but plenty of time to catch up. :)

When you see the posts in that thread, you'll realise why I presumed you had just posted in the wrong thread

[A N Mouse]

Apologies as a relatively newbie. I would have thought having match predictions would fall under this weekends games?

Dan is actually from the future and is only posting again in an attempt to save his timeline.

After glitching the matrix by publishing correct scores before a ball was kicked, inadvertently making billionaires out of a load of auld fellas on the internet.

[Nesta99]

Apologies as a relatively newbie. I would have thought having match predictions would fall under this weekends games?

If its a question, yeah predictions could fall under a weekends games thread but when there is a predictions thread.....there's often a bit of chat in this thread on why results could go a particular way in fairness.

[pineapple stu]

We are top of the league!

Not often I can get that in, so by God I'll do it now! :p

[SkStu]

short lived ;) hope you enjoyed it

[culloty82]

Appears to have been one-way traffic for long spells of the first half at the Carlisle Grounds, with Omorehiomwan heading in from a corner, and Wayne Guthrie having to make a number of saves soon afterwards. Still, Kerry improved slightly just before HT, and as long as it remains 1-0, there will be some grounds for optimism.

[joey B]

Harps ahead from a ridiculous penalty consession from Athlone,Harps second best for a good bit of it tbh but we'll take it....

[culloty82]

Bray doubled their lead after the break, but Leo Gaxha replies straightaway to become Kerry's first-ever goalscorer!

[Calcio Jack]

And Lee Grace proves he’s an even bigger idiot than Lopes by getting a stupid red card

[Calcio Jack]

And now Dan Cleary has upped the ante by getting two yellows in two mins and off …. Utter idiots….. big win for Derry as we’ll be missing 2 if not 3 c/halves next Friday… Drogs equalise ….and every chance of a Drogs winner…. Disgraceful performance from Rovers ; Bradley would want to sort this …. Kenny also needs to understand you can’t miss three sitters as he did tonight if he wants to prosper at Rovers

[CorribsideSteve]

Dundalk taking on water and certainly looking like they need some Hull repair tonght. I'll get my coat.

[CorribsideSteve]

Great to see thee large crowds at all the games. Even UCD have more than 1,000 in there tonight. I wonder how long it can last.

[Jd2793]

harps are the worst team in the country

[pineapple stu]

Great to see thee large crowds at all the games. Even UCD have more than 1,000 in there tonight. I wonder how long it can last.
Well it's been announced as 716, but if the stand is half-full I'll eat my hat

[joey B]

Harps well beat in Athlone,atrocious goals given away ,long season ahead for us......

[sbgawa]

Rovers looking like they will be 6 points behind Derry by next weekend.
We need to change things up somehow.
Missing Pico, Grace and Cleary for next weekend against Derry.
Team look jaded and its two games in..so poor

[Longfordian]

I've been critical all week so I'm delighted to give credit for an excellent result for LTFC tonight. Didn't get to watch it but it sounds like a spirited performance from a very young team. Athlone may be better than I had given them credit for too given their good win tonight.

[Calcio Jack]

Rovers looking like they will be 6 points behind Derry by next weekend.
We need to change things up somehow.
Missing Pico, Grace and Cleary for next weekend against Derry.
Team look jaded and its two games in..so poor

Didn’t think we looked jaded , in fact if Kenny took a few of the sitters he was played in for we’d of been at least 3 up… he didn’t and then the Grace/Cleary moron show kicked in ….. Cleary particularly was a disgrace managing to go out of his way to make sure he got two yellows ; he’s been superb since he joined but tonight’s act of petulance will take a long time to redeem

[joey B]

Hull City's owner at Pats/Shels !!!!!!!!!!!

[Nesta99]

Hull City's owner at Pats/Shels !!!!!!!!!!!

Meeting Kelleher to settle the enormous compo St Pats still want from Dundalk....that or he has a moving target on LoI clubs. Shels would be a fit for his plans and could stay in Tolka.

[Another Bohemia]

Good win for Bohs there tonight. All the players put in a serious shift. Afolabi in particular was excellent. Caused Dundalk plenty of trouble. The sooner he gets up and running on the goal front the better because he has more than earned one so far. On Dundalk, they play some nice ball but lacked any real end product. Outside of their goal, which looked a bit hit and hope, I don't think they had a shot on target. Surprised O'Donnell didn't bring on Wardy as he might have added something a bit different for them.

[Dermobohs]

Ah now behave, that Dundalk goal was a cracker, beautifully struck and loads of bend on it, I was right behind it and had a great view

[Another Bohemia]

Ah now behave, that Dundalk goal was a cracker, beautifully struck and loads of bend on it, I was right behind it and had a great view

I was not behind it so I'll defer to you there. Still the only chance of note I recall from Dundalk and a well deserved win for us.

[RealJohn91]

Very impressed by Adam McDonnell for Bohs tonight, some amount of running he does. Bucko has just slotted back in and looks like he never left. Feels like keeping him at right back would be a waste of him but he's looked so good there, Devine will have a lot to think about.

[joey B]

Dalymount looks well with the packed crowd behind the goal!

[Dermobohs]

Pleasantly surprised by bohs , we look very up for it, Devine backing up the talk , I’m impressed. Definitely up for the top 4 battle. Sligo Patrick’s and Derry all look very good, shams curiously stale, ucd and drogs also up for a fight, shels a bit flat so far, poor signings? Fascinating start.

[da bishop]

Galway win far more convincing than score would indicate, good crowd at Terryland ,some very good performances especially Manning,McCormack and McCarthy,Treaty tried hard but were well beaten,didnt create one chance from play,interesting to note not one player from Limerick on the team afaik.

[Dermobohs]

I was not behind it so I'll defer to you there. Still the only chance of note I recall from Dundalk and a well deserved win for us.
Agreed I felt we earned that, but they did have five goal attempts, plus a lot of possession late on, we had eight attempts at goal, five on target so yeah the more productive team.
Middle two the key, they are working well together, and Afolabi is an absolute monster so far, that young man works haaard.

[pineapple stu]

Disappointing to lose against Sligo this evening; general view (including Paul Buttner) is the winning penalty was outside the box. Certainly looks very tight on the highlights

Thought we played well overall though and certainly we're better than I was thinking we would be. Behan and Kinsella-Bishop have come on well after a year in the LSL and that could be huge for us.

Not sure who we'll finish ahead of yet, but I'd be more confident we will finish ahead of someone

[Dermobohs]

From the limited highlights of ucd I’ve seen stu, you’ve got a shout this season , been way above expectations from what I’ve seen. Dodgy peno though, who’d have thought??

[pineapple stu]

Had too many of them last season and could do without them this year!

Thought the first one for handball was harsh at the time, but from the highlights I think our guy should just keep his hands down and no issue

And then Drogheda draw against Rovers which wasn't in the script

[dundalkfc10]

Pleasantly surprised by bohs , we look very up for it, Devine backing up the talk , I’m impressed. Definitely up for the top 4 battle. Sligo Patrick’s and Derry all look very good, shams curiously stale, ucd and drogs also up for a fight, shels a bit flat so far, poor signings? Fascinating start.

Just home from Dalymount. Dundalk were horrendous Bohs bossed the game without doing too much tbh

Lovely wee stand for away fans. Was great seeing 3 sides in use (if only small on away side)

[Nesta99]

Thought Dundalk had too many 50/50 punts from the keeper tonight, Bohs winning the second ball and that invited pressure on. Not ideal when you have the physicality of Afolabi to deal with and also the pace of Connolly. Buckley is a decent makeshift full back and Bohs looked pretty solid in central defence. There were a few glimpses that this Dundalk side can pass it around, Sloggett is a linchpin but always has one big mistake in him per game, other than that he could really pull the strings when all the new sgnings bed in. Malley has been a find. Angled balls by Sheppard to the wide areas with wing backs pushing on, trying to keep Bohs wide players deep wasnt working. When we went 2 down and really started chasing the game we became more composed on the ball, more went through the middle and then used the wide players rather than the battle for getting on top of broken play which Bohs won. Hoban may be strong enough to be a target man but he is a lot better with ball to feet which doesnt happen enough unless he drops deep. I think losing lewis (look like concussion) was a key moment as Sloggett had to drop deeper which meant Hoban did also.

Some game time and confidence and this could be a really decent Dundalk side. More good permanent sigings added, complimented by what could be some more handy loan signings and rebuilding the side with limited resources continues. At least the 3 at the back system isnt as delicate as the 2nd half of last season.

[Town Legend]

I've been critical all week so I'm delighted to give credit for an excellent result for LTFC tonight. Didn't get to watch it but it sounds like a spirited performance from a very young team. Athlone may be better than I had given them credit for too given their good win tonight.

Brilliant performance from the young lads. Very unfortunate own goal, probably caused by the new floodlights. The Waterford lads on commentary said before the game that they were the brightest lights they've ever seen and the pylons are low. And that this could cause issues with high balls coming in. Jack made a great double save but other than that I don't think Waterford had much more chances. Very nervy opening 15-20 minutes but after that they settled down. Muhammed took his very well in fairness to him. But I do still think we look very light up top.

[total hoofball]

Shels better than last week frustrating loss when it was a pretty tight even game but like alot of games last season looking too blunt in the final third. I thought Barrett was fouled leading up to the Pats goal "one of a number of questionable decisions by Neil Doyle" which is a phrase I've been saying on Friday nights for nearly decades now

[kksaints]

Shels better than last week frustrating loss when it was a pretty tight even game but like alot of games last season looking too blunt in the final third. I thought Barrett was fouled leading up to the Pats goal "one of a number of questionable decisions by Neil Doyle" which is a phrase I've been saying on Friday nights for nearly decades now

I don't see a foul in the replay. Looks like Lewis just gets to the ball in front of Barrett who was excellent for the most part tonight. We were fairly poor tonight but I won't complain about the result. Shels were very defensively set up but I don't see them being in danger at the end of the season. They will grind out enough wins for safety. We will need to improve if we're to challenge for the title and top three. Very ponderous in possession with Redmond and Lewis often passing the ball between themselves for what felt like minutes at a time.

[mcgonigle]

Malley has been a find.

Early days but can't agree with this. He looked good in our preseason friendlies and I was excited about him but the real stuff has started now and he's been massively disappointing in both games. All I can remember him doing is giving the free kick away for the UCD equaliser when he should have been long subbed and losing the ball tonight for Bohs second.

Not sure what his role is either, he's not playing as a number 10 anyway. He's had two chances and hasn't done it. Yli Kokko, impressed when he came on and should be given a chance next Friday

[Strongbow10]

Athlone Town flying. Hinds in midfield looks a real find.

Missing our new striker Pierrot through suspension aswell, I expect him to bag alot of goals this season, looked such a handful against Longford before the silly sending off.

[nigel-harps1954]

Harps were chronic bad tonight. Athlone look a handy enough side though.

Referee was utterly abysmal for both sides too.

Could be a long season for us, but it's early days for an entirely new squad.

On another note, the complete lack of any sort of match night arrangements for Athlone is a worry. Zero stewards, zero crowd segregation, zero organisation at the gates, and a mad looking half time kickabout by about 30 teenagers on the pitch who kept running in the middle of the two teams groups of subs who were doing their half time drills.
Never seen a more chaotic setup.

[Nesta99]

Early days but can't agree with this. He looked good in our preseason friendlies and I was excited about him but the real stuff has started now and he's been massively disappointing in both games. All I can remember him doing is giving the free kick away for the UCD equaliser when he should have been long subbed and losing the ball tonight for Bohs second.

Not sure what his role is either, he's not playing as a number 10 anyway. He's had two chances and hasn't done it. Yli Kokko, impressed when he came on and should be given a chance next Friday

Didnt see any of preseason but from the first 2 games I think there is a quality player there. Could change opinion if the whole team are hitting a stride and he isnt showing up. I felt that he scrambled reasonably well, plugging gaps in a midfield that was on the back foot. You are right about the significance of those errors, there have been 2 frees now that hurt us in 2 games. but there was plenty of sloppy moments from more than Malley.

[ger121]

We are top of the league, said we are top of the league…

[wexfordned]

We are top of the league, said we are top of the league…

Pleasantly surprised by Bohs. 2 games, 2 wins and Dundalk were **** poor tonight. Dundalk goal was a freak bounce from a long range shot Talbot normally deals with all day long.

It took until July for Bohs to win 2 games in a row last season. Hopefully Bohs can continue their form. Nothing to fear from that shocking Dundalk side

[Shearer]

Harps were chronic bad tonight. Athlone look a handy enough side though.

Referee was utterly abysmal for both sides too.

Could be a long season for us, but it's early days for an entirely new squad.

On another note, the complete lack of any sort of match night arrangements for Athlone is a worry. Zero stewards, zero crowd segregation, zero organisation at the gates, and a mad looking half time kickabout by about 30 teenagers on the pitch who kept running in the middle of the two teams groups of subs who were doing their half time drills.
Never seen a more chaotic setup.
Welcome back to the First Division