Games weekend 26th 27th May

[DCWA]

Yikes.

https://twitter.com/markmccadden/status/1662220231081869312

Slowed it right down there and can’t see any contact with the boot. I don’t think that clip is conclusive though. From the best that could be made out of it the correct decision would have probably been a Cork City penalty and a yellow or no card.

That being said it is very quick thinking from the Cork player he knows Towell has flicked the boot back in his direction and reckons, ultimately correctly, on the ref seeing that bit of a flicked boot and thinking kick to the face.

I did not see the game and so can’t comment on the other cards but that decision from that angle whilst possibly wrong is far from scandalous.

If the ref thinks Towell has kicked the Cork defender by the way (after having a handful of his shirt and manhandling him to the ground) then should it have been a pen + red for the combination of offences?

[ontheotherhand]

Slowed it right down there and can’t see any contact with the boot. I don’t think that clip is conclusive though. From the best that could be made out of it the correct decision would have probably been a Cork City penalty and a yellow or no card.

That being said it is very quick thinking from the Cork player he knows Towell has flicked the boot back in his direction and reckons, ultimately correctly, on the ref seeing that bit of a flicked boot and thinking kick to the face.

I did not see the game and so can’t comment on the other cards but that decision from that angle whilst possibly wrong is far from scandalous.

If the ref thinks Towell has kicked the Cork defender by the way (after having a handful of his shirt and manhandling him to the ground) then should it have been a pen + red for the combination of offences?

If you think that ref wouldn't have given a peno and a red against us given any opportunity tonight.......

Only good thing to come out of tonight was the cork commentary team saying that Rovers have it harder than any other team in the league as every other team treats the fixture like a cup final. Heroic we are.

[Shinkicker]

Kicking out when on the ground, you're asking for bother. Towell only has himself to blame.
I think the assistant was the one that gave it.
Very hard to see what happened, but it does look like Towell kicked out on the ground. Now week in and week out we complain that the lino should have saw it, this one did so it goes down as very good officiating. As for the other two players they were on yellows so shouldn't have put themselves in to that position. They should have been more careful.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Hard to see how Towell would get a red card rescinded from that video. Assume you would need conclusive evidence.

The Cork people shouting from the pub about Bradley’s ill son is the lowest of the lows. Saw a tweet (deleted now) saying they were already banned from Turners Cross. Hopefully the guards get hold of them. Can’t be too hard to identity.

[Jd2793]

Hard to see how Towell would get a red card rescinded from that video. Assume you would need conclusive evidence.

The Cork people shouting from the pub about Bradley’s ill son is the lowest of the lows. Saw a tweet (deleted now) saying they were already banned from Turners Cross. Hopefully the guards get hold of them. Can’t be too hard to identity.


that tweet was incorrect. there is only 2 people banned from the cross and neither of them were involved/in that pub for the game.

[Battery Rover]

Whos Athlone Towns new boss Wonder88? I cant keep up the soap opera down there!

I have contacts in the club but its still very hard to know what's going on or even get info but at minute but either Emelio Williams who owns Valeo FC or Dario Castelo who is Sporting Director of Valeo FC are manager.

I'm hearing though that a new manager and a number of coaches arriving from Portugal in next 2 weeks or so.

[DCWA]

If you think that ref wouldn't have given a peno and a red against us given any opportunity tonight.......


I don’t think anything as regards that. The clip in question is all I have seen of the game.

I do think however in the recent Dublin derby Rovers were on the right end of two of the most scandalous pieces of officiating I have ever seen (so bad if was Bohs I would not be convinced at all they weren’t deliberate) so swings and roundabouts etc.

[Longfordian]

This is a good, swift reaction from Cork. I don't think the guards can really do much unfortunately. Scumbags though they are I don't think they've actually broken any laws.

https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/cork-city-identify-individuals-who-directed-chants-at-stephen-bradley-about-his-son-and-promise-strong-action/a1239152272.html

[Calcio Jack]

This is a good, swift reaction from Cork. I don't think the guards can really do much unfortunately. Scumbags though they are I don't think they've actually broken any laws.

https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/cork-city-identify-individuals-who-directed-chants-at-stephen-bradley-about-his-son-and-promise-strong-action/a1239152272.html

I’d say you’re correct as new ‘hate crime’ legislation not yet enacted, the important thing as you say is that there’s been a swift reaction.

[Jd2793]

yeah ive no idea can the law do anything with them. a bit of community service and a lifetime ban from stadiums + pubs in the area of TC should be on the table.

[ontheotherhand]

I don’t think anything as regards that. The clip in question is all I have seen of the game.

I do think however in the recent Dublin derby Rovers were on the right end of two of the most scandalous pieces of officiating I have ever seen (so bad if was Bohs I would not be convinced at all they weren’t deliberate) so swings and roundabouts etc.

Sounds like you've fallen for the post derby loss bohs spin machine there. Only the peno was clearly the wrong call after replays but the ref was behind it and there's an angle from his pov that looks like the ball was won. Nothing else was anywhere close to the worst call this season let alone ever. Surprised you'd say so.

Either way that derby game had bad calls for both sides. Last night was unlike anything I can remember in the league to be honest. Cork fans are being very honest about it so that should tell you the story.

[da bishop]

Treatys recent good run gone wallop last two games,whatever about losing to Galway last nights effort was harmless and tbf to Harps they should have scored more.About 50 Harps fans in the ground ,crowd maybe 500 and that performance will hardly entice them back.

[Bohtastic]

Sounds like you've fallen for the post derby loss bohs spin machine there. Only the peno was clearly the wrong call after replays but the ref was behind it and there's an angle from his pov that looks like the ball was won. Nothing else was anywhere close to the worst call this season let alone ever. Surprised you'd say so.
Either way that derby game had bad calls for both sides. Last night was unlike anything I can remember in the league to be honest. Cork fans are being very honest about it so that should tell you the story.

TBF, the offside for Clarke was one I understood how they got it wrong.
The other one was inexplicable. On my viewing it does look like Towell was doing more of the wrestling, and yeah, looking on the computer there wasn't contact. A yellow would be Understandable imo opinion.
Won't be rescinded though, as it looks like he tried to kick, and don't see how he made out he was injured.

Kenny? Stupid. You don't go in like that when you're on a yellow. Likewise Hoare.

Bohs v shels last night also had wonderful ref mistakes.
Coyle could have had two reds, as could Boyd in the time he was on.
McManus gets a boot in the face close to the edge of the box, no free for high foot, delay stopping in spite of head injury.

[nigel-harps1954]

Treatys recent good run gone wallop last two games,whatever about losing to Galway last nights effort was harmless and tbf to Harps they should have scored more.About 50 Harps fans in the ground ,crowd maybe 500 and that performance will hardly entice them back.

Was shocked at just how poor Treaty were. Tommy Barrett would usually get a better performance out of his teams but that was as bad as I've seen.

[ontheotherhand]

TBF, the offside for Clarke was one I understood how they got it wrong.
The other one was inexplicable. On my viewing it does look like Towell was doing more of the wrestling, and yeah, looking on the computer there wasn't contact. A yellow would be Understandable imo opinion.
Won't be rescinded though, as it looks like he tried to kick, and don't see how he made out he was injured.

Kenny? Stupid. You don't go in like that when you're on a yellow. Likewise Hoare.

Bohs v shels last night also had wonderful ref mistakes.
Coyle could have had two reds, as could Boyd in the time he was on.
McManus gets a boot in the face close to the edge of the box, no free for high foot, delay stopping in spite of head injury.

Look, whatever anyone thinks about individual decisions is fine. We all have our opinions and people rarely change their minds on forums. All you need to look at is how out of control the ref was and how many cards he gave to one side over the other on a game that had nothing filthy about it. He carded almost every foil or perceived foul for one team. It was the worst I've seen and it's coming from a set of officials with history.

Its so bad this year across the board though. I know it's a tough job that probably only attracts a certain type but.....I don't know...it's making the league look worse than it is. There's probably only 2-3 refs you'd trust to run a game the right way.

[nigel-harps1954]

Great moment for Aaron McLaughlin, a lad who just turned 17 at the start of this month, becoming Harps youngest ever goalscorer.

1662206758855532549

[Philosophizer]

This probably won’t be a popular opinion but I think most of the cards last night were deserved, from the highlights I saw at least.
Mulraney absolutely lost the plot and tried to get to Malley a couple of times but was held back. Eventually he got there and threw a fist into Malleys face so it was a clear red.
Malley should have went too though, the headlock was ridiculous, so poor mistake there from the ref.
In Rovers game I missed the first yellow for Kenny and Hoare, but Kenny’s second was a jump into the cork player for no reason - totally brainless.
Hoare was already on a yellow and although he clearly won the ball his studs came down and caught the man, albeit lightly. It wasn’t aggressive at all but studs made contact so it was careless.
With the Towell one I haven’t seen a conclusive replay to see if he kicked the guy or not.
The most telling thing for me was that for both Hoare and Kenny reds, Jack Byrne came to both players and seemed to be asking, “why did you do that?” Maybe he could see some carelessness in the challenges.

[ontheotherhand]

Great moment for Aaron McLaughlin, a lad who just turned 17 at the start of this month, becoming Harps youngest ever goalscorer.

1662206758855532549

And not a tap in either! Classy turn and burst of speed.

[placid casual]

Comparing a couple of wrong decisions in the recent derby game and the utter embarrassnent of last night's officiating (plenty of cork fans called it the worst performance they'd ever seen) is the opinion of myopic rival fans who weren't there to witness it.
For the record, I think towels red was justified, but it was the same lino who clutched his pearls when Kenny rightfully called out the push on him in the hoardings which happened right beside the lino. The ref has history with Rovers abd I hope moves are being made by Rovers to register their valid case for this grant €****wit to never be involved with Rovers games again.
The post match abhorrent behaviour of a few cork fans has ensured the officials will escape further censure I'd imagine

[Calcio Jack]

We didn’t even have to wait a week….. more crap referring in Sligo…. Diallo should have received a straight for a two footed lunge on Bolger ( he had to go off) and a few mins later Mahon from Sligo sent off for nothing….. it’s beyond a joke at this point

[joey B]

Bizarre refereeing,Diallo could walked after it again before Derry managed to take him off….

[SwanVsDalton]

Diallo was as stonewall a red as you'd see.

Mahon's was a bit soft but he did drag Graydon down while on a yellow. But after letting the Diallo one go, hoo boy...

[joey B]

Fine point for Longford against Waterford,you could nearly give Galway the trophy now ,no way Waterford are making up 12 points….

[Calcio Jack]

Great result for the Rovers

[SwanVsDalton]

Derry will never succeed if they can't figure out how to score on a regular basis. So one-dimensional, can't chase a game.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

We didn’t even have to wait a week….. more crap referring in Sligo…. Diallo should have received a straight for a two footed lunge on Bolger ( he had to go off) and a few mins later Mahon from Sligo sent off for nothing….. it’s beyond a joke at this point

They are so incompetent it’s unreal. Think we’re down 5 centre halves now.

[2 Year Contract]

Didn’t see the Sligo Derry match tonight but my god Derry really are going to have to start capitalising on slip ups from rivals. It feels like a lot of the time rovers drop points Derry seem to struggle to win to either extend their lead or close a gap, you’d wonder is it player naivety in the mental side of a league title race

[Longfordian]

Fine point for Longford against Waterford,you could nearly give Galway the trophy now ,no way Waterford are making up 12 points….

Two draws against them and a win against Galway this season. We're still inconsistent but so is everyone else aside from the top two. Credit to Henderson the team is coming along as the young lads he signed adjust to the level.

[outspoken]

Incredible flat and mundane effort from Waterford this evening. Town well organised and putting in a big shift again. Credit to Hendo and the backroom team.

[joey B]

1662571309291716608

John Mahon’s second yellow tonight,any ideas how that decision was come upon??

[ontheotherhand]

1662571309291716608

John Mahon’s second yellow tonight,any ideas how that decision was come upon??

It also stopped a very promising Sligo attack.....The footage isn't great but that looks like a really bad call in a weekend of awful refereeing.

League places are going to be decided by the refs this year. I mean they always are but this year seems so bad even by LoI standards. At least some of the old bad refs had a bit of personality. This batch are a horrible bunch. Its going to turn ugly at a game at some point and that's the last thing we need with crowds and visibility up.

[Yard of Pace]

This is a good, swift reaction from Cork. I don't think the guards can really do much unfortunately. Scumbags though they are I don't think they've actually broken any laws.

https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/cork-city-identify-individuals-who-directed-chants-at-stephen-bradley-about-his-son-and-promise-strong-action/a1239152272.html


How come there was no self-policing among the Cork fans? The headlines are dreadful. The idea of chanting about a kid who's sick is even worse.

[red bellied]

1662571309291716608

John Mahon’s second yellow tonight,any ideas how that decision was come upon??

Mahon is our best player and can't afford to some bull ****ty suspension after the sending off. Was fuking livid and still am.

[ontheotherhand]

How come there was no self-policing among the Cork fans? The headlines are dreadful. The idea of chanting about a kid who's sick is even worse.

Not sure fans should be responsible for policing this stuff. Everyone condemns the rougher elements when they go off but it's mostly them who would be doing the self policing. Average fan isn't going to risk it

[trevy]

TBF, the offside for Clarke was one I understood how they got it wrong.
The other one was inexplicable. On my viewing it does look like Towell was doing more of the wrestling, and yeah, looking on the computer there wasn't contact. A yellow would be Understandable imo opinion.
Won't be rescinded though, as it looks like he tried to kick, and don't see how he made out he was injured.

Kenny? Stupid. You don't go in like that when you're on a yellow. Likewise Hoare.

Bohs v shels last night also had wonderful ref mistakes.
Coyle could have had two reds, as could Boyd in the time he was on.
McManus gets a boot in the face close to the edge of the box, no free for high foot, delay stopping in spite of head injury.

I saw the incident on tv replays and McManus went down holding his head but there was no contact from the Shels player and it was a great call from the ref. He had to stop the game as McManus stayed down play acting but he had no head injury unless it was caused by heading the ball!

[El-Pietro]

How come there was no self-policing among the Cork fans? The headlines are dreadful. The idea of chanting about a kid who's sick is even worse.

It was outside the ground after the game. Most people didn't know about it until later that evening when the news came out.

[redobit]

Diallo was as stonewall a red as you'd see.

Mahon's was a bit soft but he did drag Graydon down while on a yellow. But after letting the Diallo one go, hoo boy...

Yeah it really was a bad challenge by Diallo, who is a handy wee player btw. I dont usually say too much about the refs, its a tough gig and all that but my god that was some woeful woeful refereeing. A terrible tackle is a yellow and Mahon and someone on our bench get yellows for 'remenstrating'. Diallo should have got a second yellow soon after too, but didnt. But he sends Mahon off for nothing then. The whole thing makes no sense. The league is flying and the only thing not stepping up is the refs.

[sbgawa]

First time in my life watching a game where I genuinely wondered did the ref have some money on the match. Utterly bizarre in Cork. If he shoes up in tallaght I dread to think.

[yurt]

A decent set of results across the divisions for keeping everything competitive.

Rovers and Derry struggling means the division is completely open into the second half of the season.

In the FD the teams outside the playoffs got the better results bunching up the table once again. Surely Galway have to go up from this position?

[De Town]

Galway and Waterford are clearly much better than the other 8 teams in the FD and have scored 82 goals in 36 games between them. They only have 2 goals between them in 4 games against ourselves, which shows where our main strength is. We've only shipped one bad beating (Treaty at home) so as long as that continues we'll always have a squeak in games. Clearly struggling in some games in attack but with our defensive record, it keeps us in games. We need a few bodies in during the summer though because we're riddled with injuries and the bench seems to be getting thinner with each passing week. Another 2 injured last night in Elworthy and Armstrong as well, hopefully they're not out too long.

[outspoken]

Galway and Waterford are clearly much better than the other 8 teams in the FD and have scored 82 goals in 36 games between them. They only have 2 goals between them in 4 games against ourselves, which shows where our main strength is. We've only shipped one bad beating (Treaty at home) so as long as that continues we'll always have a squeak in games. Clearly struggling in some games in attack but with our defensive record, it keeps us in games. We need a few bodies in during the summer though because we're riddled with injuries and the bench seems to be getting thinner with each passing week. Another 2 injured last night in Elworthy and Armstrong as well, hopefully they're not out too long.

Aye and tbf that beating v treaty was with a total mix & match back 4 when we have a solid back 4 and either aodh or victor sitting in front we look very very solid. The fear now would be (a) more injuries and (b) if aodh/byrne are recalled or cherry picked

[nigel-harps1954]

If Galway screw up the First Division title from here, they'll only have themselves to blame.

Themselves and Waterford are miles ahead of the rest, and it would also be a shambles on Waterfords part if they don't come through the First Division playoff at least.

It's anyone's game, bar Kerry, for the other playoff spots really, and a lot will depend on the summer transfer window.

[outspoken]

Drogheda beat Waterford in a play-off, not sure about Cork, need to see who they get in.

[Neish]

1662571309291716608

John Mahon’s second yellow tonight,any ideas how that decision was come upon??

Ridiculous decision

[pineapple stu]

Interesting that we're half-way through the season and already the top two can barely catch Dundalk's points tally from 2018/2019, and have dropped almost as many points as the 2015/16/17 champions did across the entire (33-game) season.

In 2021, the top three all had 35 points at this stage. Last year Rovers had 39 points after 18 games I think, so they're six behind already.

[Jack B]

In a weekend of dodgy decisions that Mahon red is probably the worst. Believe it can't be overturned either as it was a second yellow rather than a straight red.

[Battery Rover]

In a weekend of dodgy decisions that Mahon red is probably the worst. Believe it can't be overturned either as it was a second yellow rather than a straight red.

Yes only straight reds can be appealed

[Shinkicker]

A decent set of results across the divisions for keeping everything competitive.

Rovers and Derry struggling means the division is completely open into the second half of the season.

In the FD the teams outside the playoffs got the better results bunching up the table once again. Surely Galway have to go up from this position? Derry and Rovers loose and none of the teams immediately behind take full advantage to make it four or five team in the mix and keep it interesting until the end of the season. European matches could now be very influencia on the league

[ger121]

Derry and Rovers loose and none of the teams immediately behind take full advantage to make it four or five team in the mix and keep it interesting until the end of the season. European matches could now be very influencia on the league

Point closer than we were Friday and a game in hand too. We’re still here…

[Bohtastic]

Point closer than we were Friday and a game in hand too. We’re still here…


????
Ger.
:quiet::quiet:
We're not mathematically safe from relegation. Let everyone keep talking about the two horse race.