Games weekend 2nd / 5th June

[sbgawa]

Premier Division

Friday 2nd (all 19:45)

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

Monday 5th

Dundalk v UCD (17:00)
Cork v Bohemians (17:00)
Sligo v Shamrock Rovers (18:00)
St Pats v Derry (18:45)
Shelbourne v Drogheda (19:45)


First Division

Friday 2nd

Wexford v Cobh (19:45)
Waterford v Treaty (19:45)
Bray v Galway (19:45)
Athlone v Longford (19:45)
Finn Harps v Kerry (20:00)

Monday 5th

Kerry v Waterford (16:00)
Cobh v Longford (17:00)
Galway v Finn Harps (17:00)
Athlone v Bray (19:45)
Treaty v Wexford (19:45)

[sbgawa]

Its weekends like this that we need to step up if we are going to win the league.
1 more match after these to the break.
No Hoare , Kenny, Towell or Farrugia , all suspended but no excuses , tired of that.
Bohs look to have the easiest matches over the weekend but then again we've just lost to Drogs and Cork so ..........worst league in years, i still think Rovers are the best team but they need to show it..

[JC_GUFC]

Bohs look to have the easiest matches over the weekend but then again we've just lost to Drogs and Cork so ..........worst league in years, i still think Rovers are the best team but they need to show it..

Surely the fact you’ve lost back to back to the teams in 8th and 9th and Derry lost to Sligo in 7th shows that the strength in depth of the league is probably the best it’s ever been.

Apart from UCD there are no “easy” games.

Maybe Rovers aren’t as good as previously but if you’re measuring a League based on the best team that’s not really an accurate judgement of it.

[JC_GUFC]

In Division 1 we’ll hit the halfway point after Monday’s rounds of fixtures.

The interesting thing now is that 9th placed Finn Harps are within 3 points of the final playoff spot, Athlone in 5th.

With a home game against Kerry tonight the gap between 5th and 9th could be even tighter on Monday evening.

I still think it’s too easy for the team that finishes 5th or even 4th to be promoted but it does show the advantage of extending the playoffs, that bar Kerry, the season is very much alive for 9 of the 10 teams.

[sbgawa]

Surely the fact you’ve lost back to back to the teams in 8th and 9th and Derry lost to Sligo in 7th shows that the strength in depth of the league is probably the best it’s ever been.

Apart from UCD there are no “easy” games.

Maybe Rovers aren’t as good as previously but if you’re measuring a League based on the best team that’s not really an accurate judgement of it.
Ah I was a little tired and emotional putting that up last night at 1a.m :) . To be honest if there is one thing that surprises me this year it's that as bad as rovers have been no one has taken advantage so maybe I should have said "most average league ever with no really good team". Anyway I'm awake and full of optimisim this a.m .....3 nil Rovers tonight and SOD brings sleeping bags for the post match inquest in the dressing room :)

[2 Year Contract]

With this being the halfway point for premier division clubs would I be right in saying that the yellow card count resets after this weekend for accumulated yellows?

[Philosophizer]

Most inconsistent league is maybe fairer. Nearly all the teams have been inconsistent, except Shels. They’re consistently hard to beat but fairly dour. Everyone else has been up and down.

Vinny Perth was talking on OTB yesterday and mentioned how in previous years the league winners usually had about 38-40 points at this stage. That probably doesn’t bode well for our top teams going into Europe but hopefully they can get a little bit of form going before the break.

[Shearer]

Treaty will be hoping to get out of Waterford without a hiding and aim for Monday vs Wexford. Squad is threadbare so hard to rotate what isn't there...

[brendy_éire]

Its weekends like this that we need to step up if we are going to win the league.

You'll be fine, no-one else is going to be able to take advantage of the slip ups.

Cup final aside, the Derry-Shels matches tend to be tight affairs. Two best defences in the league, and a 0-0 wouldn't be a surprise.

[Shearer]

Kerry down to the barebones tonight, so much so that Billy has ended his vendetta against Matt Keane and has given him his first start since April 1st.

[CraftyToePoke]

Kerry down to the barebones tonight, so much so that Billy has ended his vendetta against Matt Keane and has given him his first start since April 1st.

He had a go at the experienced lads a while back and this week has gone public on the underage academy mindset in the squad which they need to evolve from so a bit of pressure being felt there would be my take, will be an interesting June window there.

[SPXcyan]

Treaty will be hoping to get out of Waterford without a hiding and aim for Monday vs Wexford. Squad is threadbare so hard to rotate what isn't there...

Ooooff..

[Nesta99]

Constructive observation of that half in Tallaght - I dont like that Dudalk away kit at all!!

[culloty82]

Not so much against the players, given the average age of the squad (even including the older members) is only 21, but the drop-off in the attendances reflects a general listlessness in the season, and a sense, as you say, that some freshness will need to be injected during the brief mid-season break.

[joey B]

Decent first half from Kerry, Harps not doing enough to hurt them though...

[Shearer]

Ooooff..
Tough going :eek:

[sbgawa]

Ah I was a little tired and emotional putting that up last night at 1a.m :) . To be honest if there is one thing that surprises me this year it's that as bad as rovers have been no one has taken advantage so maybe I should have said "most average league ever with no really good team". Anyway I'm awake and full of optimisim this a.m .....3 nil Rovers tonight and SOD brings sleeping bags for the post match inquest in the dressing room :)

2 nil instead of 3 but i hope SOD brought those sleeping bags with him.
Some result for Cork tonight, makes the bottom look very tight and drags a few into it

[Nesta99]

2 nil instead of 3 but i hope SOD brought those sleeping bags with him

Id them already in use, bored by a side that showed the urgency of a 1980s keeper!

[Knocklyonhoop]

Rovers very good tonight but can see why Dundalk fans haven’t been happy with the team. Bar the last 10 + IT it was all to easy with ten men and should have been out of sight. Tough one Monday even more so,after playing with 8 then 10. Looked v tired at the end

[Knocklyonhoop]

Id them already in use, bored by a side that showed the urgency of a 1980s keeper!

until the last 10 that really was the case. Will SO’D start coming under pressure? I know budget constraints etc.

[culloty82]

And it finishes with a first-ever clean sheet for Kerry, and a scoreless draw - always did have plenty of time for Harps!

[legendz]

Kerry have finally kept a clean sheet. The Harps keeper pulled off a great save to deny a late winner.

[ontheotherhand]

Fully deserved red card and win for us tonight. All this practicing with 10 players is finally paying off.

Dundalk don't seem to have an idea other than "get it to Tulloch". He's very good but constantly going to him might be wasting the talents of Hoban etc.

[Calcio Jack]

Fully deserved red card and win for us tonight. All this practicing with 10 players is finally paying off.

Dundalk don't seem to have an idea other than "get it to Tulloch". He's very good but constantly going to him might be wasting the talents of Hoban etc.


Thought Hoban was a shadow of himself and looked disinterested ( in fairness tough going up against the Cleary/Lopes/Grace axis) is it down to poor service or is he simply on the wane ?

[joey B]

A real struggle for us tonight,Kerry defended well tbf to them but it’s a really bad result again for us at home….

[pineapple stu]

Can we just skip the second half of the season maybe?

Here's hoping for St Michael's, Kerry, Trinity and our own 15s team to set us on a Cup run :)

[Dermobohs]

Bohs win and produce a hard working full ninety minutes, **** me , I’m off to get ****ed. Twardek and Clarke no longer on the fringes for Declan, he won’t be able to drop either of them after that. Mcdaid when he got on was good too. Hard to call our midfield atm because if we get a good left full signed, Flores comes into the mix, along with Bucko, McManus Connolly, and the sadly underused OSullivan.
James Akintunde was terrific in the front man role tonight too, Ali Coote though looks a little lost, he plays in short snatches, as always poor first half then suddenly wakes up for the last twenty. A bench player/ impact sub if there ever was one.

[placid casual]

Delighted for Greener. He doesn't let missed chances get to him and just keeps going. He's exactly what we needed after a couple of indifferent results. Rovers are operating on about 60% capacity at the moment, in my view, but it appears to be enough. We will need to step it up a bit come European time to avoid a quick exit.
As for dundalk... I couldn't care less.

[Loifan_76]

Does anyone know why a section of Pat's fans were booing one of their own players tonight? Number 2 I think. It was very odd. Wondered what the story was. Happened a few times.

[patsdad]

Does anyone know why a section of Pat's fans were booing one of their own players tonight? Number 2 I think. It was very odd. Wondered what the story was. Happened a few times.

That was Noah Lewis and I think what you heard was “shoot” every time he got the ball as he was on a hat-trick. It was a bit tongue in cheek, though, he hasn’t exactly been our best player this season.

[joey B]

Colin McCabe with some of the worst keeping you’ll see for Corks goal tonight…

[da bishop]

Shambles at the RSC tonight ,Waterford were ok not great by any means with Treaty sinking like a stone.These results are not uncommon under Tommy Barretts tenure at the helm of League of Ireland entities in the city...credit is running thin ,time to question and time to lose the constant stream of excuses trooted out for displays like this.

[Philosophizer]

Bohs win and produce a hard working full ninety minutes, **** me , I’m off to get ****ed. Twardek and Clarke no longer on the fringes for Declan, he won’t be able to drop either of them after that. Mcdaid when he got on was good too. Hard to call our midfield atm because if we get a good left full signed, Flores comes into the mix, along with Bucko, McManus Connolly, and the sadly underused OSullivan.
James Akintunde was terrific in the front man role tonight too, Ali Coote though looks a little lost, he plays in short snatches, as always poor first half then suddenly wakes up for the last twenty. A bench player/ impact sub if there ever was one.
Agree with all this bar Coote. I thought he did ok, but being played right wing isn’t really his position, he’s a 10.
Is it sad that O’Sullivan is underused? I’ve never seen him have a good game…

[Dermobohs]

Agree with all this bar Coote. I thought he did ok, but being played right wing isn’t really his position, he’s a 10.
Is it sad that O’Sullivan is underused? I’ve never seen him have a good game…

Haven’t seen enough of o Sullivan is how I should have put it, sorry.
As for Ali, gets a free pas from the bohs fans no matter what, he was appealing against Derry, had a fairly poor first half tonight and turned up for about 30 minutes in all his games. He’s not good or consistent enough to play as a 10, and won’t tackle so can’t drop in beside Flores/ Buckley/ mcdonnnell/ McManus, so he gets shunted out to the right.
Wants to play in the middle, pull the ****ing finger out and graft a bit.
I still like the lad here but he started the season with five or six genuinely top displays and has coasted through half of each game since.

[outspoken]

Colin McCabe with some of the worst keeping you’ll see for Corks goal tonight…

Brutal keeper

[nigel-harps1954]

Harps could have, and probably should have won very very comfortably tonight. Brutal finishing cost us three points.

July 1st can't come quick enough.

[Finlay Harp]

You mean October 20th!!!

[JC_GUFC]

Galway were poor enough in Bray and they fully deserved the point and possibly could have won it.
I’d need to see it again but it seemed fairly harsh to give Rob Slevin a 2nd yellow and red for the penalty incident.
Either way 11 v 11 we hadn’t shown we were going to score again so maybe it didn’t make much difference.

Back to winning ways against Harps on Monday hopefully to finish the first half of the season 10 clear of Waterford. Then we’re down in Wexford on Friday before the break.

[Kingswood Rover]

Could not even look in here folks such was the trauma of Cork last week, very workman like last night and you could see from the 11 starters that was the approach by Bradser and boy did they work Greene and Gaffney were like 2 ferrets chasing and fighting for everything. Jack was excellent again and Finner was my MOM till he left the pitch. The terrible pass out by, an am not sure so wont say left very little option for Ronan only to attempt a last ditch pass, Red was warranted no issue. Then we start playing better with more space in around the back and with the 2 ferrets now really getting some fun. Great defending the last 10, you could hear the sound of Pico heading the ball away all around the ground. This result should really galvanise the group but Sligo on Monday is going to be really hard with all our suspensions. Will the suspensions and the break be a blessing in disguise come the Euro games in terms of some of the players coming back fresh. Yea i am going with that postulation as i am a glass half full guy.....again.

[Philosophizer]

Anyone know why afolabi didn’t get a run last night! Akintunde did well and was very mobile as his replacement. It may have been just a bit of rotation with a game coming on Monday…

[sbgawa]

Could not even look in here folks such was the trauma of Cork last week, very workman like last night and you could see from the 11 starters that was the approach by Bradser and boy did they work Greene and Gaffney were like 2 ferrets chasing and fighting for everything. Jack was excellent again and Finner was my MOM till he left the pitch. The terrible pass out by, an am not sure so wont say left very little option for Ronan only to attempt a last ditch pass, Red was warranted no issue. Then we start playing better with more space in around the back and with the 2 ferrets now really getting some fun. Great defending the last 10, you could hear the sound of Pico heading the ball away all around the ground. This result should really galvanise the group but Sligo on Monday is going to be really hard with all our suspensions. Will the suspensions and the break be a blessing in disguise come the Euro games in terms of some of the players coming back fresh. Yea i am going with that postulation as i am a glass half full guy.....again.

Hoare, farrugia and Kenny will be back for sligo if needed.
Towell will have 2 more games. Not sure about Finner is he 3 or 1 .

[Straightstory]

Colin McCabe with some of the worst keeping you’ll see for Corks goal tonight…
Two howlers in recent games didn't really matter - both came in injury time and the games were lost already. This one could cost us, though. Terrible decision - and the lad went past him with no challenge at all. Disappointing for Drogs. They'd started to score goals in last two games, but the old problems returned last night.

[RealJohn91]

Anyone know why afolabi didn’t get a run last night! Akintunde did well and was very mobile as his replacement. It may have been just a bit of rotation with a game coming on Monday…
The preview the club released before the match said he was a doubt with his ankle, no reason to risk him with how comfortable things were last night I guess.

[total hoofball]

Colin McCabe with some of the worst keeping you’ll see for Corks goal tonight…
Thanks for the heads up for that one I checked out the highlights of it on youtube it didn't disappoint lol

[nigel-harps1954]

You mean October 20th!!!

I think we'll do okay with a couple of additions to the team. Should be five or six changes to the squad in this transfer window. Fixing problems at the back is paramount. One or two not good enough and panic hoofing the ball, and others should just retire gracefully before it gets embarrassing for them.

[pineapple stu]

Thanks for the heads up for that one I checked out the highlights of it on youtube it didn't disappoint lol
It's weird - it's like he just gave up on it before the attacker had even reached the ball

There's been lots of terrible goalkeeping this season - I don't think it's the worst, but it's pretty bad alright

[placid casual]

Thanks for the heads up for that one I checked out the highlights of it on youtube it didn't disappoint lol
I just watched that myself, after the heads up on here.
What. In. The. Name. Of. God.. was that keeper doing..??!?

[TonyD]

Easy win for Pats at UCD last night. Three corners, three headed goals, and Ben McCormack somehow managed to hit the post from inside the six yard box with an open goal ! We didn’t really have to break sweat to be honest. Another defender off injured though ! We’re really getting down to the bare bones.

[Knocklyonhoop]

Just saw the clearance by Wilson in Derry. Unreal.
Shels seemed to create a few?
can see this being relatively close to the end. Bohs hanging in, Pats playing well again. With `Shels hanging in and Sligo / Dundalk up and down, be some battle for aEurope

[pineapple stu]

With `Shels hanging in and Sligo / Dundalk up and down, be some battle for aEurope
I think the relegation playoff fight will be interesting too. Cork have found form, which has brought Drogheda and Sligo into the mix. I can't see Waterford messing up again.