Games weekend Friday 19th to Monday 22nd April

[sbgawa]

Premier Division (All 19:45)

Friday 19th

Sligo v Dundalk
St Pats v Waterford
Galway v Shelbourne
Bohemians v Drogheda
Derry v Shamrock Rovers

Monday 22nd

Sligo v Galway
Shelbourne v Shamrock Rovers
Derry v St Pats

First Division

Friday 19th (All 19:45)

Bray v Treaty
Cobh v Finn HArps
Kerry v Athlone
Wexford v UCD

Saturday 20th

Longford v Cork City 19:30

[sbgawa]

Huge weekend in terms of a shake out at the top of the table with Rovers away to Derry and Shels.
Our 4 wins from 9 games so far were away to Waterford and Galway and at home to Sligo and Bohs so unless we have a lot of players back the idea that we will go away and come back with 6 points is fanciful at best.
Id probably take two draws now or a win at Shels and losing to Derry for 3 points. Maybe the lads will surprise me but there is nothing to say we can go to two tough venues and win with the current injury list.

Cork need to go to Longford and win , anything else will allow Harps and UCD to close the gap with wins..in truth Cork have been unimpressive this season so far and need to start stamping a bit of authority on the league as UCD will improve when Finn and a couple of others come back.

We've played everyone bar Drogs now and the only team that seemed remotely decent were Shels who deservedly beat us in Tolka the last time out.
With two home wins against bottom of the table Dundalk and Galway a truely poor Sligo team could go second on Monday night, it says it all so far this season.

[outspoken]

Think Longford fans will just be looking for a performance this weekend, nothing expected even though Cork are bang average.

[Jd2793]

we are crap. clancy will be happy with a draw again id say. we probably will win the league but we arent better than teams by a lot.

[brendy_éire]

Id probably take two draws now or a win at Shels and losing to Derry for 3 points. Maybe the lads will surprise me but there is nothing to say we can go to two tough venues and win with the current injury list.

Ah, you can certainly win the in the Brandywell tonight, but I reckon it'll be a draw. Two teams who are scoring, but are a bit shakey at the back. If either team can keep a clean sheet, it'll give them a great chance.

I know it's been mentioned before, but the way these fixtures are arranged is strange. We've two home games this Friday/Monday, whilst we'll have two aways Friday/Monday later in the year. We'll also now have played Pat's twice at home, but no away match against them. I don't think it makes much of a difference to the teams, but for fans, a spread of home/aways makes it more affordable.

[Jack B]

No idea what to expect tonight, as seems like will be the case with every game in the league this season. Our worst showing thus far was against Waterford but we've looked an improved side over the last couple of weeks, wouldn't expect more than a goal in it either way.

[placid casual]

I would expect the derry city title charge to begin tonight - if not now, when
Rovers lacking a bit in terms of experience in a couple of areas and the brandywell remains a tough place to go. Hopefully Richie can get his annual goal there tonight to help us on our way.

[Shearer]

Hoping the fact that Bray can't defend will see Treaty score and prove my 0-0 prediction wrong.

[sbgawa]

As with all recent .
Rovers matches when i see the team sheet i will know the result.

If its estentially the team that has played 9 and managed to beat the two promoted teams a poor sligo and a Bohs who didnt turn up in Tallaght then we will lose.
If we have a few of the main players back we have a chance.
Expect to see two keepers and a few academy kids who havent playhed a minute of first team football filling the bench but am living in hope

[Knocklyonhoop]

Don’t expect to see many (if any) back today or Monday

[Nesta99]

As with all recent .
Rovers matches when i see the team sheet i will know the result.
If we have a few of the main players back we have a chance.
Expect to see two keepers and a few academy kids who havent playhed a minute of first team football filling the bench but am living in hope

Season 2034 just cut and paste this....at least it feel like groundhog day when Rovers are talking about getting a 1st 11 playing!

[Nesta99]

Mention elsewhere on player fitness, I think Dundak already look a bit lead legged in Sligo. Grass looks a bit long, maybe the pitch is heavy, Sligo fans will be able to say better - or we are just very very poor and Sligo making us look well off the pace.

[culloty82]

Stop the season! ;)

[culloty82]

Athlone equalise just before the break - fairly typical of Kerry's games at home, in that there have been plenty of chances, and just the one actually converted from a penalty.

[Jd2793]

higgins on borrowed time....

[Strongbow10]

Athlone looking very sharp in the Kerry game, some of these new players are handy

[SwanVsDalton]

If I was feeling more measured, I'd say that the first half performance and most of what came before Derry conceded was some of the best football they played all season and if they just had the composure to take one of those chances, or the woodwork was more forgiven, the result would have been much different.

But I'm not feeling measured so I'll just say the team's self-destruction was pathetic, their mentality in adversity is dreadful and the goals they conceded were predictably soft, fitting a team that has defensively made the same mistakes over and over and over again.

There's no accountability with this team. Thoroughly sick of it.

[Calcio Jack]

Disgraceful security issues in Derry ….. beggars belief that a child can run onto the pitch , pick up a live flare and then run the length of the pitch with it … plus Derry knackers throwing objects over the wall from outside at the Rovers fans….. great result for us

[placid casual]

Somebody give Duffer the Heimlich manoeuvre,Shels are choking very very badly.:)

Derry put one good ball into the box and duly scored from it - from the outside it looks like the derry players are not exactly pushing themselves for their manager.
boys against Champions. Gwan the Greener!!

[joey B]

Harps dire again,back to giving away crap goals and having nothing going forward,Rogers esque really,frittering away our good start to the season unfortunately……

[WeAreRovers]

As with all recent .
Rovers matches when i see the team sheet i will know the result.

If its estentially the team that has played 9 and managed to beat the two promoted teams a poor sligo and a Bohs who didnt turn up in Tallaght then we will lose.
If we have a few of the main players back we have a chance.
Expect to see two keepers and a few academy kids who havent playhed a minute of first team football filling the bench but am living in hope

You going to knock the beal bocht stuff on the head now! ?

Statement win from Rovers. 5 wins from 6 now and despite what sbgwa would have you believe Rovers really beginning to motor.

[Philosophizer]

3 wins on the bounce now for Bohs. And only 2 conceeded in their last 5.
Reynolds seems to have made them quite solid, aside from the loss against Rovers in his first game.

[Nesta99]

It'll do, 1 point. Better stuff especially latter part of the 1st half after Sligo scored, like the shackles were off and played a bit. Favours elsewhere and we need them. Id take 9th and a playoff now especially v Cork if they choke. Watched Derry v Rovers too and Rovers never looked under any pressure - that high defensive line by Derry?? Ugh!! At least Dundalk can question the quality of players, Derry cant.

[Dermobohs]

You going to knock the beal bocht stuff on the head now! ?

Statement win from Rovers. 5 wins from 6 now and despite what sbgwa would have you believe Rovers really beginning to motor.
By a street the best team and squad in the league. 5 or 6 injuries? Do me a favour you’ve a bench filled with loi regulars.
Take the league easily, you’re years ahead.
I’d say Higgins is a gonner.

[joey B]

How did a 8 year old get on the pitch in Derry,grab a flare and run down the pitch with it ??

[Another Bohemia]

Sounds like an 8 year old out worked the entire Derry team tonight! Jokes aside Derry will probably be hit with a very significant fine for this.

On to the game I actually watched. I'm starting to see green shoots in how Reynolds wants to play and I think the players are buying into it as well. Getting rid of Devine at the time we did is looking better by the day with the turmoil at other clubs and precarious positions of other managers. Still need some defensive reinforcements imo but very happy with how things are looking. Defensively looking better and play moving forward is starting to improve. Big test will be Rovers in a few weeks.

[2 Year Contract]

Bad performance from Pats tonight. Struggled to create anything of note until the tripe sub of Mulraney, Forrester and Keating coming on after an hour and then scored 2 mins later. Put pressure on for the remainder then but couldn't create any proper chances to get the winner. Strange stuff from Long to opt to set up shop and defend for almost the entire second half, if they’d attempted to go for a second goal they could well have got it on the counter IMO with pats throwing bodies forward and the pace Waterford have on the wings. With that in mind a draw was probably a fair result. If pats play like that in the Brandywell and Tolka next week they’ll come away with nothing from either game

[RealJohn91]

Crazy that Bohs are second till Monday at least. Dayle Rooney is a cracking player too, wand of a left foot on him obviously but he had some lovely touches on the ball tonight as well. Reminds me of Keith Ward at his best for us during the Long years at times.

[ger121]

Was waiting for Rooney to get going. He was an assist king last season. 9 points in 7 days. What a week. Hope the team can keep improving under Rennie.
Rovers motoring now, while Derry and Shels stutter. Considering who still has to come back from injury, it is all starting to look a bit ominous. Rovers real challenge will not be the winning the league but Europe.

[Jack B]

Daly and the players have been pushing the idea that we've played well and just been unlucky in tight games (sans Waterford away). While I think the latter is true to an extent, the former definitely isn't. The majority of our games have been close ones where you wouldn't have argued with them finishing a draw, but with the exception of beating Sligo 3-0 and the second half against Rovers none of them have been good performances. Another rough watch tonight where we huffed and puffed but struggled to create anything of note, though I'd expect all of Forrester, Keating, Palmer and Mulraney to start vs Derry which I somewhat blindly hope will improve matters.

[sbgawa]

Our record against the 3 teams I expect to fill the euro places with us this year has been a home draw with derry and away losses to shels and Pats. So I wasn't confident heading to Derry but that is some result last night...top of the league Monday???
To answer WAR and will I quit the beal bocht now I didn't think I was, the teams we have been fielding are way weaker then they could be and I have felt that staying in touch would be good until we get some players back. The fact that we can go top Monday with a win is unbelievable. I wonder will Derry look at the bounce bohs have got replacing devine and move against Higgins.

[Shinkicker]

3 wins on the bounce now for Bohs. And only 2 conceeded in their last 5.
Reynolds seems to have made them quite solid, aside from the loss against Rovers in his first game.
I thought Bohs were very good in the first half Rooney was brilliant. In the second half Bohs stepped off a bit while Drogheda stepped up a bit and it made it an anxious watch. Overall Bohs deserved the win. The Keeper is playing well, defence is improving but still work to be done, midfield are hard working and creative, we just need to convert more of the opportunitys we are creating up top.

[WoodquayBoy]

Surely golden child Duff has to at least be feeling a bit under pressure now considering Shels have picked up just two points in their last four games? Not suggesting the sack for him - they are still top - but they are becoming a bit predictable and not that difficult to figure out

[total hoofball]

I'm going to enjoy Shels sitting top of the table while it lasts because it isn't going to last. Some at Shels and sections of media have got sucked into early season hysteria that being top after a handful of games grinding out narrow wins was going to be sustainable to last 36 games while many of our deeper statistics are pointing towards struggles with possession and creating chances in the box. We are now starting to concede very sloppy goals like with Gannon bizarrely snoozing for Galway's goal

Mark Coyle being out for last nights game was a hammer blow we are like a different team missing it's engine in the middle of the park a void that Lunney and Caffrey cannot fill

Also another awful pitch to play football on at Eamon Deacy Park last night

[legendz]

Kerry's unbeaten run came to an end. After going a goal up, arrogance crept in and then sloppiness. Hopefully lessons will be learned.

[Jd2793]

Surely golden child Duff has to at least be feeling a bit under pressure now considering Shels have picked up just two points in their last four games? Not suggesting the sack for him - they are still top - but they are becoming a bit predictable and not that difficult to figure out

irony of a galway fan saying this tbf. 6 goals in 10 games!

[WoodquayBoy]

Go lie down in a room love - we are as predictable as you can get, six goals scored but also just the six conceded, horrible to play against and horrible to watch but when survival is the main goal on our first season back in seven years, we’ll take that all day long

[pineapple stu]

Surely golden child Duff has to at least be feeling a bit under pressure now considering Shels have picked up just two points in their last four games? Not suggesting the sack for him - they are still top - but they are becoming a bit predictable and not that difficult to figure out
In fairness if Shels match last year's achievement of qualifying for Europe Duff will have done an amazing job. The idea he's under pressure because of a small bad run is silly. They're never going to win the league this year and expectations shouldn't be based on that

[osarusan]

Treaty appalling in Bray in the first half, lucky not to be 3 down. Bit better in the second, but a lot of these players just have nothing about them in terms of presence or creativity.

[Another Bohemia]

In fairness if Shels match last year's achievement of qualifying for Europe Duff will have done an amazing job. The idea he's under pressure because of a small bad run is silly. They're never going to win the league this year and expectations shouldn't be based on that

Yeah far too early to say Duff is under pressure. They are in a similar places to Bohs this time last year. Great first round of games and starting to fall off a bit. If they can steady the ship they can still easily qualify for Europe. Just look at how close Bohs got with a frankly terrible second half of the season! Missing Coyle is a massive blow for them though. Once he's back results should turn around. I was saying to the lads in front of me last night that if Coyle isn't I'm the team for Shels you'd nearly put the house on Galway. They're a hard team to break down and if they get 1 they'll happily sit back and from the sounds of it that's more or less what happened

[WoodquayBoy]

Yeah far too early to say Duff is under pressure. They are in a similar places to Bohs this time last year. Great first round of games and starting to fall off a bit. If they can steady the ship they can still easily qualify for Europe. Just look at how close Bohs got with a frankly terrible second half of the season! Missing Coyle is a massive blow for them though. Once he's back results should turn around. I was saying to the lads in front of me last night that if Coyle isn't I'm the team for Shels you'd nearly put the house on Galway. They're a hard team to break down and if they get 1 they'll happily sit back and from the sounds of it that's more or less what happened

United are just like Shels in being hard to break down (apart from when we played Bohs) - we have won every game in which we have scored, as I said, horrible to watch but more importantly, horrible to play against.
I suppose I don’t really think Duff is under real pressure, and he has credit in the bank for qualifying for Europe, but Devine had credit in the bank from the cup run last year and Shels are as unexciting under Duff as Bohs were under him

[Another Bohemia]

United are just like Shels in being hard to break down (apart from when we played Bohs) - we have won every game in which we have scored, as I said, horrible to watch but more importantly, horrible to play against.
I suppose I don’t really think Duff is under real pressure, and he has credit in the bank for qualifying for Europe, but Devine had credit in the bank from the cup run last year and Shels are as unexciting under Duff as Bohs were under him

I think you are overestimating how much credit Devine had in the bank after the cup run. Many Bohs fans, myself included would have been happy if that was his last game in charge. When Long was sacked we had many issues within the first team. Devine was given the chance to do a clear out and get his own lads in and we didn't get any better, in fact you could easily say we got worse! After the first game of the season v Sligo there were a significant number of boos and throughout all of the games up until the recent run there been a bit of a sense of apathy amongst the crowd which is worse than anger imo. On the other hand when Duff took over Shels they were favourite for the drop and in a few years he had them qualifying for Europe. It's a vastly different situation. I think Shels could miss out on Europe this and be happy enough keeping Duff because I think if Derry do sack Higgins and get his replacement right they will climb up the table, Rovers have been masters at growing into a season, Bohs look to be on an upward trend and Pat's are last year's cup winners. Finishing behind any or all of those is nothing to sniff at really.

[pineapple stu]

Yeah far too early to say Duff is under pressure. They are in a similar places to Bohs this time last year. Great first round of games and starting to fall off a bit.
Losing Moylan - the league's top scorer last year - was a big blow too.

If anything, Duffer is already exceeding last year's achievements

[Nesta99]

That Derry flare incident is just mad, how a kid could run on and pick up the flare and run off with it?? Was it home or away fans that threw it in the fist place? Away fans deliberately threw flares on to the artificial surface in Oriel in the past knowing that it would do significant damage - plastic burns. It resulted in sections of the pitch needing to be relaid due to burning through the surface. The lesson was basically to have a number of fire marshals at the away section with buckets of sand ready to react. The flare was sitting on the pitch in Derry forfar too long with little apparent preperation to respond. It looked bad on so many levels, the FAI are clamping down, Shels have set something of a precedence in how such incidents will be dealt with by them and Derry will be under scrutiny (or away fans if they were the culprits).

What happened after the game, missiles being thrown in to the Rovers fans is absolute scumbaggery of the highest order!! I thought that the element of lawless, ferral scum that attacked away fans and busses around the Brandywell had been dealt with. was on one of those nusses that had windows put in prior to the journey home and it resulted in bus companies refusing to travel to the Brandywell as a no go area. I will forever be grateful to the genuine Derry City FC fans that actually chased off these cretins that were attacking Dundalk fans and sheltered Dundalk fans until they dispersed. Obviously these problem people were just kept at arms length and were there to exploit an oversight in the security arrangments. While it in no way excuses what happened, if the flare was thrown from the away section and was obviously causing serious damage to the pitch, was this some sort of reaction to that possibly or would it have happened anyway in eoples opinion?

[sbgawa]

From what I hear all the flares ca.e over the wall , there's plenty of pics online showing lads throwing stuff from outside. The rovers fans were brought on to the pitch at the end by the stewards to get out of the line of fire

[wonder88]

A good proper league of Ireland game in Terryland last night and a huge win for Galway against the table toppers. Really well worked goal and there was a fair bit of individual skill on display from a number of players and everyone of the Galway team put in a great effort (benefit of full-time setup). The strong sun did cause problems for the players for the first 20 minutes, and of course the pitch is not perfect these days, but it didn't look awful to me. I know players like having more time to pick out a pass and be more accurate, but sometimes the opposition will close you down quickly as happened last night. This game could be a great preparation/learning for Shelbourne for europe.
Crowd a bit disappointing. Few factors I suppose, footballers and hurlers playing championship this weekend means it can't be easy for families and the performance against Bohemians was a real downer for those who were there. Agree than any talk that Duff would be under any pressure from the board, is really silly. Fair play to him to what he has achieved with that group of players. They are missing that lad from Hull (Woods I think) I would say.

[D24Saint]

After the great week were we beat both Rovers it’s very suddenly back to square one. I think if we continue on the current track we will struggle to get Europe. The only portion of the game we played anyway decent was after the substitutions. I know Derry aren’t great this season but I’d consider a draw on Monday a decent result as for next Friday if fear the worst.

[A N Mouse]

I don't think there any doubt he can limp this underperforming team into europe, 4th most likely, but no fecker wants to watch that. We can't just get rid of him without having someone else lined up, there's notions of POD talking to a former manager, thankfully not the one named Dundalk boss. While I don't see too many other candidates I think that would a retrograde step for everyone.

There needs to be some kind of reponse on Monday, winning ugly isn't good enough, winning ugly is for contenders. Anything short of a resounding victory and he needs to be gone, preferably before Tuesday (if there a replacement in the wings). And a good win buys him to european exit before he's replaced.

Worst case he's still stinking the place up at the end of the season, and with no replacement the squad is picked apart and new manager starts from scratch again next year.

If Higgins makes it to July, we could probably do worse than name Devine until the end of the season, with someone else to come in in November

[Nesta99]

I don't think there any doubt he can limp this underperforming team into europe, 4th most likely, but no fecker wants to watch that. We can't just get rid of him without having someone else lined up, there's notions of POD talking to a former manager, thankfully not the one named Dundalk boss. While I don't see too many other candidates I think that would a retrograde step for everyone.

There needs to be some kind of reponse on Monday, winning ugly isn't good enough, winning ugly is for contenders. Anything short of a resounding victory and he needs to be gone, preferably before Tuesday (if there a replacement in the wings). And a good win buys him to european exit before he's replaced.

Worst case he's still stinking the place up at the end of the season, and with no replacement the squad is picked apart and new manager starts from scratch again next year.

If Higgins makes it to July, we could probably do worse than name Devine until the end of the season, with someone else to come in in November

Fueling more Kenny rumours, Kenny Sheils though Roddy and Pat deserve another go - well if positing the possibility of Devine for a third spell why not!

[Martinho II]

Disgraceful security issues in Derry ….. beggars belief that a child can run onto the pitch , pick up a live flare and then run the length of the pitch with it … plus Derry knackers throwing objects over the wall from outside at the Rovers fans….. great result for us

When I saw that incident initially live I thought that child was a Shamrock Rovers fan? Didnt realise that there was trouble outside the ground!