Weekend 17th of May to 20th May

[sbgawa]

Premier Division (all 19:45)

Friday 17th

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

Monday 20th

St Pats v Shelbourne
Shamrock Rovers v Derry


First Division

Friday 17th (all 19:45)

Wexford v Kerry
UCD v Harps
Cobh v Treaty
Bray v Cork

Saturday 18th

Longford v Athlone (19:30)

Monday 20th

Wexford v Cobh (19:45)

[sbgawa]

Two good results for Rovers against Dundalk and Derry combined with the Stephen Kenny led Pats???? taking points of Shels and things could look better.
Hopefully a few back for this double header.
A win for Drogs over Galway combined with a Rovers win in Oriel would have Dundalk 9 adrift.
I still feel they are to good/big to go down but Gartland leaving to join Kenny at Pats??? and King taking a bigger role doesnt auger well in terms of closiong a big gap.

Cork without looking impressive have established an 8 point lead and go to a Bray side that are a mixed bag but capable of getting a result.
UCD need to win a few to keep the league alive, hopefully Finner is back soon to drive them on

[placid casual]

Wouldn't be surprised if Rovers pick up only 1 or 2 points from the weekend double headers. The team is clearly on the downward slope and descending rapidly -Any decent, organised team could take advantage and claim the league.

[Onapointoforder]

Two good results for Rovers against Dundalk and Derry combined with the Stephen Kenny led Pats???? taking points of Shels and things could look better.
Hopefully a few back for this double header.
A win for Drogs over Galway combined with a Rovers win in Oriel would have Dundalk 9 adrift.
I still feel they are to good/big to go down but Gartland leaving to join Kenny at Pats??? and King taking a bigger role doesnt auger well in terms of closiong a big gap.

Cork without looking impressive have established an 8 point lead and go to a Bray side that are a mixed bag but capable of getting a result.
UCD need to win a few to keep the league alive, hopefully Finner is back soon to drive them on
Bray no better off points-wise compared to same stage last season, despite Ryan putting together a new squad effectively

[wonder88]

If hotel prices weren't so high in Ireland it would be a good idea for the Derry team to stay around Dublin for the weekend. Use it as a mid-season training camp. Is there no way the FAI computer could prevent these back-to-back away fixtures over a weekend.

[2 Year Contract]

If hotel prices weren't so high in Ireland it would be a good idea for the Derry team to stay around Dublin for the weekend. Use it as a mid-season training camp. Is there no way the FAI computer could prevent these back-to-back away fixtures over a weekend.
Mark Scanlon was on LOI Central a few months back talking about this. He said the league don’t want Bohs/shels at home on the same night and the same with pats/rovers which makes it a headache to prevent back to back away games over a weekend for all clubs. I think most if not all teams will get stung with it this season at least once. Pats had Derry and Waterford away in one weekend in March (losing both and resulting in me questioning my sanity after travelling to both)

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

They dont make any effort to stop it.

Easter weekend we played twice away and Waterford played twice at home

May B/H we had 2 home games and Waterford had 2 away

The best part about it is that we played Waterford each weekend so all they had to do was flip those 2 games and it would have been both clubs with home/away over both weekends

[sbgawa]

Wouldn't be surprised if Rovers pick up only 1 or 2 points from the weekend double headers. The team is clearly on the downward slope and descending rapidly -Any decent, organised team could take advantage and claim the league.

Im feeling a bit more positive than that PC. People starting to come back from injury and hopefully that will be enough for Dundalk, with Derry who knows

[pineapple stu]

Jays, if you're seriously talking about maybe dropping points to Dundalk then there's huge issues at Rovers to be honest...

[Nesta99]

This is the really annoying thing about Dundalk, we can pick up points against anyone, well capable of it anyway. If we simply had zero quality anywhere then fine, relegation it is and you have to accept that. But there is little harder to wastch is your club underperforming with a squad that could actually be nice and dull in mid table. It is unlikely but not impossible that a run of 3 wins and you are looking up rather than just over the shoulder. Its a lot easier to motivate indifferent players against a Rovers or Derry especially if you can convince them they are playing for a contract somewhere. If rumours are to believed we havent plumbed the depths for the club of odd yet!

[Calcio Jack]

This is the really annoying thing about Dundalk, we can pick up points against anyone, well capable of it anyway. If we simply had zero quality anywhere then fine, relegation it is and you have to accept that. But there is little harder to wastch is your club underperforming with a squad that could actually be nice and dull in mid table. It is unlikely but not impossible that a run of 3 wins and you are looking up rather than just over the shoulder. Its a lot easier to motivate indifferent players against a Rovers or Derry especially if you can convince them they are playing for a contract somewhere. If rumours are to believed we havent plumbed the depths for the club of odd yet!

Dundalk players to raise their game against Rovers….. who’d of thought …..

[2 Year Contract]

UCD player Harry Curtis has been hit with a 10 game ban for discriminatory language used towards a Kerry player

https://www.leagueofireland.ie/news/statement-ucd/

[mcgonigle]

Jays, if you're seriously talking about maybe dropping points to Dundalk then there's huge issues at Rovers to be honest...

Exactly, we couldn't be any more chaotic at the moment. Bradley for the chop if they don't win...

But I don't think Rovers fans seriously believe they will drop points on Friday, this is just the standard pattern to these match threads. Rovers fans come in say how worried they are about injuries, x, y, and z player not performing set the tone just in case they do drop points and when they usually then go on to win they come back gloating.

[sbgawa]

Exactly, we couldn't be any more chaotic at the moment. Bradley for the chop if they don't win...

But I don't think Rovers fans seriously believe they will drop points on Friday, this is just the standard pattern to these match threads. Rovers fans come in say how worried they are about injuries, x, y, and z player not performing set the tone just in case they do drop points and when they usually then go on to win they come back gloating.

You can probably include me in the worried about injuries and expecting not to win department and ive largely been right. very little gloating here.
6 wins in 16 matches id say the Rovers supporters are being realistic.

Weve just lost at home to Waterford , our keeper is good for a goal for the oposition in half at least of our matches and the last time we played you we had to come from behind to get a point.
We should win but am i confident , im about 6 out of 16 confident

[mcgonigle]

You can probably include me in the worried about injuries and expecting not to win department and ive largely been right. very little gloating here.
6 wins in 16 matches id say the Rovers supporters are being realistic.

Weve just lost at home to Waterford , our keeper is good for a goal for the oposition in half at least of our matches and the last time we played you we had to come from behind to get a point.
We should win but am i confident , im about 6 out of 16 confident

And yet 3 points off top. You could sleepwalk to this title there are no challengers

[legendz]

All games seem tough for Kerry at the moment who are on a poor run of results. Wexford away will be another tough one.

[Nesta99]

Dundalk players to raise their game against Rovers….. who’d of thought …..

Well you certainly obsess on it CJ!

[sbgawa]

And yet 3 points off top. You could sleepwalk to this title there are no challengers


Id agree it is an awful league, i know peopel always say that but this year it is true.
Not even one half decent team in it

[Nesta99]

Well there is one half decent team, the rest of it are usually sitting in the stand perpetually injured...

[sbgawa]

Well there is one half decent team, the rest of it are usually sitting in the stand perpetually injured...


Fair point :) but who could have predicted Clarke, Farrugia, byrne, gaffney, kavanagh, mcAneff would have been injured????

[2 Year Contract]

Fair point :) but who could have predicted Clarke, Farrugia, byrne, gaffney, kavanagh, mcAneff would have been injured????
Bar Gaffney they’re all made of glass so it can’t have been that big a surprise really

[Acornvilla]

The scenes at the end of Bohs v Palestine last night was an absolute tonic, beautiful to see how much it meant to those girls. Best tenner I've ever spent. Fair play to everyone involved in making that happen.

[placid casual]

Yeah fair play to all at bohs for this gesture.
I wouldn't normally be into mixing sport and politics,but the situation in Palestine goes way beyond politics and demands attention,and this move by bohs will hopefully continue that attention seeking work.

[Another Bohemia]

Yeah politics and sports is a difficult one but in this situation it certainly adds a human face to what's happening there and that's only a good thing. In the world of social media and constant news cycle you can become a bit numb to the death counts and news reports of famine etc. It sounds horrid to say but I've spent the majority of my life hearing about "war" in the middle east, war on terror, trocaire appeals for famine and a plethora of other things. Seeing actual people affected by these things just trying to do something we all take for granted just makes it so much more relatable.

[sbgawa]

Honestly dont agree with Politics in Sport at all.
Bohs make a habit of it , Palistine is one , getting Unions on their shirts is another.
Im sure Jewish supporters and Business people that are involved with Bohs wouldnt be thrilled about either.
Making no judgements on the issues but you are a football club and as such taking positions that impact on your supporters...i just dont see that is neccessary...........and im not debating the rights or wrongs of the issues..its like the Moscow olympics being boycotted over Afganistan and then the LA games in retaliation, its just not right imo for sports to mix itself up in politics

If every Olmpics or Worldccup was boycotted over some political issue we would never have an event. Ther is always somethng going on in the world and once Sport involves itself you are bunched

[Acornvilla]

Life, football, politics and community are intrinsically linked. I find any argument about keeping politics out of football a nonsense honestly.

Plenty of Jewish people are very much behind the Palestinian cause because of their own history. It's brave to take positions on something difficult and they should be applauded, they do so knowing they may lose some business and backing as a result. I wish more people and entities showed that same bravery.

I do agree that we'd basically have to boycott everything at this stage because of how hypocritical and problematic so many world governing bodies actions are, and the whole thing is basically a cluster**** that I certainly don't know how to navigate. I understand it's so much bigger than my understanding of the world, but I think it is of massive importance that when we see something terrible happen we say and do what we can, evil wins when good people do nothing and all that.

I'll leave it there because I know most people are not here to be arguing about geopolitics, but from my perspective sport and politics are linked at every level, it's nice to believe we can have safe havens free of having to worry about the bad and complicated stuff, but that's not how the world is anymore, or probably ever has been.

[Another Bohemia]

Honestly dont agree with Politics in Sport at all.
Bohs make a habit of it , Palistine is one , getting Unions on their shirts is another.
Im sure Jewish supporters and Business people that are involved with Bohs wouldnt be thrilled about either.
Making no judgements on the issues but you are a football club and as such taking positions that impact on your supporters...i just dont see that is neccessary...........and im not debating the rights or wrongs of the issues..its like the Moscow olympics being boycotted over Afganistan and then the LA games in retaliation, its just not right imo for sports to mix itself up in politics

If every Olmpics or Worldccup was boycotted over some political issue we would never have an event. Ther is always somethng going on in the world and once Sport involves itself you are bunched

You can disagree with politics in sports but it's in pretty much every aspect of the game. It always has been and it's not exclusive to football. Sport washing has been going on since pre WW2 with Nazi Germany hosting the olympics. This type of thing still happens. Should we only let petro states & bad actors use sports to try to promote their cause out of some feigned moral superiority? Or should we try to use a game loved by billions of people to bring positive change to the world?

[sbgawa]

Will a Stephen Kenny led PAts begin the ascent to top spot tonight??
Considering how poor the general standard is i reckon Kenny wont have ruled out a title push this year.

[Nesta99]

Any news on the backroom appointments?

[TonyD]

Will a Stephen Kenny led PAts begin the ascent to top spot tonight??
Considering how poor the general standard is i reckon Kenny wont have ruled out a title push this year.

We won’t challenge for the title. Seven losses already is just too many. Still in the hunt for Europe I reckon, particularly if we get a SK bounce. And of course making the cup f8nal is starting to become something of a habit, so that would be nice again.

[pineapple stu]

In fairness, nine points off the lead approaching halfway isn't insurmountable.

Losing lots of games only really matters if someone else is winning lots. Which they're not

[joey B]

Dundalk/Rovers delayed till 8pm because of the crash on the M50.

[pineapple stu]

That could impact crowds at quite a few games I'd guess. Any of the Dublin/Wicklow/Louth games potentially

[joey B]

Harps score after about 14 seconds in the UCD Bowl,don’t think I’ve ever seen a quicker goal in the LOI ….

[pineapple stu]

1-1 now though

Already six goals around the grounds inside the first ten minutes.

[ger121]

Harps score after about 14 seconds in the UCD Bowl,don’t think I’ve ever seen a quicker goal in the LOI ….

Quickest I’ve ever seen. 2-1 Harps now. Missed the goal. Decent match.

[Another Bohemia]

Watching the Bohs v Sligo game I'd be a bit worried if I was a Sligo fan. They don't seem to have much going forward. Bohs are very limited in attack but are at least offer some danger from set pieces. Not sure where the goals will come from without Mata.

[nigel-harps1954]

Two points dropped by harps that. Would probably have taken a draw before the game but conceded some incredibly soft goals and gifted UCD a point.

Improving in the opposition end of the pitch but starting to leak some soft goals.

[De Town]

Galway have made 6 subs tonight according to FAI Connect, Flashscore, their own Twitter page.

One of them a concussion sub or is there miraculous late turnaround win going to be for nothing and a win awarded to Drogs?

[joey B]

When Harps score a penalty to go 3-2 up on 88 minutes at UCD the only question is how we’ll manage to not win,stupid ground for us never win there,UCD are what they always are in the First Division,very competitive,some handy players and will be up in the playoffs for sure,draw not a bad result just disappointing not to hold on ……

[pineapple stu]

Christ - Dundalk take the lead against Rovers

Don't care how many injuries Rovers have - that's appalling stuff...

[Calcio Jack]

Dreadful from Rovers … may have to recalibrate my prediction that we’d win the league by at least 10 points down to 6

[Another Bohemia]

Galway have made 6 subs tonight according to FAI Connect, Flashscore, their own Twitter page.

One of them a concussion sub or is there miraculous late turnaround win going to be for nothing and a win awarded to Drogs?

From a Bohs fans point of view I hope this happens but I recall an incedent where Cork women made an illegal substitution in an game against Bohs women and the FAI only warned Cork about it. Bohs claimed at the time it sets a dangerous precedent and we could be proven right.

Consequences aside does some of the blame not lie with the officials though if it is an illegal substitution? I mean they take note of players in and out of the game so there's no reason they shouldn't have known that Galway used all of their subs?

[pineapple stu]

When Harps score a penalty to go 3-2 up on 88 minutes at UCD the only question is how we’ll manage to not win,stupid ground for us never win there,UCD are what they always are in the First Division,very competitive,some handy players and will be up in the playoffs for sure,draw not a bad result just disappointing not to hold on ……
Wouldn't mind seeing the peno again. I thought it was correct but our players were quite annoyed and Andy Myler behind me said he thought we'd gotten the ball first, and it was the Harps player who was slightly late and that's what the ref gave

Draw probably fair overall I think. Harps played us well on the counter like Cobh last week, but at least we had enough in us to create chances this time. All made for a decent game. Either team could have nicked it at the end too

And good to see Finn back - that'll cheer sbgawa up after the Dundalk news this evening :)

How come only five on the bench for Harps btw?

[joey B]

Wouldn't mind seeing the peno again. I thought it was correct but our players were quite annoyed and Andy Myler behind me said he thought we'd gotten the ball first, and it was the Harps player who was slightly late and that's what the ref gave

Draw probably fair overall I think. Harps played us well on the counter like Cobh last week, but at least we had enough in us to create chances this time. All made for a decent game. Either team could have nicked it at the end too

And good to see Finn back - that'll cheer sbgawa up after the Dundalk news this evening :)

How come only five on the bench for Harps btw?

It was hard to tell from the stream and they didn’t give a replay so I’m not sure if it was a penalty,your players were very annoyed so maybe it was soft,first penalty we’ve got this season so we’ll take it !

Must have been a few knocks ,1 long term injury im sure about another came back last week but not in the squad this week and 4 more involved last week weren’t in the squad tonight,bare bones stuff bench wise anyway….

[sbgawa]

Exactly, we couldn't be any more chaotic at the moment. Bradley for the chop if they don't win...

But I don't think Rovers fans seriously believe they will drop points on Friday, this is just the standard pattern to these match threads. Rovers fans come in say how worried they are about injuries, x, y, and z player not performing set the tone just in case they do drop points and when they usually then go on to win they come back gloating.

Rovers fans right again it seems.
Something is way wrong with this team.
6 points off the top in the worst league in years. Dome wait to get knocked out in the first round in Europe to agree we have a problem? Team not performing we could be 6th if teams behind us win games in hand. Disgraceful

[ger121]

Wouldn't mind seeing the peno again. I thought it was correct but our players were quite annoyed and Andy Myler behind me said he thought we'd gotten the ball first, and it was the Harps player who was slightly late and that's what the ref gave

Draw probably fair overall I think. Harps played us well on the counter like Cobh last week, but at least we had enough in us to create chances this time. All made for a decent game. Either team could have nicked it at the end too

And good to see Finn back - that'll cheer sbgawa up after the Dundalk news this evening :)

How come only five on the bench for Harps btw?

I was in line with it PS. Looked a bit soft but you see them given. Lino was in a perfect position but was like a tailor dummy. Your players really seemed adamant he got the ball.

[ger121]

Rovers fans right again it seems.
Something is way wrong with this team.
6 points off the top in the worst league in years. Dome wait to get knocked out in the first round in Europe to agree we have a problem? Team not performing we could be 6th if teams behind us win games in hand. Disgraceful

Players are coming back yet you seem to be getting worse. Is there something wrong at the club? We are suppose to be a club in crisis with a new manager and yet we are 2 points behind you with a game in hand. Something is not right.

[mcgonigle]

Rovers fans right again it seems.
Something is way wrong with this team.
6 points off the top in the worst league in years. Dome wait to get knocked out in the first round in Europe to agree we have a problem? Team not performing we could be 6th if teams behind us win games in hand. Disgraceful

Well that was nothing to do with injuries. Plenty of your senior players available tonight, Burke, Farrugia and McEneff all coming on. Rovers were just dreadful and I mean dreadful. Look worse then on the opening night of the season. Livescore says Rovers had one shot on target but I don't remember it.

We were decent but tired in the last 20 and were there for the taking but Rovers were clueless. Thoroughly enjoyable night that have been few and far between.

[Calcio Jack]

Rovers fans right again it seems.
Something is way wrong with this team.
6 points off the top in the worst league in years. Dome wait to get knocked out in the first round in Europe to agree we have a problem? Team not performing we could be 6th if teams behind us win games in hand. Disgraceful

We’ll be fine…. Just need to get our best players back and match fit …. Sickener to lose to a late shot ( Duns only chance) and ironically possession was lost by JB …. But he played 90mins , Farrugia looks so threatening when he came on and McEneff looked like a smooth Rolls Royce in the few mins he played… Burke also fit again…. Grace, Towel ,Gaffney, O’Neill , Burns , Poom ,Watts & Hoare still missing , we’ll have most back over next three weeks - then you’ll see there’s nothing wrong