Weekend 24th to 28th October

[sbgawa]

Premier Division (All 19:45)

Friday 25th

Galway v Sligo
Shelbourne v Drogheda
Waterford v Bohemians
St Pats v Derry

Sunday 27th

Dundalk v Shamrock Rovers

First Division Playoffs

Thursday 24th (19:45)

Bray v UCD
Athlone v Wexford

Monday 28th

Wexford v Athlone (15:00)
UCD V Bray (17:00)

[sbgawa]

Could be the weekend that Shels win the league or coujld be the weekend where Rovers or Derry take pole position.
Anythngs possible

Shels winning last week against Waterford could give them the confidence they were lacking to win against Drogs this Friday.
The Derry Pats match is the one that i think is most crucial as anything Rovers do is irrelvant unless Derry drop points to Pats.
I believe Derry will beat Shels on the last day so we need Derry to drop points against Pats to give us any hope even if we win both matches..

Oh and Come on Finner guiding UCD back to the top flight

[Slartibartfast]

St pats v/s Derry should be a smasher , thats the game I will be watching . Shelbourne and shams should win , shouldnt they ...!

[El-Pietro]

Ye're still playing? Wake me up in February.

[placid casual]

We forgot that you exist tbh

[2 Year Contract]

I see all of Patrick McEleney, Hoban, Connolly and Coll will be out for Derry on Friday. Should level the playing field somewhat with it looking like Pats will also be missing Mulraney, Elbouzedi and Melia

[sessylU]

I see all of Patrick McEleney, Hoban, Connolly and Coll will be out for Derry on Friday. Should level the playing field somewhat with it looking like Pats will also be missing Mulraney, Elbouzedi and Melia

Somebody else in that Derry squad will just have to step up and not score, then.

[brendy_éire]

I see all of Patrick McEleney, Hoban, Connolly and Coll will be out for Derry on Friday. Should level the playing field somewhat with it looking like Pats will also be missing Mulraney, Elbouzedi and Melia

Add in Dummigan and Ben Doherty and that's six of the backline out. Meanwhile, Sam Todd sits on loan to Larne and will be playing tonight.

I'd say this is where we're finally put out of our misery. Despite our really good record against Pat's this year, we're in a horrible run of form, whilst Pat's are in the opposite. I can't see us not conceding, and with our lack of goals recently, it's a huge ask to get the win.

[ger121]

Looks a good crowd out in Bray.

[2 Year Contract]

Somebody else in that Derry squad will just have to step up and not score, then.

The joke would’ve worked better if one of the players mentioned wasn’t the top goalscorer in the entire league!

[joey B]

Bray 2 up on UCD,UCD not in the best of form for the last month and a half of the season results wise and maybe paying for it now…
Athlone 1 up on Wexford too,silly challenge from the Wexford defender for Athlones penalty .

[ger121]

Bray 2 up on UCD,UCD not in the best of form for the last month and a half of the season results wise and maybe paying for it now…
Athlone 1 up on Wexford too,silly challenge from the Wexford defender for Athlones penalty .

The worry for them is their home form tends to be worse than their away form.

Bit of football to be played yet, but an Athlone vs Bray final is probably not what people were predicting.

[2 Year Contract]

Looks a good crowd out in Bray.

1,205 in Bray, good crowd as you said.

572 in Athlone

[Nesta99]

With the 8th place gone Drogs will be in Cup Final/Play-off zone. Shels at home tonight should all but wrap it up.

[sbgawa]

The win against Waterford has given them a lift. I expect them to win tonight but live in hope

[2 Year Contract]

Promotion Relegation final venue confirmed as Richmond Park

[legendz]

With the 8th place gone Drogs will be in Cup Final/Play-off zone. Shels at home tonight should all but wrap it up.
That should be the case. It is a good test for Drogheda ahead of the cup final though. At least a draw tonight and a good result against their local rivals will have them set for two cup finals.

[D24Saint]

Promotion Relegation final venue confirmed as Richmond Park

lovely bonus night out.

[BonnieShels]

The last 3 months have been insane to endure. Surely things will go our way... Surely...

That 3rd goal conceded against Pats is still winding me up.

[ger121]

lovely bonus night out.

Want to pace yourself with a 2pm KO:p

[pineapple stu]

Early goal for Shels at home to Drogheda to make things interesting.

[D24Saint]

I’ll eat that up after a tough first half.

[ger121]

Imagine Derry finishing 4th and having to win the cup to get Europe.

[placid casual]

Did I see that,in a game Derry simply had to win, Colm Whelan was only brought on at half time?!?!
Your manager should be fired for his complete inability to rouse a very decent squad of players into a title winning team.

[sbgawa]

So if rovers can beat Dundalk Sunday and waterford next Friday it comes down to this. Shels beat derry on last day to win the league

[dundalkfc10]

The boys on LOI TV at the Pats game have said all night if Derry don't win and Shels win, leagues over

They congratulated Shels when the final whistle went

Keith Tracy who is on every radio show about the league of Ireland was the co-commentar

It's things like this that make us look some amateur, like Tracy has been on off the ball all week and they talked about the end of the season loads

[legendz]

Big win for Shels. Pat's and Derry out of the title race. Derry at the moment are likely to finish 4th. Pat's face a potential banana skin on the final day. After an amazing run and seemingly most of the hard work done, it'll be a major disappointment to fall at the final hurdle.

[Acornvilla]

Glad Shels have started winning again to keep this interesting. Pat's final 1/4 of the season is incredible, just ran out of road. I don't think there's much shame in Derry losing tonight, the damage was done elsewhere, Pat's have beaten everyone in the run in.

Would really expect Rovers to win both their matches, so it is all down to Shels n Derry.

A great end to the season, just a pity Derry and Pat's aren't still in it too :D

[Nesta99]

Higgins has to be the bggest let down of a manager. People would have broken the bank to appoint him, Derry did, backed him, and he could probably should have a league and be heading for a double this season, great coach average manager and its not like that Derry side are inexperienced or leaderless.

If there is an example of where thing were going wrong at Dundalk its seeing Gannon let go and still picking up potm and on the verge of another league medal.

[pineapple stu]

Wonder which of their last two games Derry will be more focused on?

Beat Drogheda and they're in Europe regardless of the result v Shels.

But they could beat Shels and not get Europe

Could suit Shels

[Dexy]

Gannon must be close to being most decorated footballer in LOI history?

[wonder88]

A very good job done by Duff and joey O Brien with Europe secured.
I really wish Galway would start their best players, especially Essua, rather than wait till half-time.
Great premier division season, the best ever I would say in terms debt of quality looking at the players available to Drogheda and Dundalk for example.

[CorribsideSteve]

A brilliant match tonight in Terryland. We really should have scored 4 or 5, but our inability to score freely has been our biggest blight this season. Having said that, the lads never gave up and got their reward. No Europe, but completely safe, and good foundations for next season.

[2 Year Contract]

And the run continues for Pats. 1 more win off equalling the clubs record number of wins in consistency. What a decision that was by Higgins to let Brandon Kavanagh go to Pats despite still having a year left on his contract. 6 goals and 14 assists this season, he really could’ve been a difference maker for them in the title race with his output but judging by the fact that he started in just 11 of his 29 appearances for them last season, Huggins probably would’ve either left him on the bench or played him out of position on the wing. Delighted to have him at Pats all the same!

[joey B]

Some run of form for Pats to end the season,the difference in a quality manager compared to what Derry have been doing in the last 2 months,maybe a cup win saves his job but you’d expect there to be some serious discussions in Derry about the manager…..

Still think Rovers will win the league though,Shels won’t relish going up there if they need to win I don’t think…..

[ciaraa]

Some run of form for Pats to end the season,the difference in a quality manager compared to what Derry have been doing in the last 2 months,maybe a cup win saves his job but you’d expect their to be some serious discussions in Derry about the manager…..

Still think Rovers will win the league though,Shels won’t relish going up there if they need to win I don’t think…..

That's assuming South Dublin County Council F.C. beat D*****k of course.. Its possible Duff has it won tonight! If so, its a good achievement for him in fairness even though they fell over the line.

[Knocklyonhoop]

I’m not sure we win on `Sunday. If we do I think we win it all but just have a bad feeling….. we never win there !

[lofty9]

Some run of form for Pats to end the season,the difference in a quality manager compared to what Derry have been doing in the last 2 months,maybe a cup win saves his job but you’d expect their to be some serious discussions in Derry about the manager…..

Still think Rovers will win the league though,Shels won’t relish going up there if they need to win I don’t think…..

Higgins won't be there even if he had won the double. As a Derry fan, what's the craic next week ? Bend over for Duff and rest up for the final?

[joey B]

I suppose you’ll still be aiming to stay in the top 3 just in case the cup final goes pear shaped….,,

[SwanVsDalton]

Higgins long ago lost the faith of the fans but I'd say this has sealed that deal. Not sure who you'd replace him with mind. Derry likely in for a barren spell with improvements elsewhere. The squad, while looking strong and costing a lot, is old, thin in spots and perma-injured. Not great.

Weirdly not a bad performance relative to some of the recent ones. The damage was done against Drogs, Galway, Sligo, Boys etc etc. That save by Anang something else, although having seen the replay Duffy should probably score regardless.

A few Pats fans being very aggro at the end, decent numbers of empty bottles thrown and that. Was a bit surprised. Not a terribly big deal, just mentioning cause if it was in the Brandywell those pearls wouldn't go unclutched. ;)

[brendy_éire]

Wonder which of their last two games Derry will be more focused on?

We're decimated with injuries at present, with the likes of Patching and Patrick McEleney playing tonight despite clearly not being fit. Hoban warmed up, but obviously wasn't able to come on.
We also will need to better Pat's result in Sligo. So it's out of our hands and probably unlikely we get finish ahead of them.
In that case, I'd have no issues putting out a makeshift squad next week, and concentrating on the cup final.

On tonight, we were actually alright. Don't think we deserved to lose really. Anang did have a great save to keep us out.
I can accept tonight's result. As said already, it's not tonight that cost us. And in truth, we should never have been this close to the end of the season and still be in with a shout of winning the league.
With players going/out of contract, it's another rebuild we need for next year.

[Nesta99]

For Derry to end up leagueless over the last 2 years a cup win and Higgins staying will barely be bittersweet. St Pats look like they are growing in to a side than will be consistantly challenging over the next 'era' and wont be as brittle, they will take opportunities given. Rovers have the resources to be regular favourites too but I think they need a change from Bradley purely to get that ruthless edge, real hunger back. Derry if they can get the right manager in will have to tough it to get their hands on silverware a lot more than recently. Galway if the add a couple more strings to their bow and could nick in to the mix for a title ala Cork 2017. Sligo are building and fair play fo the faith they have shown in the manager, easy to take a long term strategy but panic if relegation looms. Drogheda are on an upward trend and Waterford can consoldate further. Cork could find it really hard coming up when you see the sort of competaviness across the board. Hard to know with Bohs. IF Dundalk continue to exist and the rest of the 1st Division looking for promotion, I think we are entering a very dfficult time to be able stay up with no obvious cannon fodder to get ahead, currently Bohs maybe. Definitely oppotunities lost for Derry, to loyal when not getting conging and consistant improvement from that squad. Injuries may be hurting now but they were just hanging in there and not making Shels pretty awful form count.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

A brilliant match tonight in Terryland. We really should have scored 4 or 5, but our inability to score freely has been our biggest blight this season. Having said that, the lads never gave up and got their reward. No Europe, but completely safe, and good foundations for next season.

Thought we played some great stuff up until we got the second and then could barely string 3 pssses together after that. The last half hour was a complete onslaught. Great stuff.

[Kingswood Rover]

Hard to know if Derry will now "roll over" for Duff and prioritise the cup final. I would be hoping its a "no way are yis wining the league on our patch" attitude and lads "ye are playing for your cup final places" from Ruairi. Rovers wins in Dundalk are a rare commodity.

[CorribsideSteve]

Thought we played some great stuff up until we got the second and then could barely string 3 pssses together after that. The last half hour was a complete onslaught. Great stuff.
We fell asleep completely after equalizing and getting ourselves back in to the match, for ye to go back in front at 2-1. That was very disappointing. But it completely sparked us into action. Walshy coming on certainly helped also. It's a pity we couldn't have nicked a late winner but a draw is the least we deserved. Patrick Hickey is a joy to watch though. He was able to control and take down virtually every long ball on his chest, or get his head to it. He was my MOTM.

[2 Year Contract]

Hard to know if Derry will now "roll over" for Duff and prioritise the cup final. I would be hoping it’s a "no way are yis wining the league on our patch" attitude and lads "ye are playing for your cup final places" from Ruairi. Rovers wins in Dundalk are a rare commodity.

There’s no guarantee they beat Drogheda in the final. With that in mind they need to get a result next week and hope Sligo do them a favour or they won’t be playing in Europe next season so I highly doubt they’ll roll over

[Kingswood Rover]

There’s no guarantee they beat Drogheda in the final. With that in mind they need to get a result next week and hope Sligo do them a favour or they won’t be playing in Europe next season so I highly doubt they’ll roll over
Yes ands there is that as well and if Rovers do get a win tomorrow night a draw is no good for Shels if Rovers then subsequently beat Waterford at home.

[TonyD]

Higgins long ago lost the faith of the fans but I'd say this has sealed that deal. Not sure who you'd replace him with mind. Derry likely in for a barren spell with improvements elsewhere. The squad, while looking strong and costing a lot, is old, thin in spots and perma-injured. Not great.

Weirdly not a bad performance relative to some of the recent ones. The damage was done against Drogs, Galway, Sligo, Boys etc etc. That save by Anang something else, although having seen the replay Duffy should probably score regardless.

A few Pats fans being very aggro at the end, decent numbers of empty bottles thrown and that. Was a bit surprised. Not a terribly big deal, just mentioning cause if it was in the Brandywell those pearls wouldn't go unclutched. ;)

Plenty being thrown onto the pitch towards the Pats crowd too, including flares, which, if we want to get into Pearl clutching, could have injured someone. Can’t swear to it but I thought the first items thrown came from the Derry side. Poor stewarding to let the Pats fans down that end of the pitch anyway.

On the match, a tough game and we had some nervy moments at the end, plus Derry hitting the crossbar with a cracking effort. Derry kicked lumps out of Cian Levy all night, just couldn’t handle him. I think I counted three yellow cards given for fouls on him.

[2 Year Contract]

On the match, a tough game and we had some nervy moments at the end, plus Derry hitting the crossbar with a cracking effort. Derry kicked lumps out of Cian Levy all night, just couldn’t handle him. I think I counted three yellow cards given for fouls on him.

I reckon Kian Leavy must be the most fouled player in the league this year. Constantly gets booted around every game by players that can’t handle his dribbling ability

[kksaints]

I reckon Kian Leavy must be the most fouled player in the league this year. Constantly gets booted around every game by players that can’t handle his dribbling ability

If he could only improve on his decision making, far too often he runs into cul-de-sacs or mistimes his passes.