Games weekend 14th to 16th Feb 2025

[2 Year Contract]

I see Forrester and Melia on the bench for Pat's last night - not 100% fit or a sign of strength in depth or a misjudgement by Kenny?
Forrester was ill and missed the two friendlies last week end and didn’t train during the week. Melia missed all of pre-season with the back injury he sustained towards the end of last season. He’s only been back in training this week

[Jd2793]

what are pats/ucd fans thoughts on alex nolan?

[D24Saint]

what are pats/ucd fans thoughts on alex nolan?

There is definitely a player there. It’s a consistent run of form and games he needs badly. On form he is a very skilful tricky winger , unfortunately off form he can have no bearing on games and seems to vanish.

[pineapple stu]

I'm kind of thinking which one is he again. The last few years we've had a lot of players who are ok but you don't really get a feeling they'll go much higher - like with players like Benson, O'Neill or Whelan in recent years

[The Bowler]

Stu summed him up, which one was he. Think he only spent a season at UCD, maybe 18 months, was very surprised when Pats came in for him. End product wasn't great and drifted in and out if games. He wasn't even an automatic starter when he was there.

While I'm on, good to see the refereeing standard still as crap as always. Longford had a stonewall pen turned down tonight. It's the thing that frustrates me most season after season, it's consistently awful. Why can't we produce decent referees ?

[pineapple stu]

Anthony Elding's son on the mark for Sligo last night, in case anyone wants to feel old!

[2 Year Contract]

Anthony Elding's son on the mark for Sligo last night, in case anyone wants to feel old!
Aaron Greene's son Jack played for Rovers in some of their Leinster Senior Cup games if you want to feel even older!

[brendy_éire]

Pleasantly surprised at the reduction in seat kills at the front of the stand in Lansdowne.
Maybe the FAI are starting to trust us a bit more?

[sbgawa]

Rovers need to get the finger out, looks like we are thinking of Thursday already

[Dalymountrower]

Rovers need to get the finger out, looks like we are thinking of Thursday already
Burke is destroying Bohs down our left,draw on the cards

[sbgawa]

Very disappointed with our efforts so far, need to pick it up.
Had a feeling this would happen. It's normally all about winning but this feels like a side show for us.
No excuse for not turning up imo

[Jack B]

Burke is playing on his own out there. Only looks like anything will happen through him. Unless they make one or two more signings you'd think goals will be an issue for Rovers this season due to the balance of the squad rather than a lack of quality. Bohs having some direct direct running power in their forward line is why they're winning the game.

[total hoofball]

Not a great game by any means Rovers looked leggy with an eye on Molde but they are often poor at the start of the season. Bohs I think have a bit more steel, quality experience this season, considering how poor Derry looked on Friday I think Bohs will be optimistic of breaking back into the Top 4

I'm also going to take a guess with the 33k attendance and the positive win for Bohs that these teams will back at the Aviva on weekend over June 23rd nicely/maybe deliberately scheduled by the FAI with a long summers evenings in mind??

[Shinkicker]

It was a typical first match of the season. Silly mistakes by both teams, but a great atmosphere and crowd. I'm very optimistic about this Bohs team. One win doesn't make a season but let's see.

[Jd2793]

rovers wont be winning anything with cleary and lopes back there. two of them are far too slow, lopes in particular but it feels like ive been saying that for 2 years. parsons looks a great signing for bohs. they'd want something better than mountney at left full tho.

[Shinkicker]

Ross Tierney gave a great post match interview , he was just named man of the match and he acknowledges , Cornwall, Talbot and the Bohs supporters as if what he did was nothing.

[sbgawa]

Very disappointing but a win or draw thursday and this will mean exactly zero

[2 Year Contract]

Roberto Lopes was absolutely miles off it today. One of the worst games I’ve seen him play

[EatYerGreens]

That was a real landlmark event for the league. It'll be referred back to in years to-come as a moment when the league clearly took a leap forward. The killer is that most of those there to support Bohs, or the neutrals who took a shine to the following the game, won't be able to get near another Bohs home fixture for months.

[EatYerGreens]

Following today's game I'd like to again float the idea of making St Patrick's Day derby day in the LOI.

Establish it as a marquee event in the annual calendar, with Bohs-Rovers played at the Aviva as part of it.

The fact that the northern league banks its biggest crowds of the year on a cold and dark afternoon for their Boxing Day derbies shows what can be acheived.

The crowds who go to Dublin from overseas for St Patrick's Day are big. No doubt some of them could be attracted to go watch a football ritual in the afternoon, after watching the parade through the town in the morning.

Paddy's Day Derbies.

[Shinkicker]

Following today's game I'd like to again float the idea of making St Patrick's Day derby day in the LOI.

Establish it as a marquee event in the annual calendar, with Bohs-Rovers played at the Aviva as part of it.

The fact that the northern league banks its biggest crowds of the year on a cold and dark afternoon for their Boxing Day derbies shows what can be acheived.

The crowds who go to Dublin from overseas for St Patrick's Day are big. No doubt some of them could be attracted to go watch a football ritual in the afternoon, after watching the parade through the town in the morning.

Paddy's Day Derbies.
Your idea is good but flawed. I really can't see that happening, policing the parade and then the game would be too much for the gardai to handle. Moving hundreds of thousands of people safely would be too difficult.

[ger121]

Very disappointing but a win or draw thursday and this will mean exactly zero

It does mean zero. Zero points.

[Calcio Jack]

Firstly what a great spectacle today was, decent enough game .

Rovers looked very leggy but Burke created enough for us to at least draw ( laughable that he didn’t get motm).

Mousset looked the real deal and if he gets fit etc will be a fabulous signing.

McGinty a great signing for us , I thought Pico was superb.

We picked up a lot of injuries so that could hurt us for next Thursday.

Noonan is going to be a super player

Danny Grant will need to improve hugely if he wants to be accepted by us… his overall performance was poor and summed up by his sliced cross near the end from a great position.

So overall a really worthwhile experiment but not sure if repeated later this season the 25k plus who wouldn’t normally go to a game would return ? What do others think

PS Rory Gaffney played 45 mins yesterday for our u/20s- hopefully he’ll be back shortly as that will plug our ‘gap’ up front

PPS isn’t it great to be back

[sbgawa]

It does mean zero. Zero points.l
And in the overall scheme of the 36 game league and European football of its possi league less than zero points.
Enjoy your cup final

[Shinkicker]

Firstly what a great spectacle today was, decent enough game .

Rovers looked very leggy but Burke created enough for us to at least draw ( laughable that he didn’t get motm).

Mousset looked the real deal and if he gets fit etc will be a fabulous signing.

McGinty a great signing for us , I thought Pico was superb.

We picked up a lot of injuries so that could hurt us for next Thursday.

Noonan is going to be a super player

Danny Grant will need to improve hugely if he wants to be accepted by us… his overall performance was poor and summed up by his sliced cross near the end from a great position.

So overall a really worthwhile experiment but not sure if repeated later this season the 25k plus who wouldn’t normally go to a game would return ? What do others think

PS Rory Gaffney played 45 mins yesterday for our u/20s- hopefully he’ll be back shortly as that will plug our ‘gap’ up front

PPS isn’t it great to be back
Agree with Danny Grant,he played like an ex Bohs player who wanted Bohs to win

[Bohtastic]

Ah, I don't think Grant was terrible, didn't do enough, but was at wing back as far as I could tell, so not his usual position. Mind you, Parsons is definitely an upgrade on himself, McDaid etc- he'll be big this season.
Whelan also looked lively when he came on- I'd say Reynolds won't risk him playing in the Brandywell next week given his experiences with that pitch!

[yurt]

Following today's game I'd like to again float the idea of making St Patrick's Day derby day in the LOI.

Establish it as a marquee event in the annual calendar, with Bohs-Rovers played at the Aviva as part of it.

The fact that the northern league banks its biggest crowds of the year on a cold and dark afternoon for their Boxing Day derbies shows what can be acheived.

The crowds who go to Dublin from overseas for St Patrick's Day are big. No doubt some of them could be attracted to go watch a football ritual in the afternoon, after watching the parade through the town in the morning.

Paddy's Day Derbies.

I'd thought this before too. Since the GAA changed the calendar to not have the club finals on Paddy's day there's a gap in the market. I'm very surprised to see there isn't LOI games on this Paddys day particularly since it falls on a Monday this year. Seems like it'd be an ideal weekend to have a double gameweek.

[Dermobohs]

l
And in the overall scheme of the 36 game league and European football of its possi league less than zero points.
Enjoy your cup final
High handed bullcrap.
It was a big derby.
Our first game of the season.
You shower are supposedly match fit.
We beat you.
Get it right up you.

[RealJohn91]

Signing Grant was a bizarre move on Bradley's part. I know you could make the argument that Bohs was so dysfunctional, that once you put him in a proper structure you'd get the best out him. I really can't see this working though. He's just not the player he was anymore and he's definitely not a wing back.

[ger121]

l
And in the overall scheme of the 36 game league and European football of its possi league less than zero points.
Enjoy your cup final

There’s a post in there somewhere.

[Another Bohemia]

Signing Grant was a bizarre move on Bradley's part. I know you could make the argument that Bohs was so dysfunctional, that once you put him in a proper structure you'd get the best out him. I really can't see this working though. He's just not the player he was anymore and he's definitely not a wing back.

I could see the dysfunction argument for someone like Paddy Kirk or maybe the Estonian lads but Danny wasn't asked to do anything different to how he played before he went to the UK. He's just lost a bit of pace and that means he just can't beat a man anymore. He put in a shift when he played in fairness to him but he's incredibly limited now.

[Another Bohemia]

Yesterday in the Aviva was a great event. Far from a vintage game of football but derby games are always hit and miss with quality.

I thought Rovers looked sharper out of the gate. I guess thats to be expected when your "preseason" games are competitive euro games but they really faded and started to look a bit sloppy and lacking ideas.

Bohs were happily solid. Thought the CBs looked really good, very happy with that pairing. Smith at RB was equally solid but I'm not sold on Mountney at LB yet but that's not his preferred position and he still played considerably better than our starting LB last year. Bohs lost 24 points from winning positions last year which is appalling. So this bit of defensive solidity and the work done to keep a clean sheet towards the end was great to see. I think Parsons and Morahan will be big signings for us. When Parsons gets a bit of space he drives towards goal, all too often last year Bohs wingers cut back and passed to a defender (Rovers fans will probably see this a lot from Grant if he starts regularly). Morahan reminded me of peak Keith Buckley . Covered every blade of grass, made a lot of key tackles and freed Devoy and Tierney to push forward. The change of the Bihs squad from this time last year to this year is something to behold. At various stages I'd look at the team sheet last year and say why is Kirk, McDaid, Akintunde, Piszcec starting and I'd look at the bench and say who else do you play? There's a lot more depth there now. Will all the signings work out? No but having options like Bucko, Whelan, Byrne, McDonnell & Meekison off the bench is a great position to be in.

[sbgawa]

Looking back at the game now i think we deserved something out of it and hope that it isnt the start of another poor start for us to a new season..
The day was a big success and maybe we should consider playing our next home match against Bohs there as well if thats an option.
As i said earlier a win or draw Thursday will make up for it but its never nice to lose a Derby.
Hopefully Burke starts Thursday he looked great yesetrday and without JAck we lack a bit of creativity.
Big bonus was the complete absence of any hassle, never been around so many Bohs fans , even spoke to a few and can confirm they seemed normal enough ;)

[ger121]

Big bonus was the complete absence of any hassle, never been around so many Bohs fans , even spoke to a few and can confirm they seemed normal enough ;)

I was queuing for a beer next to a fella decked head to toe in Rovers gear and it was like the most normal thing ever. Was new alright the way supporters of both clubs were mingling before, during and after the game.It’s a strange new world we live in.

[Kiki Balboa]

I was queuing for a beer next to a fella decked head to toe in Rovers gear and it was like the most normal thing ever. Was new alright the way supporters of both clubs were mingling before, during and after the game.It’s a strange new world we live in.

Jesus, one outing to Rugby HQ and you all turn into Leinster fans.

[Kingswood Rover]

Great day out yesterday, loved it all bar the result. Mousset was really good in the 1st half, you can see the class, he was blowing a bit towards half time but as he gets fitter watch out everyone else. From a hoops perspective thought we were fine the plenty of aspects of the game. How we did not score a couple of times in the 2nd half. Have Bohs come into the discussion as title contenders another couple of wins and yes. Brilliant to see we have keeper that catches the ball and another young star in the making coming on to replace Mandriou. That Adam Mathews injury looks ominous.

[2 Year Contract]

Yeah it was a very bad miss by Victor Ozhianvuna kicking it off his standing leg with the goal gaping from 4 yards. Aside from that though he looked really good on the ball and looks very promising for a 16 year old

[Larry 'da' Wyse]

Really good day out in the Aviva. Everything went well. Just needed 'Half-time raffle' to be blared out on the tannoy :-) Would have thought the screens might have a few replays or incidents etc. but that's just nit-picking really. Wonder how much profit was made on the day? €300-400k? Bars were rammed but doubt BFC get a slice of that?

[RealJohn91]

Really good day out in the Aviva. Everything went well. Just needed 'Half-time raffle' to be blared out on the tannoy :-) Would have thought the screens might have a few replays or incidents etc. but that's just nit-picking really. Wonder how much profit was made on the day? €300-400k? Bars were rammed but doubt BFC get a slice of that?
One of the papers said the money earned was the equivalent of getting European football

[Glen Of Aherlow]

One of the papers said the money earned was the equivalent of getting European football

Which was surely the point of the exercise from a Bohs point of view

[Calcio Jack]

One of the papers said the money earned was the equivalent of getting European football

And also financially an excellent day out for us as well we get a decent cut of the profits from the day

[sbgawa]

I heard 25000 was breakeven so 8000 x €20 on average ticket price is 160k split 3 ways between Bohs /FAI and Rovers, most to Bohs as home team but Rovers got a chink for promoting it to our fans etc.
I dont think Finances were the main thing here though to be fair to all sides it was about making the League relavant and launching the season.

From Bohs perspective their STH would fill Dalymount so they get very little extra out of the DErby normally the Aviva profit is extra so its a win win.
For Rovers we have the ability to sell around 6000 non STH tickets for the Derby so the risk is greater in terms of the guarantee of a packed Tallaght.
Id still rather do it with one of our home games though it was a great day out.

[Bohtastic]

I heard 25000 was breakeven so 8000 x €20 on average ticket price is 160k split 3 ways between Bohs /FAI and Rovers.

From Aidan Fitzmaurice's article it's a lower breakeven

'There was a risk with the move: figures are a closely-guarded secret but it’s believed that a crowd of 18,000 is break-even for a game at the Aviva.'

Looks like it was a bigger pie to be split?

[Buckett]

Corporate hospitality tickets and pitchside advertising would have brought in a nice amount too

[pineapple stu]

Would any other Dublin derby be an option for Lansdowne I wonder?

Shels support probably the smallest of the four but growing in fairness. Pat's maybe similar to Bohs - would Rovers v Pat's work next year?

And you wonder is there any kickback to the country clubs for whom this isn't an option? Presumably a lot of neutrals in the crowd who we know would go to Cup finals, etc - but no chance of, say, Cork v Derry getting the chance to generate a windfall

[redarmyfaction]

Which club had the most support on the day?

[2 Year Contract]

Which club had the most support on the day?
Saw something on Twitter saying it was roughly a three way split of 11k Bohs, 11k rovers, 11k neutral)

[sbgawa]

From Aidan Fitzmaurice's article it's a lower breakeven

'There was a risk with the move: figures are a closely-guarded secret but it’s believed that a crowd of 18,000 is break-even for a game at the Aviva.'

Looks like it was a bigger pie to be split?

That's good. If 18000 was the breakeven makes it more viable.

[outspoken]

Saw something on Twitter saying it was roughly a three way split of 11k Bohs, 11k rovers, 11k neutral)

The neutral number is what's most impressive there.

[Bohtastic]

The neutral number is what's most impressive there.

Didn't seem like that in the ground, seemed like bohs had more than rovers (understandable given the molde match) , and very difficult to get a handle on unaligned.
Didn't seem like the neutral sections in the ticketing system were as numerous- and even then, maybe not have been truly neutral, I know of bohs fans who were in 'neutral sections' to get the best available positions having left it late to buy.
I'd say that 33% estimate re. Composition of the crowd is guesswork - as is mine i suppose.