Games Weekend 28th to 31st March

[sbgawa]

Premier Division

Friday 28th (19:45 unless stated)

Bohemians v Galway
Cork v Drogheda
Waterford v St Pats
Sligo v Shelbourne
Shamrock Rovers v Derry (20:00)

First Division

Friday 28th (All 19:45)

Athlone v Finn Harps
Bray v Cobh
Dundalk v Wexford
Kerry v UCD

Saturday 29th

Longford v Treaty 19:30

Monday 31st

UCD v Bray 19:45

[sbgawa]

Big match for both Rovers and Derry, a win for Rovers and the talk of slow starts is gone and we are right in it.
Bohs v Galway is a big match for Rennie and could mark a year without a win in Dalymount in the league (read that somewheer , not sure if its true but it seems bizarre).
Shels will be hoping to pick up 3 points in Sligo and Drogs for sure will be targetting 3 points in Cork.

UCD playing Kerry and Bray over the weekend so a big weekend could turn their season around. Heard on the BTS podcast this a.m that they have won the last 3 times in Kerry so there is hope.

[WoodquayBoy]

Bohs v Galway is a big match for Rennie and could mark a year without a win in Dalymount in the league (read that somewheer , not sure if its true but it seems bizarre)
It’s not - they beat Dundalk and Drogheda back-to-back in Dalymount last April, and beat Rovers there in September

[sbgawa]

Well i suppose it's April next week so not far off being true except for the rovers result in September. Still pretty mad tbf .

[thebronze14]

Interesting to see how we get on after last week's performance and losing our manager. Shouldn't really change that much with the steady hands at the ship in Murphy's place. Athlone were one of my preseason favorites but haven't really clicked yet. Hope tonight isn't the night

[Another Bohemia]

I'll be pleasantly shocked if Bohs win tonight. We certainly have the players to make a good effort at it and score goals but Galway are unbeaten for a reason. If they are in any way organised at the back it should be an easy 1 or 2 nil win for them. Rennie just isn't the right man for the job and it's time to cut our losses imo. Even if Reynolds went and won the next 12 games on the bounce (the amount of games to match Devines time) he would still have 1 less win than Devine (Reynolds has already lost more games than Devines fwiw). The squad is there imo coaching/management is lacking. The question is who do you bring in?

[Martinho II]

I'll be pleasantly shocked if Bohs win tonight. We certainly have the players to make a good effort at it and score goals but Galway are unbeaten for a reason. If they are in any way organised at the back it should be an easy 1 or 2 nil win for them. Rennie just isn't the right man for the job and it's time to cut our losses imo. Even if Reynolds went and won the next 12 games on the bounce (the amount of games to match Devines time) he would still have 1 less win than Devine (Reynolds has already lost more games than Devines fwiw). The squad is there imo coaching/management is lacking. The question is who do you bring in?

Bring back Keith Long perhaps?

[Another Bohemia]

Bring back Keith Long perhaps?

Nah, the end of Longs tenure was not too different to whats going on now. Plenty of poor signings, awful defensive performances, letting leads slip and the 2nd half of every season bar perhaps 1 or 2 was always a let down. Georgies Kellys goals really papered over a lot of cracks in Longs last full season.

I'm in the camp that moving on from Long was the right decsision the problem was there was no real replacement plan.Devine was the 3rd choice IIRC after others (supposedly Rennie & Ian Ryan) had turned the job down. Why we went back to the Rennie well I dont know but there needs to be a better plan in place if/when we move on from Rennie

[Nesta99]

Higgins the obvious choice for Bohs....I'll keep calling Higgins until i'm right and then do an I told ye!

[RealJohn91]

Higgins the obvious choice for Bohs....I'll keep calling Higgins until i'm right and then do an I told ye!
Higgins didn't leave a great impression when he played for the club, but then again, a lot of the older fans hated Reynolds too, and that didn't stop the board from hiring him.

[sbgawa]

Drogs absolutely robbed there. Ref didn't see what happened is the most charitable i can say

[TonyD]

Pats with a fair amount of the ball, but not doing much with it. Lots of passes going astray.

[osarusan]

McGinty off for deliberate handball outside the area. Atrocious decision making by the keeper.

[culloty82]

It's fair to say there will be livelier halves of football in the First Division this season!

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Very harsh second yellow for Derry there

[joey B]

Derry red card now and it looked exceptionally harsh ….

[Bohtastic]

Galway 1 nil up giving the same old losing at Dalymount feeling. They hadn't created too much else, and haven't looked rock solid, but have kept Bohs from scoring.
Bohs look like they're pushing hard, but the pessimist in me is looking at another 40 minutes of beating ineffectualy at the Galway door, before conceding a late goal in a comical fashion to go down 2-0.
Hope I'm wrong.

[joey B]

Reynolds looks to be on borrowed time…

[Nesta99]

Come on Bray, dont roll over now!

[Nesta99]

Reynolds looks to be on borrowed time…

Bottom 2 clash with Sligo, will he make the derby game in 2 weeks or pull the trigger before in hoping for a quick bounce!?

Some turn arround in the RSC. Kenny getting some luck going his way?

and that been a nice evening of results for Dundalk.

[TonyD]

Great turnaround from Pats in the RSC, which didn’t look likely to be honest. Probably deserve something out of the game, purely on the balance of play, not sure we deserve all three points, but I won’t complain. Lovely free kick from Brandon Kavanagh.

[ger121]

We are ****ed and so is Reynolds.

[Shinkicker]

Bohs were by far the better footballing team, however all Galway had to do was defend well and hit them on the break and they did it very well. The first Galway goal Talbot could have done better. The second goal, although Cornwall shouldn't have let it bounce Talbot just waved at it. I think it's Casper time. I know people will call for Reynolds head, but it was purely the players fault tonight, bad decisions at the wrong time etc and sh1t3 goalkeeping from a Bohs point of view. I thought Mousset and Whelan played well when Mousset came on so maybe we should start two up top. A bit less side to side football and a bit more direct football will bring results. Who have we got next week?? Remember Bohs fans , we've put up with this for years.

[joey B]

Great win for us in Athlone,left it late but should have scored much earlier,Athlone for some of the players they have are an odd team,.very little threat…..

[Another Bohemia]

Bohs were by far the better footballing team, however all Galway had to do was defend well and hit them on the break and they did it very well. The first Galway goal Talbot could have done better. The second goal, although Cornwall shouldn't have let it bounce Talbot just waved at it. I think it's Casper time. I know people will call for Reynolds head, but it was purely the players fault tonight, bad decisions at the wrong time etc and sh1t3 goalkeeping from a Bohs point of view. I thought Mousset and Whelan played well when Mousset came on so maybe we should start two up top. A bit less side to side football and a bit more direct football will bring results. Who have we got next week?? Remember Bohs fans , we've put up with this for years.

Bohs passed around the back 4 more than Galway but that doesn't mean they played better football. Galway had the better chances in the game and deservedly won. I'm sick of this passing + possession = good football. It doesn't. Football is about goals if you aren't creating goal scoring opportunities you aren't playing good football. Reynolds has served up possession heavy bad football and a poorly organised team. He needs to be gone asap because there are good players in that squad who he is getting nothing out of. Also apologies if I'm coming across harsh at you Shinkicker I'm just sick of the possession based football being the gold standard. When it's done poorly (which it frequently is) it's worse to watch than your team playing 11 behind the ball.

[oriel]

Thought Wexford one of the better FD sides I have seen based on the first half, very well organised and a good keeper.

They ran out of steam second half, and Dundalk blitzed them with 3 goals in 12 mins, game over. Some crackers too, very good second half but the standard is miles off the PD.

[brendy_éire]

Well, not an entertaining game in Tallaght tonight, to put it mildly. That's two in a row for us, after the other Rovers away last time out.

Very little happened outside the red cards.
No idea what McGinty was thinking coming out to lift that ball. Should have just booted it clear, the eejit.
Danny Mullen's red was so harsh. It's probably easier for the ref to give it to even things up, but it was a poor decision. Frustrating.

What else is there to say about the match? Not much else of note. Sean Patton came on for us and looked decent, but there weren't really any clear cut chances for either side.

We're happy enough with the last two games. Beforehand, we'd probably have expected two losses, and we've come away with four points. Can't complain really.

[oriel]

We are ****ed and so is Reynolds.

Wonder how SOD is doing in all of this, from that brilliant season finishing joint 2nd in 2022 with Dundalk, to the shocking start of 2024, he should have been sacked much earlier and around easter that season, he was definitely responsible for a lot of the downfall and later deserved relegation, can't see what he's bringing to the party at Bohs in 2025.

[joey B]

1905752262674440444

Cracking camera angle for Galway’s second goal this evening….

[2 Year Contract]

Frustration to elation at the RSC. Waterford started much the better team in the first 25 mins or so and Amond's header was absolute exceptional, prime Shearer stuff. They didn’t create a whole lot after that spell though and Pats couldn’t break them down, they were very well organised at the back to be fair. Second half was mostly a game of attack v defence and Waterford seemed happy enough to invite pats on and try to catch them on the counter. I thought it was going to be yet another loss in a ground where we’ve seen many in the last few years with the way things were going with the drop of the ball (2 pats players taking the ball off each other with just the keeper to beat for example) but they got the goal the second half pressure probably deserved and then Kavanagh pops up 2 mins later to snatch the undeserved 3 points with a lovely free kick. Brilliant :D

I thought Olayinka looked a serious player for Waterford in the middle of the park, Coyle was decent enough too

[outspoken]

Very impressive second half display from Dundalk, really opened up on Wexford.

[Jack B]

Waterford should be very disappointed with that. Looked the better, more comfortable team until they tried to shut up shop and proceeded to invite Pats into the game and ultimately deserving a result on the balance of chances.

Not convinced by Pats at all away from home thus far, the performances haven't been there at all, though now getting a result is welcomed at least. Another huge positive is having Jamie Lennon back, I'm sure Baggley will improve given time but right now there's a big gap in quality between them and it was apparent as soon as Lenny came on.

[El-Pietro]

Drogs absolutely robbed there. Ref didn't see what happened is the most charitable i can say

Haven't seen the tv commentary but two drogs players had their foot on the line when the goal kick was taken. The line is part of the box. I think the ref got that exactly right

[Shinkicker]

Bohs passed around the back 4 more than Galway but that doesn't mean they played better football. Galway had the better chances in the game and deservedly won. I'm sick of this passing + possession = good football. It doesn't. Football is about goals if you aren't creating goal scoring opportunities you aren't playing good football. Reynolds has served up possession heavy bad football and a poorly organised team. He needs to be gone asap because there are good players in that squad who he is getting nothing out of. Also apologies if I'm coming across harsh at you Shinkicker I'm just sick of the possession based football being the gold standard. When it's done poorly (which it frequently is) it's worse to watch than your team playing 11 behind the ball.
Not harsh at all, as I said a bit less side to side and a bit more direct will bring results. It's hard to watch the current style of play week in week out and even worse when you see the quality players we have failing at it. Look at the first Galway goal, they were under pressure,got the play, played a long ball,flicked it on crossed it and goal. As the Co Commentator on LOI tv said, " it took Bohs twenty passes to get into the Galway box, it took Galway three to get into the Bohs box". The LOI is not a nice football type of league it has to be mixed with some bite,boot and bollock ,and we just don't do that enough.

[Kiki Balboa]

Haven't seen the tv commentary but two drogs players had their foot on the line when the goal kick was taken. The line is part of the box. I think the ref got that exactly right

The Drogheda player who it gets hit off doesn't even look like he is doing that.

It has to be one of the worst and most gutless calls I have ever seen in the league.

Working backwards to find a reason to deny a perfectly good goal. Hardly Corks fault, but they got away with one.

[Bohtastic]

I feel that the bohs players have had all the adventure coached out of them - the amount of times people checked, thus allowing Galway to reset was depressing.
Same with Pats last week. Yeah, devoy can hold onto the ball, riding tackles etc, but he's laying it off to someone on the wing who's covered 90% to the time, who check, then plays back to the full back, who plays it across the middle then rinse & repeat. Flores and Smith actually had a good game last night, but not sure what's happened to Dayle Rooney. Worst player on the pitch. Game was crying out for Clarke, or (even Bucko) who could run at Galway without turning 7 times beforehand.

[Bohtastic]

The LOI is not a nice football type of league it has to be mixed with some bite,boot and bollock ,and we just don't do that enough.

What is frustrating is that with Reynolds, O Donnell and Pender as players there was enough boot, bite and ****** for 3 teams, so why are we so toothless?

[Another Bohemia]

Not harsh at all, as I said a bit less side to side and a bit more direct will bring results. It's hard to watch the current style of play week in week out and even worse when you see the quality players we have failing at it. Look at the first Galway goal, they were under pressure,got the play, played a long ball,flicked it on crossed it and goal. As the Co Commentator on LOI tv said, " it took Bohs twenty passes to get into the Galway box, it took Galway three to get into the Bohs box". The LOI is not a nice football type of league it has to be mixed with some bite,boot and bollock ,and we just don't do that enough.

Yeah Bohs are playing crab football at the moment. What's worse is it all seems to be controlled/designed to play this way. Everything is slow and predicated on not losing possession. Players don't look to have any real freedom because every player plays the ball the exact same way to the feet of a player who is facing back towards goals, the pass is frequently slightly underhit so if a player is trying to gain some form of forward momentum they have to stop and gather the ball or worse immediately pass the ball back where it came from because a defender is already breathing down their necks . There's little to no risks being taken. Even the throw ins seems to be dictated and controlled to minimise risk, ironically on more than one occasion we threw the ball to a Galway player. We're playing to not concede goals and it's not working.

[Kingswood Rover]

Rovers too atm would drive you mad the amount of times Cleary and O Sullivan checked back made us so predictable for Derry who were dogged, ****e but with plenty of bite to get something from the game. The lack of pace since Kenny went back is very obvious, on the plus side young Victor and Noonan are still developing and will be fine players. A bit of an odd one with Pohls being treated like a returning hero when he came on but Mc Ginty like all keepers i suppose must of have watched too many episodes of the Clangers since Chrimbo. I wonder has the Soup Dragon any goalie gloves.

[patsdad]

So far, Pats are nowhere near the level of last July-November, but they have the same players so I’ve no doubt that they’ll get there. Yet here we are sitting on top of the table. Next week’s game with Shels in Richmond will tell a lot.

[sidewayspasser]

The Drogheda player who it gets hit off doesn't even look like he is doing that.
Just looked back at this on LOITV. It looks to me that the player clearly has his left foot on the line.

[2 Year Contract]

So far, Pats are nowhere near the level of last July-November, but they have the same players so I’ve no doubt that they’ll get there. Yet here we are sitting on top of the table. Next week’s game with Shels in Richmond will tell a lot.

Agreed. 13 points from the first 7 games this year compared to 7 from the first 7 last year is more like it and to be top is obviously a bonus. There’s several more gears to be gone up though as you say which can only be a positive given the position in the table at the moment

[trevy]

That was a sickener for Waterford at RSC last night. Looked like we were holding on for the win after Amond's super header in the first half .Then Leahy heads one in his own net and a couple of minutes later a great free kick from Kavanagh to win it. We didn't deserve to lose but that's football. 3 defeats in a row now but if we had held on for the in we would have been 1 point off the top which shows how tight the league is at moment.

[Jd2793]

we were haunted v drogs. happily take that point.
reynolds surely gone now from bohs. its always easy to look in from the outside and hindsight is 20/20 but bohs should have stuck with long. it would probably cost them a bit but i think hed work well with the squad thats built there now.

[RealJohn91]

we were haunted v drogs. happily take that point.
reynolds surely gone now from bohs. its always easy to look in from the outside and hindsight is 20/20 but bohs should have stuck with long. it would probably cost them a bit but i think hed work well with the squad thats built there now.
It had gotten very stale under Long and the fans were starting to get nasty with him too unfortunately. Don't think we could afford to sack Reynolds and bring Long back.

[Nesta99]

If the fiances on offer were good, could go sniffing around United Park and turn Doherty's head. People will cite Europe and league positions bt money talks.

[sbgawa]

Great win from longford. Ucd currently bottom but could go 3rd with a win on Monday

..

[brendy_éire]

Great win from longford. Ucd currently bottom but could go 3rd with a win on Monday

..

Looked a bit of a ropey penalty, but the second goal was a decent counter attack with a lovely finish.

Bar Dundalk and Cobh, it's a tight division.

[Longfordian]

Wayne Groves has done a decent job with no money since he took over from Henderson. A very young team.

[TonyD]

Agreed. 13 points from the first 7 games this year compared to 7 from the first 7 last year is more like it and to be top is obviously a bonus. There’s several more gears to be gone up though as you say which can only be a positive given the position in the table at the moment

I think we’ll get better as it goes into the summer and the pitches improve. Didn’t think the RSC pitch was great the other night. The other factor is that Elbouzedi, and especially Mulraney, haven’t hit the level they were at from the summer onwards last year. Lot more to come from the team I would think. Jamie Lennon coming back should help as well. We looked a little vulnerable in the middle in his absence.