Games weekend 5th to 8th Feb 2026

[sbgawa]

Premier Division

Friday 6th

Derry v Sligo 19:45
Galway v Drogheda 19:45
Waterford v Shelbourne 19:45
Shamrock Rovers v Dundalk 20:00

Sunday 8th

Bohemians v St Pats 14:00

[sbgawa]

And we are back !!
Shels and Derry look strong and Jarvis is a real boost for Shels so we may have an exciting season ahead.
Decent test for Shels first up in Waterford.
Galway Drogs is a chance for one of them to get a decent start in a season where they both might struggle although Drogs are turning into a side that surprises.
Rovers should be looking to put a strong marker down agaisnt Dundalk, we cant afford to have a slow start this year with the strenghening of Shels and Derry.
Bohs v Pats is also going to be an interesting one, no real idea what to expect, will Pats be as bad as their supporters think? will bohs be a top half side and chalenging??

[passinginterest]

Must be a few question marks over pitch playability with the amount of rain in Tallaght. Would imagine Waterford could be in danger too. Hopefully the rest of the evening and tomorrow are not as bad as the warning suggests.

[ger121]

Baby we are back!!!!

[Yossarian]

The pitch in Tallaght didn’t look great last week and all this rain won’t help. Any idea from Rovers supporters if this game could be called off? I’d guess with it being the opening night and it being on Virgin that they’ll try to keep it on.

[sbgawa]

Id say it will be touch and go depending (obviously) on the amoung of rain.
Be dissapointing if its cancelled after waiting so long for the season to start.
K assume the Aviva will ne good to go


Hearing there is an inspection at lunchtime tommorow.

[pineapple stu]

Baby we are back!!!!
Wait - what now?!

[ger121]

Wait - what now?!

Too much? Too old for that type of talk?

Sirs - hurrah the new season is upon us.

In all seriousness, any games likely to get called off tomorrow?

[RealJohn91]

Virgin said earlier that they'll be showing the Derry vs Sligo game instead if the one in Tallaght gets postponed.

[pineapple stu]

Too much? Too old for that type of talk?

Sirs - hurrah the new season is upon us.

In all seriousness, any games likely to get called off tomorrow?

Bear in mind us Firsties have you make do with UCD v East Wall Bessborough in the LSC while ye're off enjoying yourselves!

[nr637]

Will the current rain forecast for the Waterford area affect the RSC pitch for the opening game against Shels!

Any Waterford fans in the know, how the pitch has coped with this the weather recently and if a pitch inspection is due!

[desaintsno.12]

Excited to be back and also dreading what probably lies ahead for us.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Game in Tallaght is off.

[passinginterest]

No real surprise, the rain hasn't stopped for most of the week. The whole area, all the public parks etc. are saturated to a level I haven't seen in the best part of 20 years living in the area. Pitch was already heavy last week. Shame to have the first game postponed.

[WeAreRovers]

Shame alright but we've had more than a 1/4 of our average yearly rainfall already in South Dublin - I'm told we've had 240mm already compared to a total of 804mm last year. Unprecedented.

[Kingdom]

Sirs - hurrah the new season is upon us.


Brilliant!

[Kingdom]

Shame alright but we've had more than a 1/4 of our average yearly rainfall already in South Dublin - I'm told we've had 240mm already compared to a total of 804mm last year. Unprecedented.

The Rhino in Milltown is holding more firm than Rovers did!

[pineapple stu]

Unprecedented.
Welcome to climate change (which we're doing next to nothing about, but that's a separate thread!)

Weather that was unprecedented is going to become more common.

[1982blue]

Will the current rain forecast for the Waterford area affect the RSC pitch for the opening game against Shels!

Any Waterford fans in the know, how the pitch has coped with this the weather recently and if a pitch inspection is due!

Pitch is good. No pitch inspection planned. Fair play to the Ground Staff in the RSC. More rain fell there than in south Dublin the last few days

[Nesta99]

Welcome to climate change (which we're doing next to nothing about, but that's a separate thread!)

Weather that was unprecedented is going to become more common.

Its Harps fault with that travelling that they do!

[culloty82]

What's going on with Galway vs Drogheda - strange to see a number of both line-ups officially down as "N/A" on FAI Connect?

[Roones26]

Lights on in Celtic Park and the Brandywell is a gorgeous look

[culloty82]

Deserved Sligo lead - for all Derry's possession, no attacking threat so far.

[Kiki Balboa]

Thomas and Markey are two empty calorie players.

Also, why is the Derry pitch so unevenly lit?

[joey B]

The Sligo player has about 8 yards of space in the middle of the goal…

[Kiki Balboa]

Thomas and Markey are two empty calorie players.

Also, why is the Derry pitch so unevenly lit?

Come to think of it, bizarre Derry thought it was a good idea to add two attackers from one of the most anti-football sides of recent times.

[Dalymountrower]

Come to think of it, bizarre Derry thought it was a good idea to add two attackers from one of the most anti-football sides of recent times.

Clarke and Markey?

[Jd2793]

The Sligo player has about 8 yards of space in the middle of the goal…

shocking from j.mcclean

[Kiki Balboa]

Clarke and Markey?

Markey and Thomas.

As an outsider, Derry have a lot of money in their center midfield (Clarke, Winchester, McClean) so you'd expect them to hold onto the ball a lot, but then sign two attackers who cant play on the ball (rather love chasing the ball).

A recipe for making games hard to win and easy to lose.

[joey B]

Complete turnaround in the second half in Derry,Sligo faded badly and cracked eventually….

[lofty9]

Thomas and Markey are two empty calorie players.

Also, why is the Derry pitch so unevenly lit?

It's due to the lighting from the new stand behind the goal.

[ger121]

Bear in mind us Firsties have you make do with UCD v East Wall Bessborough in the LSC while ye're off enjoying yourselves!

You secretly love it PS. The mystic of the LSC and its exotic ties.

[ger121]

It's due to the lighting from the new stand behind the goal.

It’s like when I turn the light up to max on my camera.

[trevy]

Good game at RSC last night. Shelbourne totally dominated the 1st half and John Martin gave them the lead.
Waterford made a triple sub early in 2nd half and Tommy Lonergan headed in to level. We had a few chances to win it and Shels had one near the end too but a draw was fair.
Good to have the league back after a dark and very wet winter.

[2 Year Contract]

I see the local Derry toerags are at it again. Insert “no coincidence this only happens when Dublin clubs come up”, “we don’t have a problem at the club”, “our security at the Brandywell are grand and everyone exaggerates trouble” etc ;) I look forward to this being swept under the carpet and the club pretending it didn’t happen, for the 100th timehttps://x.com/slbhoy/status/2019916685306745221?s=46

[Kiki Balboa]

Markey and Thomas.

As an outsider, Derry have a lot of money in their center midfield (Clarke, Winchester, McClean) so you'd expect them to hold onto the ball a lot, but then sign two attackers who cant play on the ball (rather love chasing the ball).

A recipe for making games hard to win and easy to lose.

Great winner for Thomas... Im unsure how he will work out for the season for Derry, but its got a match winner in him.

[total hoofball]

Familiar 2025 type of performance from Shels last night, dominated the first half scoring an early goal without sticking the knife in to extend the lead to two or three, then second half giving away a cheap set piece equaliser before we struggled yet again in the final third against a low block while also looking vulnerable to Waterford counter attacks. Fair play to the RSC ground staff that pitch would have took a battering with rain over the previous days and although it was sticky cut-up a bit the pitch held up as good as you could have hoped for under the circumstances

[Dalymountrower]

Markey and Thomas.

As an outsider, Derry have a lot of money in their center midfield (Clarke, Winchester, McClean) so you'd expect them to hold onto the ball a lot, but then sign two attackers who cant play on the ball (rather love chasing the ball).

A recipe for making games hard to win and easy to lose.

Wouldnt describe Markey as a " chaser" he had a por game last night , but Derry were pretty poor until they used their bench.
As for Thomas, he is a really good finisher, but 1 goal out if 4 good chances is not good enough.
Also a temperment issue which he also had with Drogs.Silly yellow and an earler strop at the ref which in any other ground would have been a yellow.
Sligo in the first half were excellent, poor second half from them, no good options from the bench.Hakiki is developing into a very good player, and will carry them for the season.
Derry were dreary to watch , the new signings may gell but they wont lay a glove on Shamrock R.this season.

[refjohn]

Wouldnt describe Markey as a " chaser" he had a por game last night , but Derry were pretty poor until they used their bench.
As for Thomas, he is a really good finisher, but 1 goal out if 4 good chances is not good enough.
Also a temperment issue which he also had with Drogs.Silly yellow and an earler strop at the ref which in any other ground would have been a yellow.
Sligo in the first half were excellent, poor second half from them, no good options from the bench.Hakiki is developing into a very good player, and will carry them for the season.
Derry were dreary to watch , the new signings may gell but they wont lay a glove on Shamrock R.this season.

Nit sure about using bench. Only sub was O’Reilly for Markey. Think Derry still trying to work out best combinations still.

[Dalymountrower]

Nit sure about using bench. Only sub was O’Reilly for Markey. Think Derry still trying to work out best combinations still.
Fair enough but thought Adam O zReilly had a big impact
More Sligos poor bench options decidedd the gsme.
They ere under pressure in the last 25 mins but Hakiki ggoing ogf at 80 mins left them with zero outlet

[Inchicore]

Kenny's jumper 😳

[pineapple stu]

That Bohs kit looks like a Superleague team turned up with red Penneys t-shirts

[EatYerGreens]

That Bohs top really is awful. When they came out at the start of the game, I honestly thought they were wearing red bibs. Who is the club's main sponsor this year, and what do they think about not being on the shirts (or not visibly anyway) ? What do Bohs fans think of it? Surely that's the least black that a Bohs home shirt has ever had? Kenny's jumper looks like he got dressed in an hurry and forgot to take his pyjama top off.

[1982blue]

That was absolutely horrendous. Worst game of the weekend by a mile. Atmosphere seemed awful too.

[EatYerGreens]

A difficult watch that game.

[listowelceltic]

Dreadful game. Both teams afraid of their lives to take risks. Sideways backways rinse repeat.

[Nesta99]

Good grief, the dampest of squibss this weekend and thats saying something with all the rain and flooding! Its one game but a bit like the cup final, you hope its entertaining to avoid the kicking of LoI, well the dismissive types probably fell asleep. That Bohs shirt isnt much of a Bohs shirt bar including the colours. I wish people would quit trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to kit designs. Stripes, Hoops, plain in club colours - job done, no nonsense!

[oriel]

Bohs long sleeve version, a local word to describe it 'CAT' the short sleeve option though actually looks smart, Kenny's jumper...........J Christ, Denis the Menace.

I get the 50 year anniversary of the Bohs top though, just think the long sleeve is like a training top.

[D24Saint]

Overall that was a dull as dishwasher affair. Flat atmosphere and boring game. The Aviva experiment should be put on ice for the foreseeable future.

[Nesta99]

I dont think the Aviva game hould be put on ice, but maybe the only game that is high profile enough is the Dublin Derby - Bohs need Rovers to make it a proper success, otherwise it could start making a net loss. I still like the idea of Derby Weekend, maybe as part of St Patricks weekend where all clubs play their main rivals or as close as possible. If Bohs have made more on today than a game at Dalymount than its a success. But it could become a bit of a gamble as mentioned. Out of interest would Dalymount pitch have been playable if it was played Friday as a standard home fixture?