W/E 10th April Match Previews

MONAGHAN UNITED -V- SPORTING FINGAL

Sporting Fingal will travel twice this week end to Kingspan Century Park to play Monaghan United. The first game will be on Friday night in the League and they return again on Easter Monday for the League Cup.
Sporting Fingal are in third place behind the other two metropolitan sides Shelbourne and UCD, so with 10 out of a possible 15 points they have made a good start to the season. They would be confident of adding to their tally against at Kingspan Century Park.

Unlike their opponents Monaghan United have made a poor start to the season, 2 points in five games is a poor return, however there appeared to be a bit of a revival against Limerick last week end, we had our first clean sheet of the season and shared the spoils with limerick, had lady luck been on their side Darren Mc. Kenna’s late strike could have given them their first victory of the season. A draw in Jackman Park was a good result. United’s display was much more positive.

No doubt United’s Manager Mick Cooke will be taking solace from the display against Limerick and will be and will be in a much more confident mood facing Fingal. United should have a full squad to select from. As they demonstrated in their first home of the season they are capable of taking on the best if they can reproduce this form they should have their first victory of the season. A good crowd is expected as it is Good Friday and as previous fixtures at Kingspan Century on this day always produced a good support. And I believe they won’t be disappointed.

Injuries and Suspensions

Suspended : none
Injuries : none

Results of Last fixtures

Div 1 Longford Town 3 3 Monaghan United
Div 1 Monaghan United 0 1 Shelbourne
Div 1 UCD 3 0 Monaghan United
Div 1 Monaghan United 1 2 Mervue United
Div 1 Limerick 0 0 Monaghan United

Next 5 Fixtures

Fri Apr 10 Monaghan United v Sporting Fingal 8.p.m.
Mon Apr 13 Monaghan United v Sporting Fingal 3.p.m.
Sat Apr 18 Waterford United v Monaghan United 7.p.m
Fri Apr 24 Monaghan United v Kildare County 8.p.m.
Sat Apr 2 Athlone v Monaghan United 8.p.m.


Managers Quotes
"As I stated last week a draw in Limerick would be a good result and this we achieved and we created enough chances to win the game. Our performance on the night was much more assertive; although we didn’t score we came away with a clean sheet. There is a more positive attitude to the side and this is what is required for this week- ends double clash against Sporting Fingal.



Sporting are going well at this early stage of the season, they have collected an average of 2 points per game and they wouldn’t like to see the 5 point gap between themselves and their two nearest and fellow Dublin sides Shelbourne and UCD widen if they are to achieve promotion this season. Liam Buckley has strengthened his side with the recent signing of Swords native, Westham United defender and former Under 19- Irish International- Lorcan Fitzgerald.



In Friday’s game the least I will be looking for is a draw, but with due respect to the opposition I feel this is the game that we will get our first win in the League. With the Cup game coming so soon it is easy to get distracted, however I am a firm believer in concentrating in one game at a time. We will have a full squad to pick from. Since it is Good Friday with little sporting counter attractions I am looking forward to a good supporting crowd.



As for Monday’s game it is a Cup match and you don’t get a second chance, but hopefully we will be able to bring the experience gained from Friday’s game to positive affect."

http://www.derrycityfc.net/cityweb/L...-for-city.html

The presence of five ex-Derry City players on the Sligo Rovers team sheet tomorrow night could ensure one of the toughest games of the season for the league leaders according to Stephen Kenny.

Owen Morrison, Brian Cash, Shaun Holmes, Stephen Parkhouse and Connor O Grady could all feature for the visitors in what promises to be a fascinating encounter with Paul Cook’s side.

And as far as Kenny is concerned, their presence on the pitch will just add to what is traditionally a difficult fixture for the Candy stripes. “There will be an added edge to the game but we’re expecting that,”

“Sligo have some good players. They won the game against Bray in midweek but we’re playing well ourselves and we must continue to believe and try to continue playing in the manner we are.

“We’ve started well at home. We’ve won two and we drew against Galway in a game we dominated so I think we’re playing well in the last couple of games but we’ll look to improve again.”

Kenny’s side remain top of the table after a fantastic win in Dublin against St. Pat’s earlier in the week and the City boss is hoping to round off what has been a trying eight days with a similar result tomorrow night.

“It’s a good reward against the top teams but we have to move on quickly,” he said. “We can’t dwell on it or pat ourselves on the back too much. It was a good win but now we have Sligo and if we can take three points against Sligo that would be seven from nine inside a week and that would be a decent return.”

Stephen Gray will miss the game through suspension after he saw red in Dublin while captain Peter Hutton is unlikely to feature after being taken to hospital with a lacerated groin injury. Nevertheless, Kenny is focusing on the positives and with Sammy Morrow back from injury and Thomas Stewart and Ciaran Martyn in exceptional goal scoring form, he is confident that come 10pm tomorrow night, his team will still be leading the way.

“We’ve scored ten in the first five games which is decent because the opposition hasn’t been too bad so we’ll look to build on that now,”

“Sligo are coming here and it will be a tough game and with all the ex-Derry players I think it will be a real competitive game.”

Tickets are available in all the usual outlets or online by clicking here

http://www.derrycityfc.net/shop/cata...hp?cPath=49_51

Sligo Rovers v Derry City

http://www.sligorovers.com/content/view/736/1/

http://www.ltfc.ie/news/article/?id=...8-3aa22fe36b6c


Athlone Town Preview
Yesterday, 8:02PM

It promises to be a big week for Longford Town with three games coming up over a six-day spell. The fact that two of those games are derbies against Athlone Town just adds further spice to the mix.

Last weekend's 1-0 defeat to Waterford United was undoubtedly disappointing, but there was cause for optimism according to boss Alan Gough.

“While we were poor in the first half I thought we improved greatly after the break,” Gough told ltfc.ie. “It's never good to concede a goal at any time, but particularly early on. Waterford started much better than us and deservedly went ahead. At that point our performance was still where it was for the Wexford Youths game so we deserved to be behind at half time even though Derek Glynn hit the post.”

“We had a chat at half time and we were improved after that and we were back at the level we were at for the game against Kildare,” continued the manager who was forced to deputise in goals following Brendan Murphy's departure.

“I didn't enjoy it one bit,” admitted Gough. “I didn't come to the club to play, I came to manage and me playing was of no benefit to myself or the players I've brought to the club. That said, watching things from the inside instead of the periphery I learned some new things about some players. What that is, though, I'm not going to say.”

Athlone Town come to Flancare Park on Saturday for the first Midlands Derby of the year and with the visitors three points ahead of us in the table it promised to be an exciting affair.

“I've played in a lot of big derbies over the years – Shels against Bohs, Glentoran against Linfield – so I'm really looking forward to this one. I know what it means to the supporters and to some of my players like Carmine Russo, Jim Sheridan, Colm Jinks, Jason McCartney and Adrian Murphy, who have all played for Athlone in their careers.

“It's going to be a big game and a big week with the League Cup tie on the Tuesday. I was fortunate enough to win the League Cup in my career as a player and while some teams use it as a chance to experiment, I'm not in that position. You can't legislate for injuries and sickness but we'll try to name as strong a team as we can for it though we may have to rest some players given the nature of the upcoming schedule.”

It's unlikely that Gough will have to don the gloves again this week with the club close to the signing of American keeper Chris Konopka. Konopka was part of Bohemians' double-winning squad last season as back-up to Brian Murphy and played in the side that lost the A Championship final to UCD.

“We're well down the road with Chris,” Gough revealed. “He's going to be living in Longford and training with us three times a week. Bohemians have been good enough to allow him train with them for the last week when he wasn't working with our goalkeeping coach and we hope to have the paperwork sorted by the weekend.”

Wexford Youths v Limerick

Youth's cautious while looking for three in a row

Wexford Youths face Limerick at Ferrycarrig Park on Friday night searching for three wins on the trot. However Mick Wallace's team aren't getting carried away after recording their first away win of the season and know that Friday's game will be just as tough a contest. The Youth's didn't have the best of luck against Limerick over the last few years as they became a bit of a boggy side for them and they will be hoping to get rid of that tag this time.

On the injury front Kyle Dempsey will be out after he broke his ankle in the warm up against Athlone and Tim McGrath will also miss out due to a niggling knee injury. On a brighter note Johnny Flynn O'Connor will return to the side after missing the last two games.

Wallace is in Italy at the moment with the U17 side, but he will be keeping a close eye on Friday’s proceedings. “We're performing well at the moment. We're very solid at the back and that’s bringing a lot of confidence into the side. We know that it's always hard to win three games in a row so we won't be taking anything for granted” said Wallace.

“ Limerick a good side and we'll be prepared for a physical encounter and a hard fought game come Friday” Wallace said.

Other good news for the Youth's is that Jimmy Keohane scored for the Irish U18 team against Cyprus when they recorded a 1-1 draw.

Injured:
Tim McGrath
Kyle Dempsey
Danny Furlong
Paul Murphy
Lee Aust
Gary Sheahan

Following a one nil win over Drogheda United which saw them move into third place in the Premier Division table, Cork City travel to Tallaght on Friday night to take on Shamrock Rovers.
Paul Doolin’s side have now won three games in a row, and the City boss told CorkCityFC.ie that he is happy with his sides form in recent games: “It’s funny the way football works. I think in the first few games we played quite well, particularly against St. Pat’s and Derry, yet we got nothing out of those games, whereas in the last three games we’ve got the results and that’s been great. The players have been brilliant, because when you lose a few games at the start of the season it can be tough, but I think in Dalymount last week we were fantastic, and it was a great result for us. Following on from that on Tuesday, we had to get the three points against Drogheda, and I think in the first half we were excellent, we played some very good football. In the second half, I think Drogheda started well after the break and I think the conditions were a factor as well.”

Having been hit hard by injuries and suspensions in recent weeks, it looks as though Doolin will have virtually a full squad to choose from tomorrow night. Stephen O’Donnell has begun rehab on his knee injury and is now jogging, but will still be sidelined for the next couple of months. Robert Mezeckis returned to training this week following an ankle injury, but tomorrow’s game is likely to come a little too soon for the Latvian, who is more likely to feature in Tuesday’s League Cup tie against the Kerry League. Tomorrow’s game is City’s first visit to Tallaght, and Doolin told CorkCityFC.ie that he is looking forward to the tie: “I’m delighted for Shamrock Rovers that they are now in Tallaght. Having had four successful years at Rovers as a player, I’m delighted that they have a home ground of their own again and it looks like a smashing place. They picked up a good win on Friday night, so it will be a tough game for us, but as I’ve said there are no easy games in the league, so hopefully we can perform well and get another three points.”

Suspensions: NONE

Injury News: Stephen O’Donnell, Robert Mezeckis (doubtful)

Last Game: Cork City 1-0 Drogheda United

Form: D L L W W W