Previews - W/E 22 May 2009

Having now completed our first round of matches so when we play Longford Town on Friday night it will be the second meeting of the sides this season. Who will forget the first!

In previewing that game a local radio commentator predicted that it would be like watching paint dry, how wrong he got it, in the opening ten minutes we were afraid that he might have been right, but how quickly things changed. In the next three minutes Longford were 3-nil up.

Everyone in the ground was shell shocked except the United team. They went about getting on the scoreboard relentlessly and before the halftime interval by which time they should have been back on level terms they were still one down.

The second half would be 5 minutes old before the equaliser came and after Longford repelled wave after wave of attack throughout the second half they were glad in the finish to hold out for the draw and United having been three down after 13 minutes went home disappointed with not having won.

Since that first meeting Monaghan have been the better of the two sides and having collected points in their last four outings are in 7th.place in the table. Longford’s position of being second from bottom belies some of their most recent form.

Like us, Lady Luck hasn’t been kind to them. They almost caused a huge shock at Tolka Park when they led Shelbourne 2-nil, a game they controlled for most of the 90 minutes, unfortunately they had to share the points when Shels got back on par. Last week against Limerick they were drawing 2-2 until Limerick scored a late winner. Incidentally their goals tally is 2 more than ours. This goes to show that they are no pushovers.

Last week Monaghan United gave a display of attacking football in Finn Park and their form on the night would have beaten any of the sides in the Division. They are playing with great flair and confidence. They appear to have turned the corner and left the worst elements of their game behind them. In each of their last four games they have displayed a steady curve of improvement. They have now climbed to the half way point in the table and if they can maintain this good run they can advance higher and get into contention. Last year we almost got there with a later run of results.

Mick Cooke won’t be taking anything for granted against Longford Town; although missing Don Tierney and Alan Byrne through suspension he will still have a strong squad to pick from. Nonetheless he and we will be disappointed if he doesn’t collect all 3 points.

Monaghan United are playing well and deserve more support. With the English Premiership now decided there should be few distractions to keep through followers of the game away.

Injuries & Suspensions
Injured : nil


Suspended : Don Tierney & Alan Byrne


Results of Last fixtures
Div 1
Finn Harps 1 2 Monaghan United
Div 1 Monaghan United 0 0 Wexford Youths
Div 1 Athlone Town 2 3 Monaghan United
Div 1 Monaghan United 5 1 Kildare County
Div 1 Waterford United 6 0 Monaghan United

Next 5 Fixtures

Fri May 22 Monaghan United v Longford Town 8.p.m.
Fri May 29 Shelbourne v Monaghan United 7.45.p.m
Fri Jun 5 Monaghan United v UCD 8.p.m.
Fri Jun 14 FAI Ford Cup
Fri Jun19 Mervue United v Monaghan United 7.45.p.m.
Fri July 3 Monaghan United v Limerick 8.p.m.


Manager Quotes.” I would like to extend a warm welcome to manager Alan Gough, the players, official and supporters of Longford Town.

A good win away last week end at Ballybofey, Finn Harps were they only side in the league that I had failed to achieve a win against in my time with United, so last Saturday we got it right. I felt we put in a good performance from start to finish and weren’t flattered by the end result.

More of the same is required this week end against Longford Town. Our last outing at Flancare Park will be remember for it’s six goals and our come back from being three down. I don’t believe we can afford them the luxury of such a lead this weekend. I won’t be taken in by Longfords low position in the table, in their most recent games against Shelbourne and Limerick they were unlucky not to have taken all six points on offer. The game against Shelbourne in particular they played the home side off the park for most of the game and were leading up to very late in the game ! and not many sides have done that this season at Tolka Park.

I will be missing Don Tierney and Alan Byrne through suspension but otherwise we should have a strong enough panel to pick from.

In our last four games were have demonstrated some good displays, there is no reason why we cannot continue the good run. We have now completed our first series of matches so it is a good time to be turning the corner performance wise, so hopefully the second series will be more fruitful for us.

Again I am looking forward to a good home support."

Harps v Kildare preview:

http://www.finnharps.com/News/090520KildarePreview.htm

Our team news:

http://corkcityfc.ie/main.php?action...headlineID=940

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Cork City will be looking to continue their impressive form as they travel to the Carlisle Grounds to take on Bray Wanderers tomorrow night.

Last Friday’s win over Derry City, combined with defeat for Bohemians on Saturday, means that Paul Doolin’s side are now three points clear at the top of the table after a third of the season. Eddie Gormley’s side were defeated by two goals to one at Turner’s Cross earlier in the season, and City have not looked back from that win, winning six out of their seven league matches since.

Speaking ahead of the game, City manager Paul Doolin told CorkCityFC.ie: “Last week was a tough game, and it was a fantastic win for us. I think we played really well in the first half and played some very good football. Maybe on another day we could have scored another goal or two, but Derry having a man sent off did disrupt the game, maybe even more for us than for them. Derry have been together a lot longer as a team than we have; we have only been together four months and people are still getting to know each other and getting used to working with each other. In any league, to have 25 points out of a possible 27 is fantastic and we are really pleased with our form.”

While tomorrow’s opponents may be struggling at the other end of the table, they have had some good results this season, including a win over Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght, and Doolin says that his side will face a tough test against the Wicklow side. “Bray are a young side and having managed UCD myself, I know that managing a young side can be difficult, but they are a good side and have some good players. I was at their game against Drogheda a few weeks ago and they were unlucky not to have got something out of that game. We have been very good on the road this season, and we are confident in our own abilities. It is important that we try to pick up another three points on Friday night, but we will give Bray Wanderers the same respect that we give Bohs, Derry and every other club we play.”

Danny Murphy will return from suspension for the tie, but Stephen O’Donnell was sent off on his return from injury and he is therefore suspended for the trip to Bray. While injuries have reduced the selection options available to Doolin in recent weeks, his side has nonetheless maintained their good run and Doolin is full of praise for his squad: “Having to rejig the team last week was a bit awkward, and I must give credit to Robert Mezeckis, because I think he put the group before himself. I don’t think he was 100% fit but we needed him to play and he did. The squad is not that big and that doesn’t leave you much margin, especially when you’re trying to deal with a number of injuries.”

Doolin confirmed that Mezeckis is likely to miss out, along with a number of his teammates, but Billy Dennehy is in contention for the squad following a hamstring injury. “It was great to see Stephen O’Donnell back last week and Billy Dennehy should be back this week and I’m hoping Neal Horgan will be back in full training as well. I’m not sure yet if Billy will feature, as we don’t want to take risks with a hamstring injury. Robert Mezeckis is likely to be missing for another few weeks, Davin O’Neill is probably about four weeks away from a return with his ankle injury and Shane Duggan has returned to training, but is not likely to be available for a few weeks yet.”

Suspensions: Stephen O’Donnell

Injury News: Neal Horgan (Elbow), Davin O’Neill (Ankle), Billy Dennehy (Hamstring), Shane Duggan (Ankle)

Last Game: Cork City 1-0 Derry City

Form: W W D W W W W D W W

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Wexford Youths v Shelbourne

Youths and Shels get ready to rumble

Wexford Youths FC take on Shelbourne FC at Ferrycarrig Park on Friday night in a game being promoted as winner takes all. Its 4th against 5th in the League and the Youths know if they want to keep the pressure on Shels and break into the top four then it has to start with a positive result tomorrow night. These sides met last on the opening day of the season where Shels grabbed a late goal to take the points. Wexford have come a long way since and will be aiming to gain revenge. Wexford narrowly lost 2-1 to Bohemian FC on Tuesday night and manager Mick Wallace will be hoping that his side take their second half performance into Friday’s fixture.

“If we had scored one of the three chances we had around the 70th minute then we would have rattled them and it would have been an interesting ending to them game. However, Bohemians are a great side and they showed that on Tuesday night” Wallace said after the Youths were knocked out of the quarter final stage of the EA Sports Cup.

In terms of team news Wexford are still without Keith Kearney and Marty Kelly. Although there is positive news that David Breen may be fit to play on Friday, but only if he passes a late fitness test. Captain Conor Sinnott and top goal scorer Gavin Doyle will be fit to play after their impressive cameos on Tuesday night. Wallace will therefore surely ring the changes for Friday’s crunch fixture, although his team’s second half display may cause him a headache when deciding on his starting line up.

“Friday night is a massive game for us if we want to break into the top four. We need to win in order to put pressure on Shelbourne and the other big sides at the top” Wallace said.

“We’re the only side to beat a top four side this season. The top four are only dropping points to each other and so we need to build on the UCD victory and pressurise Shels” said Wallace.

Doubts:
David Breen

Injured:
Tim McGrath
Kyle Dempsey
Danny Furlong
Paul Murphy
Lee Aust
Jimmy Keohane
Marty Kelly
Keith Kearney

Team news here:

http://www.sligorovers.com/content/view/761/1/

And

www.twitter.com/sligorovers



could the links just be added so you can find the team news quicker also the clubs could probably do with the hits

http://dundalkfc.com/news/090521_StPats.asp

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Originally Posted by forza rovers

Team news here:

http://www.sligorovers.com/content/view/761/1/

And

www.twitter.com/sligorovers



could the links just be added so you can find the team news quicker also the clubs could probably do with the hits

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Personally I dont have time to go to the other websites to read the previews but if they are posted in here I can scan through and read it if it is interesting.

Just my take on it.