Benson, Boyle, Mountney, Elliot all injured and a couple of our starters carrying injuries too.
Tulloch and Williams gone back from loan spells.
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Rovers bullied at Oriel tonight. Without Jack Byrne, they are very average. Every team is missing players and the Rovers 11 is still as experienced as it gets in this league, (apart from maybe Pohls). Rovers have spent a lot of money on those players tonight over the last few windows, yet they look pretty dross. Best players were Gaffney amd Towell, two lads coming into the their mid 30s.
One of those games for Dundalk were you question were was that performance for the past couple of months. Hoban bossed the Rover three center halfs, and really pressed well as a team.
Guess there is a title race now with Pats and Rovers, only 4 points, but I wonder how much the gap has closed since Daly took over.
Terrible weekend for Bohs and Derry. Both are falling off their respective season aims at the moment.
Dundalk fans are getting a bit carried away but they won so I don't blame them.
Realistically both teams were pretty bad. Rovers had more of the ball, more shots, more passes etc but Dundalk were clinical with their 2 on target and we decided to be offside all night. Felt like it was either gonna be 0-0 or 1-0 via a scrappy goal for either team but I was never feeling like we were under much pressure despite playing poorly. It was an awful game of football either side could have handed the other.
Missed the game as I'm in Lisbon eating great food which is really cheap and dancing in the streets to pimba music whilst drinking dirt cheap cocktails.
Checked my phone to see the Rovers score and people around me wondering why I'm ****ing myself laughing at the media reports on dundalk putting a dent in Rovers chances of winning the league... ????
I think the job Daly is doing deserves great credit because despite being assistant previously he is night and day from Clancy...but that was extremely rough from UCD tonight. Feel like on a normal day a team keeps it respectable against them but we had young lads wanting to fill their boots out there and that made things even more ugly.
Dundalk were happy to sit deep and try quick transitions when winning the ball back. Felt there was only going to be one winner in the game. First time I seen a flat 5 formation in a game with competitve teams, but it worked well. O'Donnell is anything but wielded to his formations.
Rovers took a lot of pot-shots from way out that weren't going to trouble anyone. I think the post above shows how stats can hide a story of a game. Rovers can move the ball quickly in midfield though, but yeah it lack of discipline with offsides hurt them. Yous were marked better when Gaffney came on. But it is surprising how quickly Rovers ran out of ideas in the game, hence the long range shots. Cleary and Hoare were terrible.
That's lovely, hopefully you've convinced yourself that you're not fuming with the result.
I'll agree with you though it's still Rovers league as there is nothing to challenge them, league is dross (worst standard in years?).
Mistake from Bradley to bench Gaffney.
Rovers better hope they get their main man back before Europe. A shock on the cards in the land of ice and fire?
Wasn't expecting that tonight from Dundalk ! Yes up against a depleted Rovers side but we lost Boyle before KO, and Benson, Mountney, Elliott all injured and Aflie Lewis only back on the bench so it was hard earned.
Well deserved too I think, that's 13 points from the last 15 on offer, some run when that includes Pats and Rovers.
Should be good prep for Dundalk going into europe after the Bohs game next week.
I think you're getting a bit blinded by the scoreline Kiki. Fair enough I suppose but it was far more even than that. Scores can hide the story of a game as well but I'd rather have them than the stats in my favour. We had the ball in the net in the first half but Gannon must have been worried about pigs head flying and decided to drift offside for it.
Definitely better when Gaffney came on all the same and I'd agree on Cleary if not Hoare. Worst I've seen Cleary play. He looked completely lost and his decision making was abysmal.
An enjoyable game of football to watch even if the result and performance were disappointing. Can’t have any arguments about the result. Only positive is that it increase the gap between Bohs and a European spot!
with a massive euro match coming up, really need Farrugia and O’Neill back . I don’t think anyone would have expected Rovers to win by the gap the Icelandics did. Far from an easy draw
Nice one Oriel, yeah it's mad being in a city that has nightlife running all night, relatively free of drunken aggressive tw#ts, food and drink are dirt cheap, women are tanned and beautiful, and no blokes have ****ty 80's era taxi driver moustaches. It's like the complete polar opposite of dublin.
The result tonight in OP is the result, I've had my heart broken enough times there in 40 years for it to be like water off a ducks back.
Baxia is a nice district, central, also you probably have been on it but the tourist yellow or red maybe tram is the business, jump on and off job. A Portuguese colleague at work at the time told us the hidden gems, all the best bars / bistros are off the main streets in the almost hidden side streets.
If interested get a taxi out to the now 'athletics' stadium where Celtic won the 1967 EC, I`m told the taxi drivers are well versed, I just said 'Celtic Euro' ..........yes jump in. Nice to see it all the same.
I also did the same in Melbourne in 99 on the then unused stadium where Ronnie Delaney won gold for Ireland in the Olympics.
Bizarre post really, but there you go !
Enjoy
Clearly and Hoare were absolutely DIRE but what's new. It will be individual mistakes in the back 3 again that haunt Rovers in Europe. They are weak links no matter how much people continue to hype them up. Better opposition will expose them.
27 goals for Coughlan in the league so far so even better.
For me last night ( as discussed on a previous thread) was just yet another example of a team raising their game against Rovers , and then subsequently reverting to type.
The Dundalk commentators even mentioned how this was the best they’ve played all year …. Must be strange to follow a team that operates with such an inferiority mindset then again that’s the joy of being a Rovers fan we never feel that way…. So for Dundalk it’s understandable as they are the poster boy for such behaviour literally ( we won it in Talaght) ?
Next up Drogheda who are undefeated against us in last five
UCD collapsed in the second half last night, but truthfully they were dire in the first too. Keaney interrupting any run of passes they got going to, and taking over any frees they won, only to hoof balls up to young lads that they couldn't hope to win. Not sure what they've done to Michael Gallagher but he looked lost in central midfield. He's in a different place every time I see them. I'd love an update from The Bowler.