Premier Division
Friday 8th 19:45
Waterford v Derry
Dundalk v Shamrock Rovers
Saturday 9th 19:45
Sligo v Longford
First Division All 19:45
Cabo v Cobh
Shels v Athlone
Cork v Wexford
Printable View
Premier Division
Friday 8th 19:45
Waterford v Derry
Dundalk v Shamrock Rovers
Saturday 9th 19:45
Sligo v Longford
First Division All 19:45
Cabo v Cobh
Shels v Athlone
Cork v Wexford
Only 3 games in the Premier but all vital for the clubs involved, (not sure if all going ahead tbh)
Derry need to win to stay in the hunt for 3rd as Bohs beating Longford while Derry were losing to Rovers hurt them.
Sligo at home to Longford also vital as Sligo should they slip up will basically be in a 3 way even steven scrap for 3rd from a position where they looked to have 3rd locked up.
Dundalk need to back up their recent upturn in form with another result to pull them out of the relegation scrap or face being back in 9th if Waterford win in Derry.
Sligo v Longford confirmed postponed.
Something funny about the only game going ahead in the premier division this week is between the 2 most expensive squads in the league because they don’t have enough internationals between them to get the game cancelled unlike everyone else.
Funnily enough our two call ups are Shamrock Rovers players.
12 Rovers ,6,7,8,7,7,8,7,8, Longford 3
Interesting last 5 matches points totals for the 10 teams in the Premier Division.
Rovers have hit a run of Form but no one seems to want to challenge, qualify for Europe or avoid relegation play offs.
Considering how tight it is from 3rd to 9th a decent last quarter from anyone and anything is possible
I’ve just seen now (via a Dundalk journalist on twitter) that the Dundalk Rovers game is on RTE. RTE really do put absolutely no effort or resources into promoting their LOI coverage, it’s laughable
It can't be incompetence. Maybe the home teams are requesting that it's not advertised because the gate will be affected? When English league games were first shown on TV, you wouldn't find out which fixture they were showing until shortly before kick off just in case ticket sales were affected
I saw plenty on Twitter saying the same thing last week. If we're the people that are in the loop on LOI football and we don’t know these games are being televised then there’s no chance the floating football fan with no LOI allegiances will know about them let alone be convinced to watch them
I don't believe it's incompetence. RTE are fully capable of covering other sports using media best practices. A quick listen to McBennett on the topic tells you all you need to know. They want it to fail to prove themselves right and say to us "We put on a few games (randomly scattered through the year with 0 promotion or logic behind fixtures chosen) and the interest just isn't there".
Why else would you show the beginning and end of the season but stop in the middle? In what world does that make any sense at all? Their coverage is designed not to work. Nobody is this incompetent.
Rovers losing as expected, my prediction league score of 2 to 1 for Dundalk is looking reasonable. We might win the league but we will have to improve.
A bit unlucky to be losing to be fair. Excellent save from Cherrie and good play by Murray on the line. Great pass from Hoban for the Dundalk goal.
Rovers should be at least drawing … stonewall peno on Greene and missed/saves for 3/4 clear chances …. How come Duns don’t play like every week must be so frustrating for their fans ?
Just saw the replay there yeah 100% a peno.
Dreadful from Rovers albeit we’re worth at least a draw - not scoring against a side that hasn’t kept a clean sheet in 15!! We may limp over the line to win league but a number of new signings badly needed.
In fairness its 10 points from 12 (and all against sides above is in the league :D) and the cup quarter final win, throw in the cup game in Finn Park, its 6 unbeaten. Credit to Perth for getting the team to turn a corner and get a run going. Giving us a good chance of salvaging something. Coming from a very low base so easily pleased too.
result should insure dundalk play in the premier league next year.
Can Bill H turn it around next season?
Rovers should have scored in the first half but were shocking in the second and Dundalk were pretty comfortable,granted I’ve not seen a lot of him but Towell looks poor anytime I’ve seen him,Watts on the other hand looks really good….
That’s fair comment - guess the real question will be what will your squad* be made up of next season and who will be manager and owner
*your’re welcome to both Hoare & Gannon ; their mediocre performances with 3 years deals give credence to Bill’s insistence on 1 year deals
Fun game at the Cross. Always is when you win and score a few goals. Great to see a couple of young players in Cian Murphy and Cian Bargary among the goals. Thats Murphys 11th of the season and 8th in the last 13 league games. He only turned 21 in June so plenty of room to grow. Willl be interesting to see how he does in a hopefully better team next year. Obviously its just the first division, plenty of players have great scoring records in the first and failed to make the step up to the Premier Division.
Next season has a big question mark over it for sure, we will obviously be effected by the loss of players of the calibre of Duffy and McEleney, maybe others. Nobody really knows what is happening behind the scenes at Oriel, a protracted sale will be damaging in terms of losing players a decent side could be built around, a quick sale and contract talks could get going, and they could already be happening even under P6. The silence is deafening from Oriel, the rumour mill is in full flow with a lot of people seeming to be in the know. All I know is that a team that was souless is grafting, post Chris Shields and for a manager the players supposedly didnt want. Far from assured of a safe end to the season but also not so implausible for safety, a cup and European qualification, and who would have considered that in June in our 'worst season ever'.
Not sure how we held on there for the win, Rovers missed at least 2 golden chances in each half, two in particular in the town end right across where we were standing, both skyed, but by christ we will take it.
Still, Dundalk worked very hard, albeit totally lost the MF for very long periods, amazing the confidence Cherrie has given the team, and with Sonni Knowles as far away from the team as possible that's another big plus. Have to say full credit to Vinny and the overall hard work from the team, that's 10 points from last 12 and incredible to think second league win v Rovers, now if only we can learn how to beat the 'lesser' teams.
The old place was rocking tonight, might be a kip, but some atmosphere on nights like this.
Not bad for a team with only 2/3 players capable of playing at the top end of the table against the galacticos.
It's a weekend under his bridge for our resident Rovers troll.
Based on what's known now would Dundalk fans want to see Vinny kept on next season? Better the devil you know?
Also, one Premier Division game on tonight and they give it to Harvey, beggars belief.
It is/was sooooo f***ing frustrating but hopefully we've put down a marker now,great win for the Lilywhites in OP.
Hopefully this win leads us on to further glory in the league and maybe a win in the big trophy competition ;)
Plenty of protest banners and chants at Oriel last night but we we put all our fan frustrations aside once we done that and beat shams handily enough.
Towell's protracted chat with the match officials at the end seemed more like a deflection from his mediocrity than anything else too, as my Monaghan Grandparents would have said 'he'd a dose of strawballs'.
Derry are going to win this league at a canter next year - there are no good teams in it.
I dont think he has made the hoped for or expected impact since he returned to LoI. Now as mentioned previously between injury, that he has come straight in to midseason after a full season and that its a new club to settle in to, there is probably more to come. But he does a lot the old pointing where he wanted the ball when he miscontrols it, sounds off to players around him when he loses possession under pressure and refs the game (obviously learned at Dundalk). A little more taking responsibility for himself rather than point the finger would serve him better as he works to getting in to proper form.
There are not many undebatable stonewall penalties as Boyles tackle on Greene 1st half when watching back on RTE. Maybe the ref thought the incident happened off the field of play so was outside the box....
Think the ref simply failed to see it as most likely watching the ball - the linesman should of spotted it - just another poor example in the litany of poor decisions all clubs have had to put up with this season - guess it was our turn last night - As for Towell he’s done ok , agree is a bit mouthy but the league isn’t short on those types; will be expecting more from him next season but very glad as any team in the country would be to have him
The method to the madness of the smokescreen from the shed. Of course any side would want Towell and if he was at Dundalk i'd still think he has a cheek to mouth off to players around him when he has made an error or isnt in form. It's different than driving players on, expecting a high standard or trying to influence the ref. Its not a major deal and when he is picking up motm and banging in goals then yeah he can moan at teamates that are being sloppy or off the pace.
@Longfordian, Id have Perth stay and tbh Im quite surprised at a number of Dundalk fans that dont. Dundalk are a prime example that even with quality players they need to be managed properly. In his 1st season he was a penalty shootout away from a clean sweep, was recognised with the SWAI reward. He did show inexperience in Europe. He came back to a club in a complete mess that damn all seemed to want the job, potentially a real risk to his rep and career imo so a brave move. Has called it that it would take time to get his his tactics across and the side right and with a bunch hobbled players too. We have now put a run together and climbed the league table (still need to) and the team are grafting which I think is the first thing fans usually look for. It will be a huge achievement to win the cup but I doubt many would completely write off the possibility.
Considering how things were looking I'm baffled as to why to some Dundalk fans rate him as no good. If it was being said not good enough i'd call that as delusions of grandeur or an sense of entitlement - no club or fan should feel any entitlement based on past glory even if recent past. Perth has obviously worked hard, along with the players now, and against the backdrop of the owners unconventional 'methods' and should be given credit. His post match interview last night has been called as complaining and excuses, I thought he mainly gave credit to the lads that had just dug in and won a match against the side top of the league, admitted prior issues on the keeper, and appreciated the atmosphere/crowd that had been absent during the pandemic, while also mentions factually that Garts, McMillan, McEleney are missed.