QuoteUCD v Bohs
Athlone v Drogheda
Wexford v Treaty
Derry v Shels
UCD v Bohs
Athlone v Drogheda
Wexford v Treaty
Derry v Shels
The last pairing there really opens it up for the rest of the draw. Top two are potential play-off finals (still reckon it'll be Dundalk there, but even then they're indicators of the relative strength of the divisions) and it's genuinely hard to call any of those games.
UCD v Bohs
Athlone v Drogheda
Wexford v Treaty
Derry v Shels
Irish by birth ,Harps by the grace of god.
Terrible draw for teams looking to get into Europe in 4th place.
Ill definitly head out to the Bowl to chear Finner on against Bohs (assuming we havet been reinstated by then )
Drogheda won’t relish going to Athlone,another difficult pitch against a decent opponent….
Irish by birth ,Harps by the grace of god.
Can't say I'm delighted with that draw, but home at least.
Shades of 2022 there. We had top of the league Shamrock Rovers at home in the quarters, then had Treaty in the semis. Quite something that Treaty could be in their third semi-final in three years.
Athlone Town v Drogheda United
Wexford FC v Treaty United
All four will fancy their chances of getting through here.
Bohs will probably have to beat one of Derry or Shelbourne to win the cup. The winner of Derry v Shelbourne likewise will probably have to beat Bohs.
If the final isn't Bohs v Derry or Shelbourne, it might be one of the lower attended finals in recent years.
Just had a v.quick scan of Irish Cup (NI) results over the same 6 season period and it's a little better, though not hugely so.Originally Posted by Burnsie
Looks like that in games between IL top two tier clubs and those outside that level, there were (I think) five wins for for the latter, though none against any of the big IL teams. (A few draws as well, though I didn't count the number)
Maybe we overestimate the "magic of the Cup"?
That's a serious chance for a smaller club to make the final now, and its just nuts that either Wexford or Treaty will be in the semi final.
I wonder do all these games still have to be decided on the night, if so although it looks a good draw for Drogs, I wouldn't be taking Athlone away for granted, they are easily the form club in the FD, and UCD are not far off it either.
Had a feeling Derry and Shels would come out together.
#DundalkFC - First Irish club to win an away game in Europe (1963), only Irish club to win a game / points in Europa League Group Stage (2016).
The magic of the cup indeed.
We could have 2 or even 3 FD sides in the semis. Amazing storylines this year.
A final with UCD at the Aviva, don't forget UCD has around 38,000 students, any chance they would attract a good percentage of that to a final!
zero chance
The magic dropped off a bit when St Pats broke their cup hoodoo, prior to that anyone and everyone could beat them in a cup tie, the plum cup draw at one time.
Its the possibility of a shock result rather than the realty. Its rare but stands out when it does happen being so rare - like every year in the FA Cup that Ronnie Radford goal from 1972 gets rolled out. Ashtownvilla haunts nearly 34 years on, non league beating Dundalk the eventual LoI champions 90/91 is as big an upset as any but could you see it happening today? All the more reason for non-league to align with the senior season and at least be mid season match fit.
Dont recall it but non league Cobh knocked Champions Dundalk out a decade previous to Ashtown Villa, Harps went next and then the 4 games to get past Sligo, is the most remarkable non league-cup run, more than St Francis imo.
Last edited by Nesta99; 20/08/2024 at 5:30 PM.
You're right, Shels have a huge chance.
Duffer is either on for the double or a candidate for double bypass surgery.
The Irish Cup got rid of most replays in 2015, something similar with the FAI Cup? You'd have expected to see more upsets form non-league clubs as a result, but not bearing out that way.
Clubs under the FAI should align the LoI season regardless, but that's already the case for clubs under the IFA aliging to the IL season, and it doesn't seem to make much difference.
Does it just show that the League clubs, north and south, are simply improving at a quicker pace that non-league?
Full time senior clubs and training will inevitablly grow the gap. Having access to elite underage players feed directly to LoI clubs rather than actively keeping youths of of the LoI clutches will add to the gap too as those players mature. There was always a gap but say that to non-league people and they will off on Trumpian tirades of personal insults, try to offer horseshi1t reasons why its not the case, comment on crowd sizes and then spontaneously combust! My own comment about aligning seasons so they will be at minimum match 'fit' was more to do with them reigning their heads in and knowing their place although if training involves carrying slabs of beer from Lidl to the boot of a car then a good cohort of their players, dropped LoI hopefuls, well they'd be some of the fitest playares around and coud play 9am every Sunday morning without lads banging on their front door for an hour. Stats will probably show occasional but more frequesnt upsets the further back in LoI history you go but they were still standout moments in a generation like Ashtown Villa/Cobh/St Francis moments. My generalised ire for this part of the game here is due to how they abused a powerbase at the FAI to stunt development of LoI for decades, mainly from the league being run by the inept FAI as it was. Tey were Delaneys powerbase also and I have met too many people in that group that were very like that described above. It think it is changing as they are slowly seeing that its a matter of time before they are aligned in lower down the food chain so starting to play ball and co-operate with the development of the game nationally. There is that subset of 'football people' that intersects non-league and schoolboys that really are enamoured with their big fish in small ponds role that gradually being weeded out
Didnt intend for that to turn in to a rant but hey sometimes venting is good!
True.
Indeed.
I get the impression in the LOI that the increasing professionalism of clubs (and not just financially) in recent years has probably led to an increasing gulf between league and non-league and compounded by the fact that it is concentrated in a relatively small number of clubs, which are themselves further protected by the lack of relegation/pyramid etc.
I don't think this has happened to the same degree to date in the IL, as evidenced by the relative success of newer/smaller clubs like Loughgall (Prem), Annagh or Newington (Champ), Ballymacash or Rathfriland (Intermed) etc who have managed to rise up the pyramid and compete adequately.
But I say "to date", since it's looking as though the push for f-t professionalism at a number of clubs in the Prem (Larne, Linfield, Glens, Coleraine), plus the next tier trying to play catch-up (Cliftonville, Crues etc) by building a hybrid model, will very likely create an even bigger gulf between the "haves" and the "have nots". While this gulf would be seriously widened, even cemented in place, should the IL ever move to a summer season without the rest of the pyramid following suit. Further, the impact of such a gulf would be even worse than we see in the LOI, when you consider how much smaller NI is vis-a-vis ROI (population, economy, resources etc). That is, by the end of the process we might expect the IL to maintain fewer "haves" (f-t clubs) than the LOI.
I know what you mean when saying protected by lack of relegation (we talk about St Pats and Bohs never been relegated but that wasnt possible from the only division until 1985, plenty of clubs finished last prior so this issue has been dealt with before), it has been painted that LoI cant attract clubs to expand the senior game, the financial burden would be too great etc. But there are junior and intermediate clubs that if owned by a Saudi Sheikh still wouldnt step up and risk not being the big fish in their own small pond, they might be shown up by LoI clubs and couldnt stomach that. If or when the entire FAI system is tiered and its join of be excluded that this issue of reluctant junior suits will be dealt with, they will have to face the reality that there is a gulf and build slowly to close the gap occasionally - we may have a few more Athlone models and risk accidental promotion!
*The Dalkey United v Dundalk incident is possibly the root of junior v senior game, or he proverbial straw at least, but its a long time ago and things would absolutely without any doubt be run like clockwork today without need for appeals, replayed games, or threats of legal action et al, it just wouldnt happen in this day and age, ever!!
Last edited by Nesta99; 21/08/2024 at 5:43 PM.
Re Ballymacash and Rathfriland. They climbed the pyramid by being the two highest payers in the mid ulster league and amateur league respectively. It didn't come quickly as for years they both fired lots of money at bad players before they they got it right. I coached a club who beat both of these in the league and various cups. After the games our boys smiled because they won whilst the above smiled because they still got their brown envelopes. It's easier to stay in the league they are in now than to get promoted from the leagues below. Even relative success can be bought.
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