QuoteBlow it up early ref.
Can't wait for this season to be over.
Premier Division
Bohs v Sligo
Bohs are just about clinging on to a shot at top 3/4 in the league having gone 5 games without a win in the Premier Division (though 4 have been draws tbf). Had they lost on Monday night against Shels things would have looked fairly grim but they came back well and arguably on paper their run-in looks favourable with 3 of their 5 matches against the bottom 3 in the league. I'm sure they'd like to get back to winning ways ahead of their cup semi-final next week.
Sligo's win over Derry combined with Cork's two defeats probably means they're safe. With the superior GD it means Cork would need 10 points from their 5 matches to have any chance of catching Sligo. In fact a win for Sligo and a defeat for Cork this weekend and they're guaranteed safety for another year.
Cork v St Pat's
Cork need wins and fast - an interesting dynamic here is that these teams meet again next week in the cup semi-final. Strangely that seems to have happened quite a number of times this year that teams meet in the cup and league in successive games - Drogheda v Sligo, Bohs v Shels and Bohs v Drogheda.
Pat's will have both Sam Curtis and Jake Mulraney suspended and look to be low on confidence despite having very briefly been in the title race and a cup semi-final!
Derry v UCD
After UCD's heroics against Rovers last weekend can they put on a show against the other top team in the league? Appropriately it's now academic for UCD as they've been officially relegated. It's probably too late for Derry but they'll obviously want to secure 2nd spot and who knows - if Rovers can't beat UCD they may drop points elsewhere.
Dundalk v Drogheda
Dundalk's big win on Monday somehow keeps them in a with a shout of 4th place, which could be Europe if Pat's or Bohs finish in the top 3 and win the cup. Drogheda aren't mathematically safe from the playoff just yet but realistically Monday's win at Pat's has ensured they'll be in the Premier Division next season. They'd definitely love to get a result in Oriel Park, Dundalk have won all 3 meetings this season but in at least 2 of them they were 2nd best.
Rovers v Shels
Rovers could take a huge step to the title with a win here but Shels have still only been beaten 5 times in their 31 matches this season and actually haven't lost in the league since June. This has pushed them into the chase for Europe, another draw would probably be a good result for them.
First Division
Bray v Cobh
Anything other than a win for Bray ends their chances of a playoff. Given the resources and geographical location I think there's an argument that this as been the biggest underperformance of any team this season. Bray should've been finishing comfortably third in this Division with an outside chance of actually winning it - instead they're 8th and not even close to the playoffs.
Cobh on the other hand have had a phenomenal season and are the form team in the Division and have secured their playoff spot with 4 games to go. They'll want to keep their fine run of form going to bring in to matches against possibly Wexford and Waterford.
Galway v Athlone
With the League wrapped up and the cup semi-final next week it will be interesting to see how weak a team John Caulfield plays here. We have a 100% home record this season so he'll be keen to keep that going - especially to hang on to that for the cup - so I would expect a relatively strong team, similar to Monday night against Harps.
Athlone's form is very up and down and now they've slipped to 5th so are in the firing line of the playoff teams. They should be fine but will need 4 points (5 to be mathematically sure) from 4 games to secure a playoff.
Harps v Kerry
The end of the Dave Rogers era started with Monday's defeat in Galway but they'll obviously want to win this and maybe they're even aiming to catch Bray. Kerry will be looking for 2 more points to reach the magical 10 points for the season. On paper their matches look tough but their last two matches are against teams who'll have an eye on the playoffs so hopefully they can get 2 points, if not another win somewhere.
Waterford v Wexford
Ronan Coughlan was back and scored last weekend - with the radio silence surrounding his injury I thought he may have been gone for the season but it's perfect timing for Waterford when it looked like their season was about to totally unravel.
Wexford have put a great run together and wins over Bray and Longford last weekend have made them almost certainties for the playoffs. 3 more points guarantees it and they've already won in Waterford this season.
Longford v Treaty - Saturday
Depending on how Wexford and Athlone get on away to the top 2 on the Friday night this is a shootout to be the last man standing in terms of challengers. A draw is pretty much useless for them both. Since beating Galway, Longford have had a run of 3 games without a goal and only picking up 1 point (and that was against Kerry).
Treaty are on the back of an injury time equaliser in Bray followed by a big win against Athlone - they're like a cockroach - they just won't die.
If they could move to within 5 of Athlone with 3 games to play, who knows.
Last edited by JC_GUFC; 27/09/2023 at 9:14 AM.
I phoned the speaking clock to hear a voice speak, it said - "At the tone you will be very much alone"
Blow it up early ref.
Can't wait for this season to be over.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
Let’s win in Tallaght to make it a tight league finale.
If Rovers win tonight I think that's probably it for the league. If they don't then anything can happen. I can even see Derry clawing back a chunk of GD tonight.
Looks like the Rovers v Shels games is going to be close to, if not, a sell out this evening. Should look great on the telly.
Neutrals will be going for Shels I imagine, hopefully they can prolong any form of title race. The 4 big Dublin clubs having a growing rivalry is a big part of the LOI's revival.
No chance of us finishing top, even if Rovers were to slip a few times.
Great result for UCD last week, but you can't imagine it'll be repeated today.
For Higgins's sake, he'll need to finish in second or else it'll almost certainly be him sacked.
Elsewhere, Kerry are in Ballybofey. Would a second win of the season be possible? Or will Harps get their act together?
A bit late for that unfortunately....Originally Posted by brendy_éire
Irish by birth ,Harps by the grace of god.
Still 12 points left to play for. It's not out the question to catch Bray, if that's worth anything.
could be worth showing how good or bad the last manager was!?
Higgins is absolutely rock solid in his position. 3rd position wouldn’t change that a bit.
Can't understand how we've been this bad for so long and are still 3rd.
no idea what jon daly wants to do at pats.... we are somehow well on top pats not layed a glove on us
All suddenly taking off in Ballybofey - first Kelliher gives Kerry the lead, before Banda promptly levels.
Awful from Pats tonight. Absolutely blessed that Cork totally unjustly went down to 10 men for a completely innocuous second yellow that if anything was a foul on their man. They've nothing to fear for the semi final anyway.
Harps go ahead, and Leo misses a penalty.
Unimpressive win for us. Performance was poor. Cork were the better team for most of the match. Bad decision from the ref for the 2nd yellow for the Cork player, didn't even look like a free to us. Pitch looks very bobbly and not in good condition. Whoever does the LOITV coverage for Cork needs to control the replays much better, almost missed the goal and a great Cork chance because they were showing an unnecessary replay.
Harps nab a win but thought Kerry deserved a point...
Whoever wins between Longford and Treaty tommorow might still have an outside chance of the play offs if Athlone collapse down the stretch.....
Irish by birth ,Harps by the grace of god.
Great win and performance by Rovers especially in second half - Shels so organised etc but didn’t create a single chance.
Kearns poor for our goal and Burke showed both his genius and then his childish petulance by getting a stupid red .
Jack B came in for last 25 mins and looked like he’d never been away.
So think we’re almost there… finally record Tallaght attendance of 7,859
Rumours just, but some saying that's not the case.
Huffed and puffed a bit in the first half at the Brandywell tonight, but second was a different story. Must have been given a good hard kick up the arse at HT, because we came out with a lot more energy in the second half and seemed determined to get the score up.
Suspicion of handball for Kavanagh's goal, though the UCD players seemed to be giving off to the linesman for an offside.
Patching had a lovely goal, a bit like the one he scored in Belfield earlier this month.
Highlights up already. Very efficient. https://youtu.be/vNSJ1gsEBe8?si=mVV4Kl8cWJzo7hoK
Good jaysus how are we third. I think we have been absolutely dreadful for weeks now. I’d have to look at the red card again but by all accounts it was harsh.
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