Setanta Cup: Group 2 - Match Day 4

Töpher

Shelbourne -v- Linfield

RTE Sport wrote:

Steve Williams continues in goal for Shelbourne in the absence of Dean Delaney, who suffered concussion in last week's defeat at Windsor Park.

Midfielder Alan Moore is still sidelined with a groin injury, but Owen Heary and Ollie Cahill return to the fray after missing Friday's draw with Longford Town through suspension.

"We can't lose to them three times in a row. It wouldn't be good enough for us and our fans and the club. We're going all out for the three points," said defender Colin Hawkins.

Linfield skipper Glenn Ferguson, whose 40th goal of the season beat Armagh on Saturday to clinch the Irish League title, returns from suspension along with Pat McShane and Paul McAreavey, but midfielder Tim Mouncey is now banned.

Shelbourne have to get something from this match. Linfield have beaten us twice now, and that's just not on! Plus, we have to get at least a point from this (and if we do, we must beat Derry) to have a real chance of the semi-finals. Hopefully we will have a better attitude at this game, on and off pitch. The return of Steve Williams between the posts should be a massive boost, and hopefully he can keep another clean sheet.

My (hopeful) prediction: Shelbourne 2 - 0 Linfield

Glentoran -v- Derry City

RTE Sport wrote:

With Pat McCourt, Barry Molloy and Kevin McHugh back from suspension, and Killian Brennan and Kevin Deery over injuries, Derry bring a near full-strength squad to the Oval.

Derry boss Stephen Kenny's only absentee is winger Gareth McGlynn, who is out for ten weeks with knee ligament damage.

Glens, who have conceded nine goals in their three games so far, have midfielder Darren Lockhart back from suspension and defender Mark Glendinning over a facial injury to give manager Paul Millar a full panel to choose from.

Derry should walk this one, especially after last week they showed the gulf in class between the 2 sides. But then again, Linfield should have here too. I think Derry should edge what will be a tighter game than last Monday, but I've got 1-1 in my head, and I'm sticking to it [plus, it's better for Shels if it ends a draw!].

My prediction: Glentoran 1 - 1 Derry City

In all, I figure the 2 eircom League reprasentatives will be in commanding positions within the group by 10:00 this evening. Or, so I hope!

MrJoeSoap

About time Shels got down to business (excuse that completely unintentional pun, given the recent goings on) and starting playing the football they are undoubtedly capable of playing. Other than Heary and Cahill coming back I expect us to be unchanged, and its time for this 11 to show us what they can do. Derry should be Glentoran, I'm going with 1-2 in that match. Shels to win 2 or 3-1.

Come on Shels!

gimmick

I'd be quite happy to see Shels lose tonight, as I reckon Cork City will win group 1, and would prefer play Linfield or Derry at the Cross in the semi, than play Shels.

That said, I reckon Shels will get a 2-0 win tonight, as they are overdue agaisnt Linfield, and they need to get a win to get the morale back up considering there average start to the season.

Derry should get the win to see them through against Glentoran.

Tomorrow night, I see Dungannon taking a point from their home game with Drogs, and City should ease past Portadown, who have released Gary Hamilton in the last few days, and have two of their better players suspended. Ill go for a 2-0 for City here.

blu_sonic

Shels making all the attacking imputus, looks like baby rangers have brought more to the game than the shels, where are all the shels fans?

blu_sonic

straight red what a joke alan kelly is the worst ref in ireland, he loves the limelight, if anything both players should have been shown a yellow and told to cool off, what a joker

[Jackass]

Derry are a goal down and a man down.

Shels playing all the football and a man up..If they can concentrate on playing football, and not getting dragged into a scrappy physical, dirty match Linfield consistantly drag them into and beat them at it, then shels should win handy enough...Linfield have nothing but leg-breaker tackles to offer in any game...was good enough last year though...

blu_sonic

speaking of leg breakers they just went out for bobby ryan, the player whos causing all sorts of problems for them. surely its only a matter of time before the shels break through

blu_sonic

For the 2nd time Crowe hits the post

blu_sonic

Linfield cleard the ball off the line, they are living on the edge here, inviting all the pressure from shels

blu_sonic

what a joke, hawkins sent off, he was trying to avoid a player on the ground who started to get up at the same time a real mess but no intention from hawkins to hut the lad. KELLY IS A JOKE

blu_sonic

Derry beaten 1-0

Shels 0 linfield 0
Shels will feel hard done by after playing 50min with an extra man and not being able to break down a lack lustre Linfeild. Shels had the majority f the chances but could put them away. Glen Crowe hit the post twice and had a header go agonisingly close in the death. Joe Ndo will be singled out for wasting many an opportunity, even though most of those chances were self made. The game was marred by poor refing from Alan Kelly, 2 questionable sending offs of McAreevy and Hawkins, calling the question "does Kelly do it for the limelight?". All in all a dull game where Linfield sat back and invited shels who couldn't break em.

3 meetings
2 linfield. 1 draw

gimmick

So what does that do for the group? What can happen in the last series of games? By my reckoning its wide open, and any of the four can still go out, or indeed progress?

blu_sonic

Setanta Sports Cup Group 1
Team P W D L F/A Pts.
Cork City 4 3 1 0 6 / 1 10
Drogheda United 4 2 1 1 5 / 2 7
Portadown 4 0 3 1 2 / 6 3
Dungannon Swifts 4 0 1 3 1 / 5 1
Last updated 14th March 2006

Setanta Sports Cup Group 2
Team P W D L F/A Pts.
Linfield 4 1 3 0 6 / 4 6
Derry City 4 1 2 1 4 / 3 5
Shelbourne 4 1 2 1 3 / 2 5
Glentoran 4 1 1 2 5 / 9 4
Last updated 20th March 2006

like an open barn door

eirebhoy

I see Dolan is getting the hang of presenting. He wasn't bad tonight.

blu_sonic

felix isn't the best though, hes very wooden. when noel king was on he was good but i think that was tv3

MrJoeSoap

And I have very little good to say.

Should have known it wasn't going to be a good night when I was told in no polite or uncertain terms that there is no such thing as a student ticket. This, despite the fact that when you go on to www.shelbournefc.ie, even before you reach the homepage, there is a massive advert (which I have attached in expectation that it will be soon taken down from the site) saying Students/Juvenilles/OAP's pay €8 for a ticket, not the adult price of €15.

I asked nicely for a student ticket - "no student tickets tonight"

I said that there was an ad on the website (which they had clearly heard a hundred times already) - "don't question me, the website is wrong"

After that piece of con-artistry it was on to the match. First half was excellent, Shels were completely in control, and but for some poor efforts from Crowe and Byrne they should have been in control early on. Crowe then hit the post with a great effort, and despite spending 80% of the first half in the Linfield half, we were level at half time. The first sending off looked justified from where I stood, the Linfield guy seemed to walk over to Crawley and kick him while he was on the ground. I was amazed the referee even had to consult with the linesman. After about 3 minutes of nonsense, the game resumed, and despite the fact that the Linfield right back spent about 3 minutes on the ground, only 2 minutes time was added.

Second half was woeful, shots from distance, playing mostly against a 5-3-1 with little penetration whatsoever. The one time Ollie Cahill did get through he was cleaned out on the edge of the box. Too many poor free-kicks and woeful David Crawley "crosses" later, and things were going from bad to worse. A special mention here to Jason Byrne, who may as well have f*cked off to Sweden during the break if this is how he's going to act, at least we wouldn't be in as much financial trouble as we are now. His response to being substituted will take a hell of a lot for me to get over. I don't pay money to see whingebags like that. Kneejerk reaction, sure, but at least I'm being up front and honest about it.

I'm going to do a Wenger on Hawkins sending off and say I didn't see it, only I honestly didn't. Seemed as if he was trying to get out of the way but I'll have to see a replay before I say anything.

Haven't been to a more demoralising game in a long time. It's going to take a lot to get this one out of my mind. Some good performances, especially in the first half, but still a thoroughly disappointing and infuriating game.

Ratings:

Williams - 7 - A good double save at the end to prevent me from slashing my wrists.
Heary - 7 - Kept going forward but didn't do much.
Crawley - 4 - Can't stand the guy.
Hawkins - 7 - Quite solid at the back all day, won every header as usual, though rarely challenged.
Rogers - 6 - Decent enough, also never challenged.
Ryan - 8 - Excellent first half. Couldn't get through on the second half but didn't stop trying.
Cahill - 9 - Excellent all night, definite MOTM for me. Beat players all night and never gave up.
Ndo - 7 - Plenty of nice skill in the first half but did little to break their defence down. Long range shots were woeful.
Crawford - 6 - Decent enough until he was forced to come off.
Crowe - 7 - Hit the post twice, held the ball up well as always, but looked annoyed and should really have got a goal.
Byrne - Probably best I don't rate him tonight.

Subs:

Reynolds - 5 - Who?
Kearney - 5 - What was he thinking with that pass to Crawley?
O'Neill - Not enough time - Was introduced too late to have any impact. Should have started.

blu_sonic

the linfield lad didn't kick him i saw it on the tv about 20 times it looked like he wanted to but deffinitly stopped short of doing it. Kelly is a clown of a ref anyway

MrJoeSoap

Well I was behind the goals so its quite a distance (and my eyes are quite poor) so thats why I thought he did. Obviously haven't had the chance to see it since.

MrJoeSoap

Just saw the two red cards on eL Weekly, thought they were both deserved. McAreevys red wasn't exactly a "kick" but the way the game is these days it warranted a red. Have little doubt Hawkins meant it, its not the first time either. Crawley was lucky to get away with it too.

blu_sonic

seriously???????? the McAreevy was just silly and im not colins biggest fan but that looked very harsh very harsh indeed

MrJoeSoap

If Hawkins really wanted to dodge the player I'm sure he could have. He just made it look like a clumsy step, but didn't fool the referee. He was sent off for something equally petulant last season, so I'm afraid he has lost any benefit of the doubt from me. Shame, because he had done quite well and his partnership with Scouser was getting back on track.

McAreevy's was silly but I feel it certainly warranted a red, and I'm sure the others will agree when they get to post on this.

blu_sonic

i thought hawkins was just clumsey, but the other lad had just been kung-fu kicked in the back i think it warrented a reaction but it was never a red

Töpher

The Linfield red was shocking. I was adamant it was a red from my position behind the goals, saw it on the big screen in the bar at half time, and just started to laugh! No way, no how, should that have been a red. Linfield can well feel hard done by with regards to that decision! Didn't see a replay of Hawkins' red, but from where I was it looked the wrong call. Alan Kelly really is an appauling referee. Abysmal!!

At least we created some chances.

Normally I wouldn't condone severe abuse of a Shelbourne player - especially one clearly low on confidence, but one fan was barracking Jayo over the tunnel, and he deserved it all. i think Jayo actually started yelling at him to go down and say it to his face. Typical example of how shat he was, Ndo bursthing through the middle, Crowe and Ryan making runs, Ollie keeping roughly level with Ndo but out wide, and Jayo jogging slowly forward in the middle of the park! So ****ing lazy! I cannot believe how angry his attitude and play made me tonight, and then his reaction to being substituted! :mad: Thank God Nutsy had the balls to take him off, and not Crowe - who was once again playing an absolute stormer!!

When did Ollie C get his tricks back? Absolute genius he was tonight! And his crossing was back to some sort of standard again tonight! (Unlike Crawley, who had a surprisingly solid defensive game, and actually impressed me somewhat!).
Ndo was great, undying tracking back, fantastic corners, and magical in the centre. Had Byrne made some movement - like you'd expect from a striker, especially one of his calibur - maybe he wouldn't have had to resort to long range shots (not his forte!).

With Ryan, Cahill, and Ndo in midifeld, we really did look good going forward. It may not have paid off tonight (at least we didn't lose - couldn't afford to!), but if we put in a performance like that in our next few games, I'd expect a few league wins and qualification for the Setanta Cup semis.

eirebhoy

MrJoeSoap wrote:

McAreevy's was silly but I feel it certainly warranted a red, and I'm sure the others will agree when they get to post on this.

Not a chance. For what exactly? Shouting at a player for karate kicking him? I don't know whether Hawkins meant to knee the Linfield player in the head (I doubt it) but the ref was right to even things up after his previous terrible decision to send McAreavey off.

Töpher

He evened it up when he didn't give a penalty for (what looked like) a blatant handball by a Linfield player who was on the floor! (Pretty much directly after the sending off!)

MrJoeSoap

eirebhoy wrote:

Not a chance. For what exactly? Shouting at a player for karate kicking him? I don't know whether Hawkins meant to knee the Linfield player in the head (I doubt it) but the ref was right to even things up after his previous terrible decision to send McAreavey off.

To be honest, it looked so bad from the new stand that I was almost prepared to go home if it wasn't a red. I've only seen it once since, and it has changed my opinion slightly, but I can still see how the linesman would have thought it was a kick. It was a stupid reaction to an even more ridiculous challenge by Crawley. I'm sure if it happened in any of the major leagues in Europe it would have been a red there too.

Looks like I'm outnumbered on it though!

Töpher

I'm sure it looked to the linesman like there was a kick, but the TV confirmed there wasn't! Crawley should have been at the very minimum booked and told that a single more foul and he'd be off!! But, i'm (surprisingly, where Crawleys involved!) not complaining!!

MrJoeSoap

No word on Cork and Drogheda here so I just thought I'd say congratulations to both. Watched the Drogs last night and was very impressed by some of their attacking play, very incisive and (more importantly) effective. Were unlucky to concede the goal in the way they did, but it doesn't really matter at this stage.

 SETANTA SPORTS CUP GROUP ONE           
 Cork City      3-1 Portadown           
 Woods 2            Quinn 73            
 McStay og 70                           
 O'Callaghan 90                         
                                        
 Dungannon Sfts 1-2 Drogheda United     
 Scullion 74        O'Brien 9           
                    Bradley 59

 SETANTA CUP GROUP 1                    
             P   W   D   L  F    A   Pts
 Cork City   5   4   1   0  9    2    13
 Drogheda U  5   3   1   1  7    3    10
 Portadown   5   0   3   2  3    9     3
 Dungannon   5   0   1   4  2    7     1

gimmick

Again, City were woeful last night. Played like they didnt know each other. Apart from George again, and Danny Murphy, City were poor.

I saw some of the Drogs game, and its very easy to look good against a poor team like Dungannon. Thats as good as Drogs will get, so I wouldnt be calling them a good team yet. City on the other hand are playing crap, yet have only conceded 2 goals in 7 games, and are still unbeaten.

City travel to Drogs next monday for the final game of the group. Drogs need to win by 2 to win the group. A draw will do City.

Rico said when the draw was made that City would use this as a pre season tournament. It seems there was no bluff. That said though, City play Bohs on Friday night, and will have to improve hugely to win that game. Rico has been furious with the last 2 performances, so its likely City will get the finger out.

blu_sonic

didn't see the cork game but thats a very good scoreline, you can't fault that.

saw the drogs they were very good well worth the win if a lesser keeper was between the sticks it could have been 6, drogs may rue their missed chances as in they should be in a position to top the group with any win against cork but will have to beat them by 2 which i doubt will happen, but that said play like they did last night and it possible.

the 2 ex rovers men were very involved in the game Jason Gavin making some well timed challenges and cutting out a few runs from the swifts, but Robbo was amazing set up the 1st should have had one himself ran them ragged on the right wing, still one of my favorite right wingers in ireland.

well done cork and the drogs for keeping the EL on top in that group.

Bateman

Glad to see Cork are seemingly playing poorly lately, because the way Bohs are playing we are going to struggle at the Cross if Cork suddenly decide to click.

applehunter

I don't understand how Dave Crawley is playing for Shels. He is so average its untrue.

Ive seen Shels play twice and they may be peoples favourites but I have not been at all impressed. Fenlon doesnt seem to know what his best team is or what players should play where.

And this is showing in the performances.

And how Gary O'Neill is on the bench is beyond me. Playing Crowe and Byrne makes Shels very one dimensional and easier to defend against.

MrJoeSoap

applehunter wrote:

I don't understand how Dave Crawley is playing for Shels. He is so average its untrue.

Ive seen Shels play twice and they may be peoples favourites but I have not been at all impressed. Fenlon doesnt seem to know what his best team is or what players should play where.

And this is showing in the performances.

And how Gary O'Neill is on the bench is beyond me. Playing Crowe and Byrne makes Shels very one dimensional and easier to defend against.

I agree with all of this.

Bateman

Although I don't hope it happens, sooner or later Crowe and Byrne are going to click, and the goals will come. Both have superior ability than O'Neill, and they are already creating chances, even though the team as a whole have not found their rhythm yet.

MrJoeSoap

Bateman wrote:

Although I don't hope it happens, sooner or later Crowe and Byrne are going to click, and the goals will come. Both have superior ability than O'Neill, and they are already creating chances, even though the team as a whole have not found their rhythm yet.

How long do they need to click? And what exactly does Gary O'Neill have to do to get a regular spot?

blu_sonic

i blame jayo he's very lax as a player, he seems disintrested and un-motivated, i also get the impression that he thinks hes more than the team due to his reactions to being subbed, Ndo needs to stopshooting from 30-40 yards

Töpher

Ndo's shooting cuz noone (Jayo?!) is making the runs he needs to set them up.