This Weekends EL Action (June 2nd and 3rd)

MrJoeSoap

[B]FRIDAY JUNE 2 [/B]                         
[B] EIRCOM LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION    [/B]     
 Drogheda United   -v- Bohemians    7.45
                       United Park      
 Dublin City       -v- Cork City    7.45
                       Dalymount Park   
 Waterford United  -v- St Pat's Ath 7.45
                       RSC              
 Shelbourne        -v- Bray Wands   8.00
                       Tolka Park       
 UCD               -v- Derry City   8.00
                       Belfield         
                                                 [B]
 FRIDAY JUNE 2                          
 EIRCOM LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION          [/B] 
 Athlone Town      -v- Cobh Rambs   7.45
                       St Mels Park     
                                        
 Galway Utd        -v- Shamrock R   7.45
                       Terryland Park   
                                        
 Monaghan Utd      -v- Limerick FC  8.00
                       Century Homes Pk 
                                         [B]
 SATURDAY JUNE 3                        
 EIRCOM LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION       [/B]  
 Sligo Rovers      -v- Longford T   7.30
                       The Showgrounds  
                                        [B]
 EIRCOM LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION      [/B]     
 Kildare County    -v- Dundalk      7.30
                       Station Road

Anyone in South Dublin tonight might be interested in taking a trip to Belfield as UCD are apparently giving free admission to anyone in a Leinster jersey. Interesting ploy... I'm expecting nothing less than three goals for Shels tonight. Hoping for a complete whitewash like last Hallowe'en.

Team News:

Drogs-v-Bohs

Though injury and suspension free,
Drogheda boss Paul Doolin may look to
make changes following Monday's shock
FAI Cup defeat to Limerick in their
first defence of the trophy.

Midfielder Gavin Whelan and striker
Glen Fitzpatrick, who came on against
Limerick and did well, are pushing for
a starting place.

Bohs look set to be without player/boss
Gareth Farrelly (calf) and Tony Grant
(groin) again and they are joined on
the treatment table by defender Barry
Ferguson (ankle).

Winger Fergal Harkin (hamstring) should
be declared fit, however.

Dublin City -v- Cork City (Jaysus any foreigners might think this was a grudge game)

With Stuart Malcolm getting married and
Alan Keely injured, Dublin City are
likely to line up with Gavin McDonnell
and Ben Whelehan in central defence.

'We're tired after extra-time in the
cup replay midweek, but the fact we're
playing Cork should be motivation
enough for the players,' said boss
Dermot Keely.

Keeper Michael Devine and left-back
Danny Murphy are banned for Cork so
boss Damien Richardson, set to open
talks on a contract extension, drafts
in Mark McNulty and Billy Woods.

Neal Horgan could make his return
following a hamstring strain.

Shels -v- Bray

Shelbourne have former Cameroon
international Joseph Ndo back in
training and he may come back into
their squad, though Jim Crawford, Jamie
Harris and Greg O'Halloran remain out.

Key defender Wes Charles is suspended
for Bray with can't play winger David
Tyrrell as he's on loan from Shels.
Ciaran Ryan (groin) and Stephen Gifford
(foot) are both doubtful starters.

'Shels away is one of the hardest
games,' said boss Tony McGuirk.

'But we did well against them at home
earlier in the season. We're going to
have to improve away from home.'

UCD -v- Derry

'We're really looking forward to this
match as Derry are the best attacking
team in the league,' says UCD boss Pete
Mahon.

Conor Kenna (ankle) came off after 25
minutes last week and is a big doubt,
though fellow defender Brian Shortall
should return.

Second-placed Derry have problems.
Defender Ken Oman (ankle) is out while
mercurial midfielder Paddy McCourt
(knee) is very doubtful.

Peter Hutton broke his nose in the cup
tie at Blarney last week, but should be
fit to play. Clive Delaney and Gareth
McGlynn remain out with knee injuries.

Waterford UTD -v- St. Pats

'Last week's win came as a great relief
as there was a lot of pressure on us,
said Waterford boss Mike Kerley of
their 5-0 FAI Cup victory over Douglas
Hall - their first win of the season.

Saints are without former Waterford
skipper John Frost through suspension
so either Mark Rutherford, Stephen
Brennan or Alan Reilly will slot in at
left-back.

Stephen Caffrey, Colm Foley and Chris
Armstrong are all back in training
following long-term injuries, but not
match fit yet.

Blues have no injuries or suspensions
and expect to be at full strength.

gimmick

Huge game for City tonight, 3 points over CHF would have us sitting pretty going into the break, and with news of extra money for Euro competitors have come through yesterday, could put a spark back in the squads step.

I think that Longford last week was a turning point for City. We didnt play as poorly as some would have you believe, should have won except for some childlike defending and a poor refereeing decision which saw Mick Devine walk unneccesarilly. Rico blew his lid, and left the players in no uncertain terms of what their fgoals are for the remainder of the season. So in soem ways i would liken this to Citys home defeat last season by Portadown. Total over reaction from the fans, riot act by Rico - lead on to 5 wins on the spin.

Hopefully Bohs can do a job over Drogs tonight. Pats should take all 3 against Waterford, likewise for Derry over UCD. Cant see anything other than a Shels win over Bray either, though Bray have taken a fair few points from Shels in recent seasons. I would also like to see Sligo put Longball to the sword, and cant see any reasons as to why they wont.

applehunter

Interesting to see the crowd at the Cork "City match.

I wonder wil there be more City fans that CHF supporters?

It will be very strange in Dalymount if there is only 100/200 at the games.

Predictions

Drogheda United 1 --1 Bohemians

Dublin City 0--3 Cork City

Waterford United 1--0 St Pat's Ath

Shelbourne 3--0 Bray Wands
UCD 0--2 Derry City

mchurl

Big weekend for Cork to see if they can come back and CHF have been performing reasonably well this season.

Just cant see Bray getting anything from Shels, although our cup win last week was a boost.

My Predicitons:

Drogheda 2-1 Bohs

CHF 0-2 Cork

Waterford 1-3 St. Pat's

Shels 3-0 Bray

UCD 0-2 Derry

KdjaCL

Mulcahy 1st to score vs Waterford 25-1

kdjac

Rikand

Good ol athlone! Just when the local paper talks up how well you've been doing lately, you go get the crap hammered out of yourselves at home by Cobh

KdjaCL

Cork City turned on the style to earn
their first win away from home this
season, easing past Dublin City.

John O'Flynn grabbed the Rebel Army's
first away goal of the league inside 15
minutesmen before Neale Fenn, George
O'Callaghan and substitute Ray Lally
completed the rout.

Ben Whelehan and later Gary Rogers
received their marching orders for
last-man tackles.

O'Flynn's goal came with a hint of
controversy as his shot did not appear
to cross the line but there was no
doubt about Fenn's goal, a smart
sidefooted effort.



EIRCOM PREMIER 2/3
Dublin City 0
Cork City 4

---

Cork City turned on the style to earn
their first win away from home this
season, easing past Dublin City.

John O'Flynn grabbed the Rebel Army's
first away goal of the league inside 15
minutesmen before Neale Fenn, George
O'Callaghan and substitute Ray Lally
completed the rout.

Ben Whelehan and later Gary Rogers
received their marching orders for
last-man tackles.

O'Flynn's opening goal came with a hint
of controversy as his goalbound shout
did not appear to conclusively cross
the line but there was no doubt about
Fenn's goal, a smart sidefooted effort.



EIRCOM FIRST 3/3
Waterford Utd 1
St Pat's Ath 3

---

St Patrick's Athletic completely
outplayed Waterford United, who have
now gone 12 league games without a win.

The visitors took the lead on 16
minutes when a long throw-in by Anto
Murphy caused a mix-up in the Utd goal
and and the ball trickled into the net
for what was a softly conceded goal.

St Pat's doubled their lead on 70
minutes when Paul Keegan headed home
from point-blank range.

The third goal arrived from the penalty
spot on 70 minutes when Michael Foley
fired home. Seven minutes later, United
pulled a goal back when Darragh Maguire
headed home.






/Also Errortel at their finest, Maguire plays for Pats.




kdjac

MrJoeSoap

4-1, decent performance but not top gear by any means.

1-0 up in the first half, Gary O'Neill sidefooting home from close in after Cahill had scrapped at the back post.

2-0 after some great work by Richie Baker on the right and a cracking cross that Jayo hammered home with his head. Really good goal.

2-1 when a Robbie Doyle corner was turned home at the near post, couldn't really see it properly from the far end.

3-1, O'Neill was put clean through and finished clinically past the keeper. Crowe then had a goal disallowed within seconds of coming on but it was a very close call.

4-1 when St. Ollie pounced on a poor clearance by the keeper from fully 40 yards and smashed it over the keepers head. What a hero. Beautiful goal, well worth checkin out on TV3 later.

I'll post whatever goals are shown later on tonight.

Ratings:

Delaney 6 - not much to do, might have been at fault for their goal but I really couldn't see.
Heary 7 - Decent all night, found himself at left wing at one stage.
Rogers 7 - Steady as well, no complaints.
Hawkins 7 - Solid enough, troubled once or twice.
Dillon 8 - Very impressive, won lots in the air and was physically very imposing.
Baker 7 - I was getting a bit annoyed with his lack of delivery until 10 seconds of class that led to Byrnes goal. Would still pick Ryan ahead of him.
Cahill 8 - Have to give him an 8 for the legendary effort, wasn't his best all-round game but he hardly put a foot wrong. Just wasn't as involved as usual perhaps.
Moore 7 - Decent game, tried lots of through balls and only pulled off maybe one or two. I'm always worried he'll get injured going into challenges.
S. Byrne 7 - Again, decent in the middle with Moore, nothing flashy. Dived into a couple of tackles (honest ones, nothing malicious) and showed plenty of decent touches. Still a first-choice centre mid.
J. Byrne 8 - Quiet for a few spells in the game but everything he did was of a good standard tonight. Took his goal very well. No token miss, which was surprising! Taken off, replaced by Crowe, who missed a good chance and had one disallowed.
O'Neill 9 - Exceptional, certainly one Staunton should be looking at. His play with back to goal is incredible and his strength is exceptional for a small guy. Great close control and vision, and a classic finisher. Shels best player at the moment and should be a first-team player for a while yet, and thankfully Nutsy seems to have appreciated that.

Roll on Derry!

MrJoeSoap

Shels goals:

http://rapidshare.de/files/22068457/VID0001_EDIT0000.AVI.html

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB4X7VHHzOo

applehunter

I finally saw Dublin City at home last night and it was depressing. I mean the champions come to town and there was c. 200 Dublin City fans there on a lovely Friday evening.

On the plus note George O'Callaghan gave another top class performance and was head and shoulders above everyone on the pitch. But if City are going to do better away from home, I think a new player has to come in. Colin O'Brien is a solid player, but he no longer has the pace that can be used on the counter attack.

KdjaCL

3 weeks till our next game, 4 weeks since since our last home game. Have to make do with the WC till then.




kdjac

MrJoeSoap

applehunter wrote:

I finally saw Dublin City at home last night and it was depressing. I mean the champions come to town and there was c. 200 Dublin City fans there on a lovely Friday evening.

They all showed up so...

Töpher

Great to see Ndo back! Certainly entertaining! Won a fair bundle on the scoreline with Nailer to score first (66/1), was delighted when Crowe skyed that chance at the end!

Not the best performance, but great result.

Ollie Cahill, what a hero! Bow and all!