LOI: League of Ireland Fixtures (Week 4), March 28-30, 2014

The_Kew_Tour

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

which Kearney?

Liam

Lovely Bloke

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Liam

Hammer Archer

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Bray 3-4 UCD

Looks like the game to be at tonight. Not something you would say often

Bray won 5-4 last season.
What a game. We were awful in the first half and Bray could have been 2 or 3 up. Upped it in the second and deservedly lead 3-2 before O'Donnell in goals had a brain fart and got lobbed with 3 minutes left. Then we went and scored 2 in injury time.

Top half!!! Can the league end now please?

spiralism

0-3 for Athlone at home to Cork. I didn't think we had it in us to beat them but **** me that was woeful. Had them fairly on the ropes for the opening half an hour but we were reluctant to throw any punches, yet they were missing players and there to be got at. Next thing you know we concede a terrible goal either side of the half and we cant string two passes together or beat a man. Really poor stuff and the team looks demoralised already and struggling to even do the basics right. Drogheda away next then Bohs at home on the 7th and if we don't win either i think that's pretty much all she wrote already.

The_Kew_Tour

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Bray won 5-4 last season.
What a game. We were awful in the first half and Bray could have been 2 or 3 up. Upped it in the second and deservedly lead 3-2 before O'Donnell in goals had a brain fart and got lobbed with 3 minutes left. Then we went and scored 2 in injury time.

Top half!!! Can the league end now please?

So Bray v UCD is where its at in the league folks:D

Seriously though good start for ye. Good win tonight.

Lawrence1895

dan1895 wrote: »

An Alan Matthews team collapsing in the dying minutes, shocking!

A Bray player got sent off as well? :pac:

spiralism

Only 690 in Lissywoolen tonight. Compare that with 1,500 + each home game the end of last season and 2,100 against Waterford when we clinched the first division. We really are a terrible fanbase for bandwagoners :mad:

dreamers75

0-0 in Derry didnt make it but seems we still waiting to start if we do at all.

The_Kew_Tour

Around 800 at Limerick game.

Seems the first week in season was another false dawn.

anncoates

Rovers fully deserved winners apart from a small slack period at the end. Something not right in that Sligo team. Genuinely surprised at how off the boil they were. Madden, Byrne and Brennan have been excellent signings. Not a great crowd but a poxy night and stupid kick off time.

oldyouth

Youths well worth their 2-1 over Waterford in the 1st SE derby of the year. We missed a couple of fairly easy chances but played well overall. On what I saw, Waterford are in for another season of the usual. They were very poor

dan1895

spiralism wrote: »

Only 690 in Lissywoolen tonight. Compare that with 1,500 + each home game the end of last season and 2,100 against Waterford when we clinched the first division. We really are a terrible fanbase for bandwagoners :mad:

That's the whole country, not just Athlone

Pighead

Just over 2000 in Oriel. We were the better team but weren't at our best. Delaney made an unreal safe right at the end and we had a shot cleared off the line straight after that. Frustrating evening.

dfx-

Right selection, some great performances from Finn and Brennan and Madden. Rovers should've won by two or three.

AgileMyth wrote: »

Probably time we stopped losing to **** teams.

That'll be hard to do while you're so desperately poor yourselves.

dreamers75

dfx- wrote: »

Right selection, some great performances from Finn and Brennan and Madden. Rovers should've won by two or three.



That'll be hard to do while you're so desperately poor yourselves.

lol are you back now?

spiralism

dan1895 wrote: »

That's the whole country, not just Athlone

Probably but it would have been nice to put over 1,000 in the ground, being in the premier league. a few bad results and everyone's given up is the impression. Would have liked to have thought that there'd be more coming to see the team in the premier league rather than in the first division after all

AgileMyth

dfx- wrote: »

That'll be hard to do while you're so desperately poor yourselves.

Poor as we are we had all the clear cut chances. Just wouldn't go in.

We're missing Peers. We also need djlilali to get himself fit again.

geeky

Went to Rovers v Sligo, one of the best low-scoring games I've attended.

Small enough crowd - blame TV, a consequently silly KO time and really rotten night - but a great atmosphere, none of the overly negative sh**e from the spoiled brat fans. And when the rain came bucketting down, with everyone huddled in the upper end of the west stand singing 'build me up buttercup' (God only knows how this was adopted as a Rovers song, but there you go), was just great gas.

First half performance was as good as I've seen Rovers play. Brennan is a super, super player in his role, and Robinson was a warrior - he wouldn't be my first choice, but a competent player next to him lets him do an effective shift. Killduff was super at the start, though he was visibly knackered by the end. Can hardly believe I'm saying this, but I think bringing on Zayed for the last 20 mins would have been smart. I was a bit disappointed with McCabe's performance, but everyone has an off day, and his drifting around the pitch allowed Madden to attack on the right.

As for Sligo, they looked a different team when N'Do came on and we weren't able to keep that relentless high pressure up. Don't think there's necessarily anything badly awry - just teams have figured out that they like to kick it out wide and whip it in quickly. A few injuries, the loss of Elding and teams like Rovers upgrading at full back makes it less effective. When they started being less predictable and playing through the centre more, they caused more problems.

AgileMyth wrote: »

Poor as we are we had all the clear cut chances. Just wouldn't go in.

Ye had a few good chances in the second half, but that's a bit of an overstatement. Your keeper made an absolute wonder-save from Kilduff, who also missed an open goal at the death. On balance, I genuinely think a narrow Rovers win reflected the gameplay.

AgileMyth wrote: »

We're missing Peers. We also need djlilali to get himself fit again.

I'm just amazed that N'Do wasn't playing from the start. He got the team going after treading water for far too long. North was also far off his best, which is a shame for such a talented player - if I were a Sligo fan, I'd petition the local take-aways to stop taking his orders.

dfx-

AgileMyth wrote: »

Poor as we are we had all the clear cut chances. Just wouldn't go in.

Sligo created two chances in the whole game, one of those while the Rovers keeper was out cold. Quiet second half for Murphy. Sum total of Ndo's contribution was 2,000 slow passes to Keane. Rogers kept Sligo in it. North touched the ball 5 times, Maguire even less, Russell about 10 times.

And Baraclough thought yous were the dominant side.:eek:

AgileMyth

dfx- wrote: »

Sligo created two chances in the whole game, one of those while the Rovers keeper was out cold.

You're not counting the save that led to him being knocked out as a chance?

Then their was Eric's awful miss and the ball being blocked off the line twice in the second half.

AgileMyth

geeky wrote: »

I'm just amazed that N'Do wasn't playing from the start. He got the team going after treading water for far too long. North was also far off his best, which is a shame for such a talented player - if I were a Sligo fan, I'd petition the local take-aways to stop taking his orders.

It was Russell we missed. The gap between the two deep lying midfielders and Maguire was too big. Was sort of improved by switching him with Eric.


We've left ourselves needing to go to Derry and win. I've no faith that we will.

North is the same size now as he was two years ago when he was banging in goals. He can't score if he doesn't get the service.

dfx-

AgileMyth wrote: »

You're not counting the save that led to him being knocked out as a chance?

Then their was Eric's awful miss and the ball being blocked off the line twice in the second half.

Those were the two goalmouth scrambles...that's all there was.

southlouth type

spiralism wrote: »

0-3 for Athlone at home to Cork. I didn't think we had it in us to beat them but **** me that was woeful. Had them fairly on the ropes for the opening half an hour but we were reluctant to throw any punches, yet they were missing players and there to be got at. Next thing you know we concede a terrible goal either side of the half and we cant string two passes together or beat a man. Really poor stuff and the team looks demoralised already and struggling to even do the basics right. Drogheda away next then Bohs at home on the 7th and if we don't win either i think that's pretty much all she wrote already.

Great win for drogs last night . Very happy to be sitting 3 rd in the table . Huge game for Cooke and athlone next week in utd pk . Knowing mick he will come and park the bus as he really won't want to loose against us after all the crap that's gone on. Should be a bit of bite between some of our ex players also ! 3 1 drogs I reckon ..

NIMAN

dreamers75 wrote: »

0-0 in Derry didnt make it but seems we still waiting to start if we do at all.

Yeah wasn't overly impressed by you lot last night. Although you had a couple of very good penalty shouts.

I'd say a draw was a fair result, and it wasn't bad for a 0-0.

Whats the craic with Fahey? Is he injured?

dreamers75

NIMAN wrote: »

Whats the craic with Fahey? Is he injured?

Yup should be back for friday.

le la rat

Anyone know why the Cobh v Longford game was cancelled?

hjkl

le la rat wrote: »

Anyone know why the Cobh v Longford game was cancelled?

Weather.

Pighead

le la rat wrote: »

Anyone know why the Cobh v Longford game was cancelled?

Tonight’s SSE Airtricity League First Division game between Cobh Ramblers and Longford Town at St Colman’s Park has been postponed because of an unplayable pitch. The match will be re-fixed for a later date and details will be announced in due course.

anncoates

AgileMyth wrote: »

Poor as we are we had all the clear cut chances. Just wouldn't go in.

We're missing Peers. We also need djlilali to get himself fit again.

You had one or two scrambled chances but we missed a open goal in the second half and had a stonewall peno (fRogers should have walked) waved away as well.

Would expect - barring Croly madness - that is the first team for us now albeit Waters coming in for O'Connor and McPhail for Robinson.

Mr.Crinklewood

geeky wrote: »

Went to Rovers v Sligo, one of the best low-scoring games I've attended.

Small enough crowd - blame TV, a consequently silly KO time and really rotten night - but a great atmosphere, none of the overly negative sh**e from the spoiled brat fans. And when the rain came bucketting down, with everyone huddled in the upper end of the west stand singing 'build me up buttercup' (God only knows how this was adopted as a Rovers song, but there you go), was just great gas.

First half performance was as good as I've seen Rovers play. Brennan is a super, super player in his role, and Robinson was a warrior - he wouldn't be my first choice, but a competent player next to him lets him do an effective shift. Killduff was super at the start, though he was visibly knackered by the end. Can hardly believe I'm saying this, but I think bringing on Zayed for the last 20 mins would have been smart. I was a bit disappointed with McCabe's performance, but everyone has an off day, and his drifting around the pitch allowed Madden to attack on the right.

As for Sligo, they looked a different team when N'Do came on and we weren't able to keep that relentless high pressure up. Don't think there's necessarily anything badly awry - just teams have figured out that they like to kick it out wide and whip it in quickly. A few injuries, the loss of Elding and teams like Rovers upgrading at full back makes it less effective. When they started being less predictable and playing through the centre more, they caused more problems.



Ye had a few good chances in the second half, but that's a bit of an overstatement. Your keeper made an absolute wonder-save from Kilduff, who also missed an open goal at the death. On balance, I genuinely think a narrow Rovers win reflected the gameplay.



I'm just amazed that N'Do wasn't playing from the start. He got the team going after treading water for far too long. North was also far off his best, which is a shame for such a talented player - if I were a Sligo fan, I'd petition the local take-aways to stop taking his orders.

Why were the Shamrock Rovers fans chanting Alan Keanes name?

le la rat

Thanks lads

anncoates

Mr.Crinklewood wrote: »

Why were the Shamrock Rovers fans chanting Alan Keanes name?

Because they love and respect him a s player.

geeky

AgileMyth wrote: »

It was Russell we missed. The gap between the two deep lying midfielders and Maguire was too big. Was sort of improved by switching him with Eric.

Interesting perspective - can't dispute it as you've obviously watched a bit more of Sligo than I have. But the big difference from my perspective between this and your wins/draws against us was the relative lack of purposeful passing in the middle third - whether to get it out wide and get a decent cross in, or try through the centre. I'm not even sure if that's down to a deficiency on Sligo's part, improved defensive play from us, or a combination of the two.

AgileMyth wrote: »

North is the same size now as he was two years ago when he was banging in goals. He can't score if he doesn't get the service.

He might be the same size but he ain't running on the same knee. He just didn't look dangerous at any point for me. While I agree that better service would help, he's previously been capable of making something from nothing. I suspect he's one of those lads who benefits from having strong competition (Quigley, Elding) and may not be that self-motivated without it, but I'd be interested in your take.

Mr.Crinklewood wrote: »

Why were the Shamrock Rovers fans chanting Alan Keanes name?

God knows. Think they were trying to unsettle him by reference to the 'real' Keane? but they hate him with a weird passion, so I reckon they'd do anything if they thought it would wind him up.

AgileMyth

geeky wrote: »

Interesting perspective - can't dispute it as you've obviously watched a bit more of Sligo than I have. But the big difference from my perspective between this and your wins/draws against us was the relative lack of purposeful passing in the middle third - whether to get it out wide and get a decent cross in, or try through the centre. I'm not even sure if that's down to a deficiency on Sligo's part, improved defensive play from us, or a combination of the two.



He might be the same size but he ain't running on the same knee. He just didn't look dangerous at any point for me. While I agree that better service would help, he's previously been capable of making something from nothing. I suspect he's one of those lads who benefits from having strong competition (Quigley, Elding) and may not be that self-motivated without it, but I'd be interested in your take.

Yeah we've missed Joey too. Resorting to playing two defensive minded midfielders because he'd never trust Russell in that role means we have very little creativity in the middle. Cawley and Conneely are good players but both are very much defensive midfielders. They play better without the other. The only other option is Paul O Conor who I am very unconvinced by thus far.

It did allow Green to push on a bit but he seemed hesitant to do so early on. Another good performance from him is one of the few positives we can take from last night. That and Henderson being the best player in the world. He was some find.

What we really need is a Richie Ryan type player but they are few and far between. Thought we should have gone for Chambers. Maybe we did.

Honestly not too worried about Danny. If he gets the ball he'll get goals, as he showed on Tuesday against Pats.

monkey9

The Alan Keane thing might stem from him pretending to be headbutted and went down feigning injury to get a Shams player sent off a couple of years ago.

geeky

monkey9 wrote: »

The Alan Keane thing might stem from him pretending to be headbutted and went down feigning injury to get a Shams player sent off a couple of years ago.

Oh yeah, the hardcore fans hate him, and it's very much linked to the alleged diving. The keano chant in that context felt even stranger.

AgileMyth

monkey9 wrote: »

The Alan Keane thing might stem from him pretending to be headbutted and went down feigning injury to get a Shams player sent off a couple of years ago.

He was headbutted. It was a definite red.

The problem was he was clutching his face and the headbutt was into his chest.

anncoates

Speaking of Keane, the player Sligo were most missing last night was Ventre who always upped his game in Tallaght and afforded the fixture the mad "rivalry" that only appeared around the time Cook started managing Sligo.

monkey9

geeky wrote: »

Oh yeah, the hardcore fans hate him, and it's very much linked to the alleged diving. The keano chant in that context felt even stranger.

What was the chant?

dfx-

monkey9 wrote: »

The Alan Keane thing might stem from him pretending to be headbutted and went down feigning injury to get a Shams player sent off a couple of years ago.

Chris Turner in front of Rovers fans in Sligo...not a wise thing to do for a right back when they'll be in front of the same fans in future...

anncoates wrote: »

Would expect - barring Croly madness - that is the first team for us now albeit Waters coming in for O'Connor and McPhail for Robinson.

You'd hope so but maybe SOC has nailed down the place in Croly's mind...Madden links up very well with his side (I won't say winger in the case of McCabe), Byrne struggles beyond the halfway line when he goes backwards and gets caught on the ball, hopefully it will rub off in time..

AgileMyth

dfx- wrote: »

Chris Turner in front of Rovers fans in Sligo...not a wise thing to do for a right back when they'll be in front of the same fans in..

Can't imagine keano gives a **** what your thick fans do, say or throw.

dfx-

I imagine he doesn't but I also imagine no set of fans would care if he did or not.

TheBigLebowski

Mr.Crinklewood wrote: »

Why were the Shamrock Rovers fans chanting Alan Keanes name?

They weren't.

Mr.Crinklewood

TheBigLebowski wrote: »

They weren't.

What was the chant?

CSF

Karl Sheppard allowed play Friday night against Sligo and now in the squad today against us. What a jokeshop of a league this is. Only the FAI/Rovers could take a great idea that has worked numerous countries across Europe and turn it into a bad thing.

oldyouth

CSF wrote: »

Karl Sheppard allowed play Friday night against Sligo and now in the squad today against us. What a jokeshop of a league this is. Only the FAI/Rovers could take a great idea that has worked numerous countries across Europe and turn it into a bad thing.

Totally agree. Given that they play the home fixtures on Sunday, they are able to use the full 3+1 compliment of A squad players. We play the B team at Ferrycarrig next Friday, so no doubt they will all take all the good players to Cork for their A team match the same night. Doesn't seem fair

CSF

oldyouth wrote: »

Totally agree. Given that they play the home fixtures on Sunday, they are able to use the full 3+1 compliment of A squad players. We play the B team at Ferrycarrig next Friday, so no doubt they will all take all the good players to Cork for their A team match the same night. Doesn't seem fair

The whole squad switching thing makes a farce of the whole thing. Would you see the likes of Adriano, Song and Tello playing in the Segunda every weekend? Thiago, Shaqiri and Pizarro in Bundesliga 2? No, because football in these countries has some credibility.

Oat23

That's ridiculous.

Betting-wise, it could work out well for some of us if they have first teamers in the squad some weeks.

(FCB II play in the 4th tier BTW). You can't go higher than the 3.liga in Germany.

CSF

Oat23 wrote: »

That's ridiculous.

Betting-wise, it could work out well for some of us if they have first teamers in the squad some weeks.

(FCB II play in the 4th tier BTW). You can't go higher than the 3.liga in Germany.

Ah yes. I actually knew this and all. Still though, if we take anything less than 3 points today I will be ****ing fuming and may well do a Maxi.

Oat23

CSF wrote: »

Ah yes. I actually knew this and all. Still though, if we take anything less than 3 points today I will be ****ing fuming and may well do a Maxi.

I actually bet on Shels today in my €1.66 acc. Returns €101, so get er done!