Shelbourne FC -v- Glentoran CL1QR2L

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Well, the "Battle of Ireland" re-commences in Tolka Park tomorrow night.

Word from Glentoran after the first leg is that their manager inexplicably left the two best IL strikers from the past couple of seasons on the bench in The Oval until about the 70th minute, after Shels got the second goal, which may go some way to explaining why Shels were somewhat under the kosh for the last ten or fifteen minutes.

We battered them in the first half last week, and if we play like that again we should go through, we can even afford a 0-1 loss, although it would be nice if we won both legs. We have more playes available this time round, and team selection, especially the midfield, is hard to call.

Baker should play on the right wing, and Stuart Byrne had his best performance of the season in the middle last week, so should keep his place. What remains is Ndo, Hoolahan and Moore for the remaining two spots. Weso may play beside Byrne, with Moore on the left. The reverse may be true, and either could miss out to Ndo in either position. Added to that, I think Jim Crawford may be fit also, but I don't think he'll play, especially with Byrne playing well.

One thing is, Hoolahan may be dropped, as he was booked last time out, and a second card would spell suspension for the Steaua first leg next week.

Defence should consist of Heary, Hawkins, Rogers and either Crawley or Cahill at left full. On recent performances I'd go with Cahill, but Crawley is the more "natural" defender, Cahill gives more attacking options than the cross-field diagonal long ball, which seems to be the only kick in Crawley's repartoire.

Crowe and Jason Byrne should continue up top, but I'd like to see Gary O'Neill given a chance in this game.

I'm going for a Shels win in this one, but a tight enough game. If Glentoran score first it will be a great game, but I hope they don't.

2-1 Shels, 4-2 aggregate.

Jonny Arson

I'm quite nervous about this one. Yes we have 2 away goals but knowing the way we have been playing this season, no Shels fan can be completely confident. Glentoran are a better team than they were last week that there is no doubt so the case is really how good and how fit Glentoran will be. Ideally Shels will play the same team as last week. Weso has to play, yellow card or not. I would probably drop Crawley though. He may have a bit of an injury but to be honest even when he is fit he's a liability so I would play Ollie instead of Crawley.
The team should be:

Delaney
Heary Hawkins Rogers Cahill
Baker S. Byrne Moore Hoolahan
J. Byrne Crowe

Well despite my doubts I'll go for a 1-1 draw with Shels to go through.

Forza Reds!

Töpher

2-1 Shels. They'll score early, but be left open. I hope. 4 wins from 4 for the co-efficient is what I'm praying for!

KdjaCL

Reckon it be 1-1 nervy end of game , Shels *should* win, Glens decent away but just looked **** for most of last week.



Hopefully Glens get a win.


kdjac

Big Ears

2-1 with Shels scoring late to secure the tie , I expect Glens to be more competitive but Shelbourne to show they are of a different standard again .

Slash/ED

For the mid field I'd pick Moore Ndo Byrne Hoolahan, bring Baker on for Wes if the tie is over at any stage because of the booking thing, but we can't afford to leave out players based on the fact they may be suspended for future rounds without securing the future rounds first!

A repeat performance of the last match will do nicely. Bring O'Neill on this time as the game wears on as if Glentoran are pushing more and more forward he is the ideal man for the counter attack as he is very pacey and direct.

Serbian

I'll take a look at this one alright. Coverage starts on RTE2 at 7pm.

MooShop

Well the big game is tonight, will be a hard fought game but hope Shels can pull through, which im sure they will. they have a lot more quality than Glentoran and should have had them out of sight the last day. Hopefully they can win and do the league proud, also Cork and Longford are playing in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, best of luck to them. Hopefully all Irish teams involved in Europe can do well, it will help the league and our co-efficient

_blank_

I did this last year, so I'll do it again this year.

I was just down in Tolka and there are LOADS of tickets left, as they've now moved the Glens fans to the Ballybough End and opened the Riverside Stand for non-Glens fans.

So get up, get down to Tolka for some Champions League football on this lovely summers evening in Dublin.

Support the eircom League team in the Champions League.

FORZA SHELBOURNE

Slash/ED

Great news about them in the Ballybough end.

I can't bloody wait for tonight, should be a cracker.

COME ON SHELS

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Paddy Power are giving 11/4 on a draw for tonight's game :eek:

Not a bad rpice at all, I think.

Serbian

seansouth wrote:

Paddy Power are giving 11/4 on a draw for tonight's game :eek:

Not a bad rpice at all, I think.

They also have Shelbourne at 1000/1 to win the Champions League. An each way bet maybe?

Pigman II

If the bits I saw last week are anything to go by Shels will get thru this game tonight with ease.

[Jackass]

2 - 0 Shels, but a tight game all the same...i'd say Shels will grab an early goal....scrap for 70 minutes or so, and then score a late goal to kill the tie. Byrne and Crowe 1 each.

Off-Topic:
Just out of interest, could somebody explain the Co-Efficient please? I know what it is, leauge rankings in Europe etc. and decides rankings of teams in draws, but what type of Euro run and results would it take to get the EL enough points to be automatically drawn as a seeded team in CLQR2? Or is it not that simple?

Slash/ED

DubGuy wrote:

Off-Topic:
Just out of interest, could somebody explain the Co-Efficient please? I know what it is, leauge rankings in Europe etc. and decides rankings of teams in draws, but what type of Euro run and results would it take to get the EL enough points to be automatically drawn as a seeded team in CLQR2? Or is it not that simple?

The co-efficent is an average score over 5 years, so what we have to do is consistently do well over a period of five years to get to that stage. If this year continues being as good as it has been, and last year was a good year, then that's a good foundation for us to build on. We need to do consistently well over five years though.

MooShop

Going home now, hope Shels kick ass tonight (im a neutral) should be a good game

finnpark

Hi,

I think the first half will be very difficult for Shels, they need to keep it tight for the 1st half hour.

They should have the superior fitness in the 2nd half and been at home gives them a huge advantage.

Im going for a 0-0 draw, I think Shels will defend deeply and Glentoran will not have enough to trouble Shels.

Glen Crowe very impressive last week, when he went off Glentoran had much more of the ball. He holds the ball up very well and always lays it off ok.

I am a neutral too but Shels need a win to keep the eircom league rising up those rankings.

LizardKing

Shels to Progress ( After Extra Time and Peno's ) looking to get my €15 euros worth

eirebhoy

DubGuy wrote:

Off-Topic:
Just out of interest, could somebody explain the Co-Efficient please? I know what it is, leauge rankings in Europe etc. and decides rankings of teams in draws, but what type of Euro run and results would it take to get the EL enough points to be automatically drawn as a seeded team in CLQR2? Or is it not that simple?

http://foot.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=27248

somano

How come the pitch is in such bad nick ? WHy all the lines ? Was it recently turfed ?

Johnny_the_fox

Go Glentoran !

KdjaCL

1-1 good game , come on the glens.

Tbh they should have taken the peno and ensuing red card

kdjac

Guy:Incognito

What the hell was hamilton flapping his gums about? Along the lines of " 3-3 wont be good enough for Glentoran because away goals count double if its a draw and Shels have 2" is he really that stupid?

Johnny_the_fox

Stekelly wrote:

What the hell was hamilton flapping his gums about? Along the lines of " 3-3 wont be good enough for Glentoran because away goals count double if its a draw and Shels have 2" is he really that stupid?

laughed at that too.

KdjaCL

Johnny_the_fox wrote:

laughed at that too.

ditto

peno to shels glens a man down
2-1 Shels ....


kdjac

Guy:Incognito

Just as well we wont have to put his theory to the test now.

cruiserweight

Fair play to Shels through tonight, BBC Ulster seem a bit bitter!

KdjaCL

God Glentoran are ****, Shels murdered them at ease tonight.

/me switches teams...


Come on Steua


kdjac

Töpher

Fvcking ace! 4 wins from 4, and Jayo Byrne's the CL's 2nd highest scorer this year!

applehunter

The pitch was obviously burnt in the heat wave the past 10 days.

Well done Shels.

Here are my ratings

Delaney 7 I never felt nervous with him in goal. Not that I did with Steve Williams.
Crawley 8 Gets a lot of stick from Shels fans but was excellent tonight.
Scouse feen 7 Never had to deal with any pressure
Hawkins 8 Was v. good. Sometimes he looks world class. But then other times.....
Heary 10 The guy gets a lot of false praise a lot of the time, but tonight he was the "Best Right Back in the World...EVER (Part 2)" Great performance.
Stuey 7 Played well but was not as important after the penalty
Hoolahan 7 Even when he plays ordinary he looks good.
Baker 8 Linked well with Heary and was a always dangerous
Cahill 5 As a former City legend he seems a shadow of homself tonight. nearly everything went wrong. Where was NDO?
Byrne 8 Took his goals well and never drifted out of the game
Crowe 9 Looker pacy, great touches, and what a GOAL!!!!!

Crawford, Fitzpatrick and especially O'Neill all did well when they came on.

Glens were outclassed on the night.

Töpher

I think not playing Ndo is a clever ploy, he will be our secret weapon against Steaua! And they don't know about him, hahahaha!

You mean Rogers not Harris btw applehunter, other than that pretty fair ratings.

Big Ears

Another very good performance and if it wasn't for Elliot Morris it could have been a lot more . Cahill is the only player who wasn't up to standard tonight and hopefully Joey Ndo replaces him for the Steau game .

This won't go down well in the north , I wouldn't be suprised to see them switch to summer soccer within the next few years especially if LOI sides dominate the Setanta Cup for the coming years .(but thats unlikely to happen given the time of season it starts at)

Heary should be given a go at right-back for Ireland , he's obviously not going to be first choice but he is a quality player and would be a decent replacement to have in the international side should we have 2-4 defenders injured . I have been an admirrer of his for a while and is certainly of the standard to compete with the likes of Maybury to be in the squad .

therecklessone

KdjaC wrote:

Come on Steua


kdjac

I look forward to your input if we lose.

Jaysus, there goes Shels doing the coefficient no favours...

therecklessone

Superb performance from everyone except Cahill (keystone cop defending for their goal aside), if I have one criticism of the way the team played as a whole its to do with the ball to the back post for Jayo to knock down. Too many crosses went astray, we really need to work on that. Slightly less weight on the pass and it will find the man more consistently.

Anyone know what the bit of trouble in the corner between the Riverside and the Drumcondra Road end was towards the end of the game? I was on the halfway line of the Riverside but couldn't see anything for all the bodies. Just copped the "wanker wanker" chant from the Briogaid Dearg.

Oh, nice to see the applause from the Shels fans for the travelling support, and especially for their players as they left the field. Here's hoping games like that can go ahead as a matter of course in the future.

Slash/ED

Ndo in for Cahill, Hoolahan left wing and that would be some mid field. Cahill is a shadow of his former self.

Completley and totally outplayed them. Okay Glens were poor but you can only beat what's on front of you and 6-2, and it should have been more, tells it's own story.

Big decision for Fenlon now. Does he go with the European tactic of last year with one up front, splitting the now flying partnership of Byrne and Crowe, or play more adventerous and leave more space in the mid field. A very tough decision for him.

By the way, Shels are now Irelands most successful team in Europe ever as far as ties won is concerned.

As for Heary for Ireland, spot on, I've said it a million times. Nobody is saying he will get in ahead of Finnan or Carr, but he's better than the rest of the right backs we have imo.

finnpark

Great GAME - LOADs of goals for shels.

Shels very impressive up front. Crowe and Byrne are really clinical but the opposition was really poor, especially in 2nd half.

Shels will find it real tough against Steau, they have a high standard of football. They would be as good as Celtic and Rangers- well not far away. Shels defence is very shaky and they really will need a clean sheet at home.

Hope they win this tie, done great with 2 wins anyway and coeffients guaranteed of 1.333 for eircom league even if every Irish team loses every match from now on. Great stuff this year from the Irish sides .

Slash/ED

That co-efficent is the equal of last years with, minimum, 4 games still to go, and you'd expect there would be at least 8 more games to come to improve it.

Big Ears

Steau are not as good as either Celtic or Rangers but they certainly are decent and I would rank them ahead of Hadjuk Split . Shels progessing is certainly a real possibility though .

KdjaCL

therecklessone wrote:

I look forward to your input if we lose.

Jaysus, there goes Shels doing the coefficient no favours...

Shall be aloing the lines of NAH NAH NAH /sticks out tongue...... etc etc.


Co efficent type things.... oddly your the 5th set of fans in 18 years i have heard go on about how great they were doing in europe. Mad nothing ever changes


kdjac

gimmick

How do Shels fans fancy their chances against Steuea Bucharest next round?

I dont think Shels have anything to be scared of, as last years experience will stand to them. That said i know absolutely f*ck all about SB.

MooShop

Well done to Shels, thoroughly deserved victory, totally outclassed Glentoran over the two legs. Hopefully they can do well against Steua Bucharest, dont know anything about them either, will be alot tougher tie than the Glentoran one i think

SteM

Congrats to Shels, they played well and outclassed their opponents. Great strike by Crowe, hopefully that'll just be the start for him Europe this season. Thought Wes and Hawkins were my men of the match. I was down in the main stand close to the Glens fans and apart from a couple of muppets they were very well behaved.

LizardKing

SteM wrote:

I was down in the main stand close to the Glens fans and apart from a couple of muppets they were very well behaved.

I did not see any trouble and walked past loads of Glens fans before the game ( must of shook nearly all there hands) The only trouble I had was understanding the accent and trying to talk my way out of swappin my beloved shels scarf for a glens one ... Overall they were grand , t'was funny there rendition of the "Oh Oh Oh" chant was quite good ...

SteM

LizardKing wrote:

I did not see any trouble and walked past loads of Glens fans before the game ( must of shook nearly all there hands) The only trouble I had was understanding the accent and trying to talk my way out of swappin my beloved shels scarf for a glens one ... Overall they were grand , t'was funny there rendition of the "Oh Oh Oh" chant was quite good ...

I didn't say there was trouble, just some muppets acting the maggot and they looked fairly locked tbh. I met a few of them in town before the game and they seemed like a good bunch. My mates kid swapped his shels scarf for a glens one, he's delighted because he has Depor and Lille scarves that he swapped last year too. His dad's not too happy tough as he has to keep buying shels scarves for him! Had to laugh at their rendition of the indian chant alright, doesn't take long to pick up I suppose.

redspider

Congrats to Shelbourne. I didnt see the game on the box, but by all accounts 4-1 well deserved and a good result.

Keep up the good work!

Serbian

It was a very entertaining game, and according to UEFA.com, Glen Crowe is now the all-time top scorer for a player with an Irish club (8 goals in a UEFA competition). 4 - 1 is also an Irish club record win in a UEFA competition.

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What a night.

Great result, bring on Steaua.

Draupnir

Crowe was already record scorer in Europe for an Irish club, fair play to the lad, if a brutal player like him can hold that record it makes you wish you had stuck at the training!! Hes a decent skin though so its good to see him still do well.

I missed the match myself but have heard that Shels weren't as good as last week, so Glens must have been really poor.

This is all great for Irish football though, chances are this will be our most sucessful European season as a nation for a long long time, if not of all time.

I actually fancy Shels to beat Steaua to be honest, from what I can figure out, Steaua are living off their 86 European Cup win in terms of their name being known. They are sure to have a few technically gifted players, but Shels arent as brutal as some might suggest.

Either way, fair play to Shels, us Bohs lads will let them rack up the coefficient and then we can win the league again when it gets high enough to give auto entry to the Champions League!

thejollyrodger

i just found out the result for the game , what a fantastic result !! It does our coefficent the world of good as well. I think Shels are a lot more mentally strong this Champions League.

On a side note, the Shels Depor game got a massive viewing figures last year vs Man Utd. There was no comparision, massive sellout in Landsdowne road and people still couldnt get tickets.

I think that Romanian outfit are going to be tough opposition for us but I think we can get a win, were defintely better than last season

Slash/ED

I really haven't a clue what to expect from the Steau game, but go out and play at our best and we should have no fears. If we get a clean sheet in the home game, or even only let one in but score at least one ourselves, we have a great chance over there espically with the form our attacking players are in at the moment.

Jonny Arson

What an incredible night it was last night. I'm so proud of all the Shelbourne players for completely outclassing Glentoran. Yes Steaua Bucharest will be tougher but if we can keep a clean sheet in the home match and play like we did over the two Glen's matches, we can get passed them no bother.

Lets go f**king mental... we're going continental!