Friday Night at the Eircom League

IrishBar of My Irish Football Blog holds forth on this evening's fare in the league that is often called Eircom.

PREMIER DIVISION

Drogheda United v Derry City
Two title contenders go head to head in this game which is live on Setanta Sports. Defeats to Drogheda cost Derry dear last season and this probably will again be a close encounter. Drogheda will be without a host of players through injury and suspension while Derry have a full squad more or less to choose from. Stadium problems mean that capacity for this game will be limited to 1500.

Drogheda have won their last four games after a slow start to the season while Derry have been blowing hot and cold since Pat Fenlon took over. With St Pats off to a flyer both these teams will be eager to not lose any more ground. I give Derry a slight edge in this game - at times versus Linfield things really clicked for them, Drogheda have a few big players missing and Derry will be motivated for revenge after last seasons defeats.

Cork City v Longford Town
Cork are the favourites for this one and rightly so. They will welcome back Kearney, Kelly, and O'Brien and may have Farrelly and Healy cleared by Fifa in time for kick off. John O'Flynn and Roy O'Donovan are starting to hit things off up front and goal scoring has not been a problem.

Longford have played three and lost three and although they have a lot of fight in the team they have really struggled so far.

They will be missing Deegan and Baker and may have to rely on a makeshift defence again.

St.Pat's v Bray Wanderers
Both these teams have surprised me with their respective starts to the season. St Pat's have got a 100% record and top the table whereas Bray have two wins from three after beating Bohs and snatching a win in Waterford. Pats may start with new signing Stephen Paisley and both O'Neill and Fahey may also return.

Bray are also at full strength and welcome back big defender Clive Delaney.

Shamrock Rovers v Galway United
Rovers didn't play last week as their game with Bohs was moved to this Tuesday and Galway lost out deep in injury time to a late Drogheda winner at Terryland. With four points from their first two games Rovers manager Pat Scully will be happy with their start and will be looking to keep another clean sheet against the division's other new boys.

Cassidy and Ferguson are suspended but Ger O'Brien, Eric and Dave McGill, Tadhg Purcell, Ger Rowe, Aiden Price and Danny O'Connor should all be fit for selection after recent injuries.

Galway have a full squad to choose from and it will be interesting to see if manager Cousins has settled on his first choice eleven and formation. I will be looking for another Rovers win in this one and will be taking them at even money to continue their good start to the season.

Waterford United v Bohemians
Waterford started their season with a shock win over Munster rivals Cork City but then went and lost their next two games to St Pats and Bray. Bohemians haven't started as well as many would have expected and have just 1 point from their first two games - more worryingly they have yet to get on the score sheet.

Bohs will be without Heary and Singh but should welcome back Neale Fenn to the starting line up to partner Glen Crowe up front. As I have said before with Crowe and Fenn upfront and Hunt and Kelly in midfield this team has goals in it and I expect them to become free scoring once they get their act together.

Ray Scully has been cleared by Fifa for Waterford but McCarthy, Keely and Brown will miss out through injury and suspension.Waterford will need their home form to be in good shape this season if they hope to finish above the bottom few places whereas Bohs will need to be winning these type of games if they are serious about finishing in the top three or four.

FIRST DIVISION

Finn Harps v Monaghan United
Harps (and their fans) would have been expecting to have more than just one win from their opening three games but having said that a trip to Cobh is always difficult considering the distance and there is no shame in losing to Dundalk.

Their manager will be missing from the touchline as he starts a two game ban but Holmes should have his first game of the season after being cleared by Fifa to play. Monaghan are probably a little lucky to have the two points that they do - they threw away a two goal lead on the opening day of the season and somehow managed to get a draw in Kildare in their second game.

They would have been hoping to get something from their game last weekend at home to Kilkenny but ended up losing that one also. Striker William Doyle is available for the first time this season but Barry Burke is still serving out his suspensionIf Harps are serious about finishing near the top of the division they must be winning home games like this one.

Monaghan will be looking for a point but unless they raise their game substantially they will be going home pointless.

Kilkenny City v Shelbourne
Premier League Champions to the bottom team in Division 1 hasn't taken Shels long. However they are starting to look a bit fitter and will be very close to full strength tonight after Leech and Brophy were cleared to play. Crawford and Collins may also return from injury.

Kilkenny got their first win in 26 attempts last week away up north in Monaghan but I will be very surprised if they make it two wins out of two. Shels will be looking at this game as a real chance to get their first win of the season and if they can get rid of the basic defending errors that cost them last week they should come away with three points. Shels to get their first win.

Hear Ye! Eircome League Tidings!

Not all of Irish soccer was nodding off at Croke Park this weekend - IrishBar from My Irish Football Blog brings us up to date with the latest action from the Eircom League.

Derry City 0-1 St. Patrick's Athletic
Derry lost their second game in succession as St Pats continued their great start to the season. Derry had the better of things until Pats took the lead from a corner kick. After that the home side lacked a creative edge and despite manager Pat Fenlon tinkering with formation and tactics they couldn't find a way back into the game.

This was a big win for St Pats as Derry have been extremely strong at home in recent years. Slightly surprising that Derry started the game with such a defensive formation but Fenlon seems to be taking a little time in finding out what his strongest eleven and formation is. Click here for goals and match highlights via the official St. Pat's website.

Galway United 2-3 Drogheda United
Drogheda started this game as you would expect - going 2-0 up after just 27 minutes and creating chances a-plenty. Galway manager Tony Cousins altered his formation a few minutes later and that helped matters for the home team. Then, deep in first half injury time, confusion in the Drogheda defence from a John Lester free kick led to the ball falling to Stephen O'Flynn who had no difficulty finishing from close range.

Galway were arguably the better team in the second half and levelled things on 78 minutes through Alan Murphy. Once again in injury time Terryland saw another late goal when Eamon Zayed managed to steer the ball into the net despite the presence of numerous defenders.

Waterford United 1-2 Bray Wanderers
Bray got three points here for the second game in a row - something that hasn't happened that often recently. The first half was goalless with Waterford having a slight edge in terms of possession and chances created. Bray took the lead from a set piece when veteran Colm Tresson rose unmarked to head home.

Straight away after the restart they doubled the lead when Stephen Fox coolly slipped the ball under the advancing keeper after dispossessing Waterford defender Hedderman. Waterford got one back late on but Bray held out for an important away win

Longford Town 0-1 Sligo Rovers
Longford slumped to their third straight defeat of the season as Sligo turned things on in the second half and deserved the three points.

UCD 0-1 Cork City
The Leesiders grabbed their first league win of the season thanks to a Roy O'Donovan strike at Belfield.

FIRST DIVISION
Shelbourne 0-2 Dundalk
Dundalk continued their 100% start to the season with two goals and a clean sheet at Tolka Park. Dundalk look on course for automatic promotion this time around but had to wait till the second half before they made their dominance count. Last year's top scorer Philip Hughes opened the scoring after a neat turn in the box.

Dundalk went down to ten men shortly afterwards but that didn't stop them wrapping things up 8 minutes from time when Shaun Williams got himself another crucial goal.

Monaghan United 0-2 Kilkenny City
Kilkenny managed to win a game for the first time in 26 attempts after two pieces of terrible defending on Monaghan's part cost them dearly. Padraig Fogarty and Martin Tynan got the goals for Kilkenny. Monaghan did have the better of the first half but wasteful finishing cost them dearly.

Limerick 37 2-0 Kildare County
One of the rare home wins this weekend. Limerick 37 continued their good start to the season and still remain unbeaten. David Goldbey and Padraig Moran got the goals for Limerick. Click here for the goals (with some Cranberries music in the background) .

Cobh Ramblers 1-0 Finn Harps
Cobh finally got some points after a narrow win over Finn Harps. Cobh took the lead after just ten minutes through Gareth Cambridge and held out without too much hassle for the remaining eighty as Harps struggled to create anything worthwhile.

Athlone Town 3-0 Wexford Youths
Wexford were brought back down to earth after their first league win last week by a confident Athlone side that are looking better and better by the week.

New! IrishBar's Eircom League Preview

You spoiled blighters! At no extra cost, IrishBar from My Irish Football Blog will kindly be previewing for us the action in the brand spanking new Eircom League of Ireland....check out MIFB if you want more on the Eircom League, or if you're just fed up of reading TSA's slurred untruths.

Eircom League of Ireland Premier Division

Galway United v Drogheda United, Fri 7.45
Galway will be hoping to build on last week's point gained away to Cork City. This will be their second home game of the season and they will be looking to pick up their first home points. Manager Tony Cousins has already used more players than any other team in the division as he tries to figure out his strongest eleven.

Drogheda, with four points from a possible six, are visiting Terryland on the back of a deserved 1-0 win in the Setanta Cup away to Glentoran. They found their scoring touch last week against UCD, scoring three goals in a five-goal thriller at United Park.

Drogheda are real title contenders this season and if they wish to have a serious go at it they will need to be able to go and win away at places like Galway. Drogs are a very difficult team to break down and with Galway yet to find the net this season one would have to favour the Louth team to come away with three points.

Derry City v St. Patrick's Athletic, Fri 7.55 - Live on Rte 2
This is an early season table-topping clash and Derry will be looking to recover from their midweek defeat in the Setanta Cup at the hands of Linfield. They went down 2-1 and conceded their first goals of the season. Pat Fenlon's team are worthy favourites to finish top this season after the disappointment of finishing runners up in the last two campaigns. Defender Dave Rodgers is suspended after his red card against Sligo last week.

St Pats have started the season on fire, with a 100% record in the league and some impressive Setanta Cup results also. They have scored some cracking goals and kept things reasonably tight at the back.

Prior to the start of the season many were tipping Pats as dark horses for the league. They have been going well so far, however, with no disrespect to the teams they have beaten in the league, they were both games that Pats would be expected to win. They have yet to come up against a top class side.

Derry, with their strong home form at the Brandywell should have enough to scrap a narrow win.

UCD v Cork City, Fri 7.45
The students have lost two of their big players from last season to Championship side Birmingham City, however they gave a good account of themselves in their two games so far. Their season opener was a well earned no score draw with Shamrock Rovers and last week they twice breached Drogheda's usually watertight defence, only to come away on the losing side of a 3-2 scoreline.

Cork City have suffered from a lack of a proper preseason and until they beat Portadown during the week had been struggling. They will still be without new signings and former internationals Colin Healy and Gareth Farrelly and are really missing the departed Neale Fenn and George O'Callaghan. With just one point so far they will be eager to get their season up and running.

UCD have been strong at home over the last few seasons - especially against the top sides - they are very well organised, young, fit and hungry. Generally they dont score or concede many. I see this as a tight game with a draw the most likely of outcomes.

Waterford Utd v Bray Wanderers, Fri 7.45
These two sides propped up the table last season. Waterford were planning for life in Division One until Shelbourne were demoted so their opening day victory over Cork was all the more impressive. They followed that up with a 3-0 defeat in Dublin to St Pat's last weekend.

In their opening game Bray put in a spirited performance at the Brandywell but lost narrowly to Derry. Last weekend they surprised a few people and beat Bohemians 1-0 at the Carlisle grounds - so with three points already on the board they will be quite happy with their start to the season.

Hard to pick a winner here but Bray have had the best of the encounters between these two teams in recent years and although the bookies make Waterford favourites I fancy Bray to come away with something.

Longford Town v Sligo Rovers, Fri 8.00
It's been a bit of a disaster so far this season for Longford. They have lost a lot of experienced players and have no points from their first two games. Rumours of alleged money owed to creditors is also a potential problem.

Sligo have their own problems with manager Rob MacDonald leaving just before the season was set to start - apparently the Sligo board were not willing to give him a contract of employment that had previously been agreed. But with three points from a possible six they will be happy enough with their start to the season.

Longford have injuries to a few crucial players - Gary Deegan and Davy Byrne - and will also be without two more regulars (John Martin and Damien Brennan) who received red cards in last weekend's game against Shamrock Rovers.

Sligo will be confident of getting something out of this game and its a good time for them to be playing Longford. They may even sneak a win!

Eircom League of Ireland First Division

Limerick 37 v Kildare County, Fri 7.45
Limerick 37 will be hoping to build on their four points won so far at home to Kildare County and will be confident of a win. Kildare have drawn their first two games and don't look to have improved since last season.

Monaghan United v Kilkenny City, Fri 8.00

These two teams occupied the two bottom places in the division last season. Monaghan managed to steal an undeserved point last week in Kildare and also drew their first game of the season with Wexford - despite being 2-0 up at half time. Kilkenny are pointless at the moment and have not won a game in 26 attempts.

Shelbourne v Dundalk, Fri 8.00

Shels have just one point so far while Dundalk have a 100% record with two wins out of two. I can't see Shels challenging this season but they will be hopeful of a top half finish. Dundalk will be going all out for automatic promotion and should collect another three points.

Athlone Town v Wexford Youths, Sun 3.00

Athlone are quietly confident that they will challenge for promotion this season and with one win and one draw so far they have started well. Wexford also have a win and a draw to their name but the bookmakers have them as long-shots to get anything out of this game.

Cobh v Finn Harps, Sun 3.00

Cobh finished a very respectable fourth last season but have lost both games so far this time out. This game will be in Turners Cross as St. Colemans is not quite ready yet. Finn Harps, who have lost to Dundalk and beaten Shelbourne, will be hoping to get something from this game to make the long trip home more bearable.

All-Ireland League? But That Would Be Logical!

The old aphorism about sport and politics not mixing is slightly inaccurate, or at least poorly phrased. In actual fact, they do mix: frequently, and with terrible results. The statement should, therefore, read: "sport and politics do not mix well."

The truth of this was demonstrated in a discussion on BBC Northern Ireland's Season Ticket programme on Thursday last, following Irish foreign minister Dermot Ahern's quite reasonable remark that Ireland's two governing bodies in soccer, the FAI and the IFA, should merge.

Of course, when I say 'quite reasonable' I realise that the concept of reasonableness as applied to any matter relating to the partition of this island is utterly pointless. Logic is banished from discussions on cross-border relations quicker than Seán Bán Breathnach from a meeting of the Ulster-Scots society.

Lay the usual tribal neuroses of embattled minor football federations on top of that and you have a malodourous concoction that does, indeed, not mix well.

When the Season Ticket show came to address the matter, they dispensed with the prickly discussion of an All-Ireland national team. Fair enough - what mere chummy-natured sports magazine show would bring upon themselves a debate one step removed from the very elephant that sits in every room in the province.

They did, however, chew over the idea of an All-Ireland league. Well, they didn't quite chew it over, taking more of a small bite which they then proceeded to spit out like children being force-fed liver.

Reporter Gavin Andrews conducted a vox pop of local football fans who seemed more or less split on the question - I know, a divisive issue in Northern Ireland, whatever next?! - although those in support of the idea seemed suspiciously clad in the colours of Cliftonville, a team with a traditionally nationalist support.

The studio discussion, however, considered the matter with all the thoughtful consideration of George Bush contemplating the bombing of a Basra munitions factory.

First off, Roy Coyle, veteran former manager of Linfield, Derry City, Ards and Glentoran did the old switcheroo. "We shouldn't be talking about this, we should be talking about training facilities in the province, they are a disgrace," he harrumphed. Well Roy, we are talking about this.

Jim Gracey, chief sportswriter with the Sunday Life newspaper, at least allowed the subject the honour of precedence over mucky training fields. The jist of his dismissal of the idea was that it would prove too expensive for the clubs - in attempting to compete with their full-time rivals in the south and in travel costs - and for fans - travel costs again.

Gracey illustrated his case with the example of clubs like Loughgall, or Ards, having to travel somewhere like Cork, and the attendant costs involved.

At no point in the discussion were the possible benefits of an All-Ireland league considered. For example, the fact that an amalgamated league would create a larger marketplace for the product, which could lead improved television and sponsorship revenues.

Aside from financial rewards (which would presumably offset travelling costs), the improvement in standards that increased competition would bring would seem a logical (that word again) by-product of amalgamation, by simple dint of combination of the two leagues' stronger sides.

It would indeed be a chore for Loughgall to travel to Cork, but little more than it would be for Cork folk to have them. Obviously proponents of a unified league see more attraction in pitting clubs such as Linfield, Glentoran or Portadown against the likes of Shelbourne, Derry City and Cork City, than in dragging Loughgall and Ards far from home.

Fundamentally, surely the simple principal of maximising the meagre footballing resources of the island makes sense? The panellists on Season Ticket mentioned on several occasions how much of a success the Setanta Cup had been, then performed somersaults of reason to avoid acknowledging that the same benefits would accrue in an All-Ireland league.

Perhaps the politics that taint this argument are merely those of the sporting bodies involved; or perhaps the merging of the Irish footballing entities carries too much of the whiff of republicanism for some. Whatever, the logic of the argument for an amalgamated league seems to be another victim of the invariably foul brew of sport and politics.

Football's Wild Geese Continue to Fly

One of the few sectors of modern Irish society to still endure the forlorn exile of emigration would seem to be our poor, ragged professional footballers. Of course, for generations young striplings have been banished from their crumbling thatched hovels, their shawl-wrapped mothers keening at the half-door, to scrounge a living in the football hotbeds of Albion. Now, however, it seems that even the menfolk of the Eircom league are being forced to follow in the footsteps of the tattie-hokers and tunnel tigers of yore, and head off for work in England and Scotland.

The contributory factors to this latter-day scattering of Wild Geese are varied. The financial implosion of Shelbourne F.C., the reigning champions of the Eircom League, has aided the departure of defender Sean Dillon to Dundee United, winger Bobby Ryan to Dunfermline Athletic and, only yesterday, the league's top scorer, Jason Byrne, to Cardiff City.

But the pattern of the exodus is too broad to be purely the manifestation of fiscal woes. George O'Callaghan of Cork City, like Byrne one of the league's top players, joined the Shels man in jumping the emigrant boat, heading for the gold-paved streets of Ipswich Town. And these two are just the latest in a procession of players departing since the end of the domestic season in November.

Since the opening of the January transfer window Motherwell signed Trevor Molloy and Paul Keegan of St.Pat's and Danny Murphy of Cork City, Wolves have recruited Bohemians striker Stephen Ward and another Corkman, Roy O'Donovan, has been the subject of speculation about a possible trial at Celtic.

The volume of talent being picked off by cross-channel clubs has led to two popular conclusions. Firstly, that the resounding success of Reading's measly speculation on Kevin Doyle (signed from Cork City for £78,000 in 2005 and now a big, shiny Premiership star) has led to British clubs, ever sharp to the whiff of a bargain, sniffing out the league from whence Doyle came for similar value.

Secondly, that Ireland is the new Scandinavia. Just as the 1990s saw managers send their scouts to scour the fjords and litter-free streets of Norway, Denmark and Sweden for gems like Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, Peter Schmeichel and Freddie Ljungberg, now the Eircom league is plundered for the loot of keenly-priced pros, who, like their Scandinavian predecessors, speak English, don't mind the rain and understand the prevailing football culture.

This trend, is, of course, disappointing for Eircom league supporters. Not only have Shelbourne's woes (in addition to the loss of players, manager Pat Fenlon has defected to Derry City) denuded Ireland's representatives in next season's Champions League of the clout to continue our recent European progress, but also the loss of quality players, by definition, diminishes the league.

The efforts made in developing full-time soccer in order to strengthen the domestic game (apart from leading to Shelbourne's near bankruptcy) have, ironically, boosted standards to the extent that the league's best players are now seen as useful targets for British clubs - thereby damaging the league in the end anyway.

In some ways, the league is therefore becoming a victim of its own success.

It seems that, rather than resembling the huddled masses of the famine emigrants, the current footballing exiles are in parallel with the brain drain of the 1980s - the best and brightest, with their fortunes to seek.