League of Ireland Week In Football – Week 7
Written by Brian MahonResult Roundup – Six of the Best
In Tallaght, Shamrock Rovers recovered from last week’s 5-1 defeat by hammering Dundalk 6-0 in one of the most one-sided league games the stadium has witnessed. Gary Twigg bagged his first ever hat-trick at the venue as Rovers ran riot on a Dundalk side who could be described as youthful, only the term would not do justice to the just how young they actually were. Dundalk may be facing a child-labour investigation as well as a relegation battle.
Not to be outdone in the second city, Cork City matched that 6-0 scoreline when thrashing Monaghan United. This time it was a Davin O’Neill hat-trick in a result that lifted City from joint bottom to seventh in the table. Back in Dublin, Shelbourne took all three points with a home win over Bray Wanderers (2-1) while Bohemians recorded their second victory in a row, this time over UCD at The Bowl (1-2).
That leaves two draws to round off with – Sligo Rovers and Derry City (1-1), as well as Drogheda United and St Pat’s (0-0) sharing the spoils respectively.
A Walk Down Memory Lane
Before their game on Friday night, a group of Hoops fans gathered to mark a significant anniversary. 25 years earlier Shamrock Rovers had played their last game at Glenmalure Park before their stadium was sold from under them by the owners. Having secured the ownership of the site for a small fee from the Jesuits religious order, the Kilcoyne family decided the best thing for the home of Ireland’s biggest club was to turn it into a housing estate and consign the club to a nomadic 22 years to follow.
A commemorative plaque of Shamrock leaving the area. Courtesy of Tonkie
Around 200 fans walked from the old stadium site on Milltown Road to their new home in Tallaght with older fans reminiscing of their great four in a row side they had seen play there under the legandary Jim McLoughlin.
First Division Roundup
SD Galway and Mervue United could not be separated in the clash of the Galwegians, a 2-2 draw a fair result in a more open game than anticipated. Another two sides that could not be separated were Waterford United and Athlone Town, a 1-1 draw in that one.
Limerick enjoyed a good win away to Wexford Youths (0-1), that victory seeing Limerick jump the Youths in the league table and take second spot. They sit just one point behind Longford Town, who in the surprise result of the weekend were beaten for the first time this season, going down 3-1 to Finn Harps at Flancare Park.
Semis Are Hard For Rovers To Swallow
Monday night brought the first legs of the semi finals of the Setanta Sports Cup and it was to be a bad night for the two Rovers involved.
Sligo travelled north in good form to face Crusaders but they left having suffered their first defeat of the season (2-0) and with major concerns for centre back Jason McGuinness, who left the field looking in a lot of pain with a suspected dislocated shoulder. Crusaders have certainly been the most impressive of the Northern sides in the competition.
At the same time Shamrock Rovers were suffering a humbling defeat of their own. Derry City are massive favourites to progress to the final after their 3-0 away victory in a game where Rovers’ debuting goalkeeper Reyaad Pieterse was controversially sent off after only 13 minutes.
The return legs are scheduled for next Monday, it’s hard to see anything but a Crusaders v Derry City final at this stage.
This weekend’s fixtures:
Friday 20th April 2012
Premier Divison
Bohemians v Monaghan United
Bray Wanderers v Shamrock Rovers
Cork City v Sligo Rovers
Derry City v Dundalk
Drogheda United v Shelbourne
St. Patrick’s Athletic v U.C.D
First Division
Waterford United v Wexford Youths
SD Galway v Athlone Town
Saturday, April 21, 2012
First Division
Finn Harps v Limerick FC
Longford Town v Mervue United
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