Lots of talking points this weekend. Here's the main ones.
1) There's a huge variance in refereeing quality in the league
One of the biggest stories in the Airtricity League last week was the news that referee Alan Kelly is moving to the USA to take a position with the MLS. In Sunday's semi final he awarded a penalty against Shamrock Rovers and sent off Conor McCormack. At first viewing it looked a perfect challenge but TV replays confirmed that Kelly was 100% correct with the penalty award. In the other semi final, Anthony Buttimer didn't quite get the same plaudits. You can see what Stephen Kenny thought of the decisions here.
2) Drogheda into their third final this year
It has been another remarkable season for Drogheda United. Regardless of what Dundalk fans feel about the refereeing performance, Drogheda are through to their 3rd cup final this year. Following on from last year's 2nd place league finish and EA Sports Cup victory, there's no denying it's been an exciting two years to be a Drogheda fan. They'll be hoping that the final not being played in Tallaght Stadium helps with this final but again they'll be underdogs against Sligo. With Mick Cooke seemingly on the way out, there's plenty of teams who'd be envious of his cup record.
3) Sligo are definitely the cup specialists
4th FAI Cup final in 5 years. Reaching at least the semi finals in 11 of the last 12 domestic cups. There's no disputing who the best cup side in the country is. Yesterday they started off slowly but through the midfield guile of Ndo and Djilali showed they had far too much for Shamrock Rovers (despite their own cup exploits this year). The nature of the Dubliners' submission will surely anger their fans as they didn't make Gary Rogers make a single save until the game was over. Sligo may not defend their title, but they'll make do with reclaiming the FAI Cup
4) Pats move ever closer to the League title
While their title rivals played in FAI Cup action this weekend, Pats kept their title charge on course winning 3-1 in UCD. Despite falling behind Pats were well on top throughout the game. A couple of poor goalkeeping errors helped them but they're now 6 points clear with 3 games to go. With Pats having a 17 goal difference advantage over Dundalk, the Saints will know that any win in the last 3 games will be enough. The 3 games aren't gimmes though with 3rd and 4th placed teams (Sligo and Derry ) visiting Inchicore before they travel to in-form Cork City on the last day. They're unbeaten since the mid-season break though, and will be rightly confident of picking up 3 points somewhere
5) The promotion play off places will be decided on the last day
In the Premier Division, Shelbourne lost in Derry to stay on 21 points, the same as Bray Wanderers. With 3 games left it looks like one of those pair will be relegated whilst the other heads to the play-off. Who they'll face in the play-offs will be decided this week on the final day of the first division. Longford and Waterford (47 points) lead Mervue United (46 points) with all 3 playing away on the last day. Longford at champions Athlone with Waterford and Mervue are at Cobh and Wexford respectively. Nobody yet has an answer to what happens if Mervue United win the play off and are replaced by Galway FC.
Next game up is Cork City v Shelbourne on Thursday night , live on Setanta Sports.
