Week 20 saw the men's league return and the women's go on a break. We had a big game on the pitch and a fair bit of news off the pitch. Let's look back at what happened and look forward to what's about to become a busy, busy second half of the season.
All aboard the Dundalk bandwagon
🎥 | GOAL!
A potentially crucial goal from Robbie Benson for @DundalkFC v @ShamrockRovers! 😲
Delicious ball by Lewis Macari 🤤
10 mins to play! ⌛️
Watch live | https://t.co/AxXZM6iNCs 📺#LOI | #LOITV pic.twitter.com/eOZOfVqkux— SSE Airtricity League (@SSEAirtricityLg) June 17, 2022
The Derry City bandwagon hit it's peak the night they lost to Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght, so surely everybody is backing Dundalk now? It doesn't seem that way but the first week after an extended break didn't seem to catch the media spotlight as much as that Rovers v Derry game and Stephen O'Donnell probably prefers it that way. Since the opening series of games, no one has earned more points than Dundalk. They've turned those early season draws into wins and are clearly Rovers biggest challengers now. They won't have to worry about Europe stretching their squad either.
Rovers away form continues to puzzle
Their home form is still awesome (they've only dropped 2 points) but away from home, Shamrock Rovers are struggling. It's all relative of course as they've still more points than Dundalk from away games but Rovers have an identical away record to St Pats and Shels with 4 wins, 4 defeats and 2 draws. Indeed in games played outside of Dublin, Rovers have one win (Harps), 2 draws and 3 defeats. It likely won't stop them winning the league, but it may hinder their European ambitions and it's definitely noteworthy. Head coach Stephen Bradley has bigger things to worry about now, of course, and we wish his son the best of luck in his battle against illness.
Cork and Galway are going all the way
What a hit! 👏
Cian Bargary opens the scoring for Cork City with a fine strike from the edge of the box @LongfordTownFC 0-1 @CorkCityFC
Sign up 📺 | https://t.co/7rzXOfm8p9#LOI | #LOITV pic.twitter.com/vF3X97H4rr— SSE Airtricity League (@SSEAirtricityLg) June 18, 2022
After thumping Bray Wanderers last Friday night, Galway eyes were on Longford on Saturday with the Midlanders getting a well deserved draw at home to Cork City despite Cian bargery's excellent opener. It allowed Galway to retake the lead in the first division and for the first time, many of their fans are starting to believe this is their year. The sites meet in mid July and Galway have the slightly harder run up to that game with their own trip to Longford included. That game will be the biggest game in the whole league that night.
Oh Waterford, why are you like this?
Waterford FC Statement 👇#WaterfordFC pic.twitter.com/H1BFiWp93K
— Waterford FC (@WaterfordFCie) June 23, 2022
This column is late this week as we heard rumours of something big about to happen on Suirside and wanted to see if we could get confirmation that the owner was looking to sell. When Balls.ie alumni Gavin Cooney published his story, the owner was forced to furnish that confirmation. His €1.3m valuation seems to based on quite a bit of speculation as the club don't really have any assets but while Forrest claims he's only exploring his options, there's little to keep him tied to the club and the area.
You may remember former manager Marc Bircham claimed he was ousted from the club over his refusal to play Forrest's son George. The 22-year-old has played 4 times this season with the last appearance being on April 8th. He's been on the bench 8 times since without an appearance but wasn't in the squad for Waterford's last game. For a variety of reasons, tonight will be Waterford's first game in a month and, of course, all eyes will be on the chairman. Englishman Danny Searle was appointed manage 2 weeks ago and takes charge of his first game tonight. His appointment wasn't met with overwhelming support in Waterford where some fans had hoped local men David Breen and Gary Hunt would have their interim role made permanent. After Ian Morris's departure they had steadied the ship with 6 consecutive wins. Nothing is ever straight forward in the RSC...
Oh look a game on TV
The Dublin derby with Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians is on RTE tonight and, just like the early Keith Long era, it's a bit of a free shot for Bohs. They beat Shels last week but not many expect them to win this evening. They'll be cheered on by Dundalk who travel to Tolka to take on Shels. Derry City have the perfect game to get back to winning ways with a trip to bottom side UCD. If Derry can't win that, it'll be 8 without a win. Since the opening series, only Harps and UCD have won less points than Derry. It's an interesting weekend for Pats as they travel to Finn Harps this evening before hosting Shamrock Rovers on Monday. Pats have done well against the bottom 3 (all 7 of Eoin Doyle's goals have come against Drogheda, Harps and UCD) but the whole team have only scored twice in 7 games against the top three. One of them was a winner against Rovers in Richmond Park in March so they'll be hoping for a repeat on Monday.
