Week one of the SSE Airtricity League is in the books. Each Tuesday here on balls.ie we'll have a weekly round up of all you need to know about the Greatest League In The World™, so here's our first 'State of the League of Ireland'.
The Big Story
The big story this week is that the league is back! Shamrock Rovers beat St Pats in the game of the week on Friday with a smartly taken goal by Danny North. Champions Dundalk opened up with a win over promoted Longford Town. Galway United welcomed President Higgins but Derry went away with all three points. Bohs thumped Limerick, Drogheda beat Bray and a late, late equaliser by Ross Gaynor gave Cork a point in Sligo. In the first division UCD had a great win in Cobh while Shels/Harps and Waterford/Athlone had to split the points. Meanwhile...
The Team Of The Week
As the vine above from Soccer Republic shows, Cabinteely came into the league with a bit of flair. The new club managed to get a great crowd out for their opener against Wexford Youths and even managed to get that first win under the belts. They followed that up with an EA Sports Cup game away to UCD on Monday, and won that too.
Evan Whelan saved an 89th minute peno before Shane O'Neill scored in the 93rd. Great performance from the lads and great support #WeAreCabo — Cabinteely F.C. (@Cabinteely_FC) March 9, 2015
The GIF of the Week
Craig Hyland had one save to make in Friday's televised Dublin derby. It came in the 95th minute as Shamrock Rovers defended a one goal league. The stand-in keeper's brilliant save from Ciaran Kilduff's header earned Shamrock Rovers a huge win over St Patrick's Athletic and is our moment of the week.
The Sportsfile Picture of the Week
Your Greatest League In The World™ Pic of the Week
Buying tickets from the back of a van outside Jackman Park last Saturday. #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld pic.twitter.com/xQdrzhQh2g — Michael O'Hara (@thelittleeasy) March 9, 2015
Your Greatest League In The World™ Club Tweet of the Week
2: Goal: Limerick 0-1 @bfcdublin. Fitzgerald corner flicked on and finished off by Adam Evans #loi pic.twitter.com/RsU1LtCa7M — Limerick FC (@LimerickFCie) March 7, 2015
The Off-Field Pisser of the Week
Athlone Town have called a public meeting for next week
for the purpose of establishing the level of public support for the continued involvement of the club at League of Ireland level.
That's never a good thing. You can read the full statement here. We wish Athlone Town the best of luck but it's disheartening for the league that after a great opening week, another club is already talking about shutting down.
The League Leaders
We are top of the league say we are top of the league.. #Bohs
— Bohemian FC (@bfcdublin) March 7, 2015
Next Week
Derry City v Dundalk looks like the pick of the weekend games. No TV coverage this week until Soccer Republic returns on Monday. We'll have our March update on the LOI Fans Happiness Index here too. Do let us know what we should include in the second "State of the League of Ireland" summary.
