Week four? Are we really a month into the season already? We’re at a weird point of the season already with some teams playing six games with others having had only two outings.
Anyway, enough of us questioning how time works. Here’s some things we learned.
There could be a genuine title race in the Premier Division
Eoin Doyle with the first @kavanaghspubd8 goal of the night. #StPatsFC pic.twitter.com/IkQayOYJd4
— St Patrick's Athletic FC (@stpatsfc) March 14, 2022
Shamrock Rovers are still the bookmakers’ favourites, but they’ve returned a single point from their three away games so far in Derry, Dundalk and Inchicore. The win over Bohs on Friday night was crucial.
St Pats are top after three successive wins (with clean sheets) followed two consecutive defeats in the last double-game weekend. Derry City and Sligo Rovers are only a point behind Pats with a game in hand.
It was a nice weekend for Rovers’ challengers as they all faced the bottom three twice (or at least that was the plan until UCD v Derry was called off…). Next weekend sees Derry host Pats while the battle of the Rovers takes place in Tallaght. Both games will tell us a lot about the title chances of four clubs.
There could be a genuine title race in the First Division
𝗦 𝗖 𝗘 𝗡 𝗘 𝗦 😱
Ruairi Keating opening the scoring for Cork City with a placed effort, they've since doubled their lead 👏@CorkCityFC 2-0 @WaterfordFCie
Sign up 📺 | https://t.co/7rzXOfm8p9#LOI | #LOITV pic.twitter.com/MZ7WGWdTU4— SSE Airtricity League (@SSEAirtricityLg) March 14, 2022
A huge win for Cork City (in front of another huge crowd) over Waterford on Monday night left both clubs on ten points, with Galway United’s win over Treaty bringing them to the same tally. City have only conceded once in five games but that was in a 1-0 defeat at home to Galway.
Galway remain undefeated and have a game in hand over the other two. It’s a month before any of these three play each other again and we fully expect them to be clear of the rest by then.
There could be a genuine title race in the Women’s National League
OK, this is a stretch just so we could work the three headlines in.
The big game of the weekend between Wexford Youths and Shelbourne was rained off which left Peamount United and DLR Waves to pick up their second wins and top the way-too-early-to-count table. Stephanie Roche with the pick of the goals this week in the WNL.
GOAL ⚽️| Galway WFC 0-4 Peamount United
A late long range strike from Stephanie Roche who obviously isn't content with just the one Puskas nomination.#WNL | #LOITV pic.twitter.com/SwKbZBVQ24— Women's National League (@LoiWomen) March 12, 2022
Strikers are like gold dust
It was a big weekend for lead strikers this week. Eoin Doyle scored in both games to get his Pats league tally up and running. Jamie McGonigle scored twice for Derry in the win over Drogheda. Pat Hoban got his 100th goal for Dundalk and Aidan Keena added to his burgeoning reputation with a cracking hat-trick in Sligo Rovers win over Finn Harps.
There could be a genuine race for the golden boot…
𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙏𝙍𝙄𝘾𝙆 𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙊 👏
Aidan Keena gets his third goal of the night with a sublime finish 🔥
Joey N'Do is enjoying himself 😂@sligorovers 3-0 @FinnHarpsFC
Sign up 📺 | https://t.co/7rzXOfm8p9#LOI | #LOITV pic.twitter.com/I80wOtf7fZ— SSE Airtricity League (@SSEAirtricityLg) March 14, 2022
Great keepers are like gold dust
Alan Mannus has played a huge role for Shamrock Rovers in both of their recent title winning seasons. Last year St Pats great season owed a fair amount to the on-loan Vitezslav Jaros and it looks like they’ve unearthed another loaned gem in Joseph Anang from West Ham.
It is no exaggeration to say Dundalk’s goalkeeping situation last year was disastrous. So, if new signing Nathan Sheppard can continue at the level he’s started at, they’ll have solved a huge problem. His save on Monday from Aaron Greene’s header was spectacular.
🧤 What a save @njshepps. pic.twitter.com/5b63B2AvcP
— Dundalk FC (@DundalkFC) March 14, 2022
In this league, flair players are NOT like gold dust
We have tons of them and thankfully, we now get multiple clips each week as they try to top each other in the outrageousness stakes. We mightn’t be suitable for broadcast TV, but this league is alive on social media.
Enjoy Chris Forrester and Stephen Mallon from week four.
𝙎𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙎𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨@ChrisForrester1 is back with another nutmeg. This one comes with a side of great trapping skills and a step over too…
🎟 https://t.co/cikipeFnTB#StPatsFC pic.twitter.com/QLZjrclWfn— St Patrick's Athletic FC (@stpatsfc) March 13, 2022
This flash of skill from Stephen Mallon is a spiritual cleansepic.twitter.com/TAYH6qabtw
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) March 12, 2022
Let's hope week 5 is kinder with the weather and the pitches improve slightly. The growing crowds deserve the best product we can offer.
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