Last weekend, Derry City continued their inconsistent start to the season and Declan Devine’s side find themselves in desperate need of some points on the board if they are to avoid getting sucked into a relegation dogfight. So far, the Candystripes have just two wins and four defeats and are only four points above the bottom spot.
Dundalk also dropped points last weekend again, leaving Vinny Perth’s defending champions eight points behind current leaders Shamrock Rovers and in third place in the table.
Rovers didn’t have the greatest of weekends themselves as they could only pick up a point on the road to St. Pat’s, meaning that Bohemians’ win over Finn Harps reduced their lead at the top from six points to four.
On Tuesday night Sligo played their game in hand at home to Waterford and goals from Ronan Coughlan and Tadhg Ryan saw them come from behind to pick up a crucial three points, while Michael O’Connor was the goalscorer for the visitors.
Going into this weekend’s fixtures the Premier Division table currently looks like this: –
| Pos | Club | Pl | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| 1 | Shamrock Rovers | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 6 | 14 | 22 |
| 2 | Bohemians | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 18 |
| 3 | Dundalk | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 14 |
| 4 | St. Patrick’s Athletic | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 11 |
| 5 | Waterford | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | -2 | 11 |
| 6 | Shelbourne | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 10 |
| 7 | Sligo Rovers | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 13 | -5 | 9 |
| 8 | Derry City | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 9 | -1 | 8 |
| 9 | Cork City | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 12 | -8 | 7 |
| 10 | Finn Harps | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 13 | -10 | 4 |
This weekend Devine’s Derry side play host to Cork at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium. Derry head into the game just a point ahead of their opponents and a defeat could plunge them well and truly into a relegation scrap, especially if current bottom side, Finn Harps, manage to pick up a result on the road to Waterford.
Bearing in mind that they do not play until Saturday evening, Dundalk could find themselves as many as 11 points off top spot as both Rovers and Bohemians play before them. Perth’s men have an away game to Sligo who know a win will move them only two points behind last season’s league winners.
Rovers and the Bohs do both enjoy home advantage this weekend but neither are guaranteed to have things their own way as they face tricky enough fixtures against Shelbourne and St. Pat’s respectively.
Here is the full fixture list for this weekend: –
Derry City v Cork City (Friday 21st August at 17:45)
Shamrock Rovers v Shelbourne (Friday 21st August at 19:45)
Bohemians v St. Patrick’s Athletic (Saturday 22nd August at 14:00)
Sligo Rovers v Dundalk (Saturday 22nd August at 17:00)
Waterford v Finn Harps (Sunday 23rd August at 14:00)
In terms of our Writer’s Charity Prediction League, Liam has managed to retain his place in first place after picking up four points last weekend. Liam correctly predicted a 1-1 draw between Shelbourne and Derry and also backed Bohemians to emerge victorious against Finn Harps.
Rodney managed to take advantage of a poor week from Richard to move into 2nd place after also predicting a 1-1 draw between Derry and Bohemians and wins for Cork and Bohs.
The full leaderboard is below, remember this time around our writers our competing for a cash pot they will donate to their current charity: –
| 1. Liam (Irish Cancer Society) | 35 |
| 2. Rodney (Marie Curie Cancer Care) | 27 |
| 3. Bryan (Children’s Cancer Unit at Royal Victoria Hospital) | 26 |
| 4. Darren (Cancer Research UK)/Richard (The National Autistic Society) | 23 |
| 6. Adrian (Alzheimer’s Society) | 21 |
| 7. Cameron (Prostate Cancer UK) | 20 |
| 8. Keith (North-West Hospice) | 19 |
This week’s predictions will follow now and as usual, it is three points for predicting the correct result in a game and a point for getting the outcome correct. Rodney is first up this week: –
Rodney (Marie Curie Cancer Care)
Derry City 2-0 Cork City
Shamrock Rovers 3-1 Shelbourne
Bohemians 2-1 St. Patrick’s Athletic
Sligo Rovers 1-3 Dundalk
Waterford 3-0 Finn Harp
Liam (Irish Cancer Society)
Derry City 1-1 Cork City
Shamrock Rovers 3-0 Shelbourne
Bohemians 2-0 St. Patrick’s Athletic
Sligo Rovers 2-1 Dundalk
Waterford 3-1 Finn Harps
Richard (The National Autistic Society)
Derry City 0-1 Cork City
Shamrock Rovers 2-1 Shelbourne
Bohemians 2-2 St. Patrick’s Athletic
Sligo Rovers 1-4 Dundalk
Waterford 5-0 Finn Harps
Adrian (Alzheimer’s Society)
Derry City 2-1 Cork City
Shamrock Rovers 2-0 Shelbourne
Bohemians 2-1 St. Patrick’s Athletic
Sligo Rovers 0-2 Dundalk
Waterford 2-0 Finn Harps
Keith (North-West Hospice)
Derry City 1-1 Cork City
Shamrock Rovers 3-1 Shelbourne
Bohemians 1-0 Patrick’s Athletic
Sligo Rovers 2-1 Dundalk
Waterford 1-0 Finn Harps
Cameron (Prostate Cancer UK)
Derry City 2-1 Cork City
Shamrock Rovers 2-0 Shelbourne
Bohemians 3-1 St. Patrick’s Athletic
Sligo Rovers 1-2 Dundalk
Waterford 2-0 Finn Harps
Darren (Cancer Research UK)
Derry City 1-0 Cork City
Shamrock Rovers 3-0 Shelbourne
Bohemians 2-1 St. Patrick’s Athletic
Sligo Rovers 1-1 Dundalk
Waterford 1-0 Finn Harps
In the First Division, Cabinteely remain the only side unbeaten and are sitting five points ahead of nearest rivals Drogheda. They play U.C.D. at home tomorrow night, the Students have had a mixed season so far following their relegation last season and find themselves sitting fifth in the table.
Here is the full First Division table: –
| Pos | Club | Pl | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| 1 | Cabinteely | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 19 |
| 2 | Drogheda United | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 14 |
| 3 | Bray Wanderers | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| 4 | Longford Town | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 13 |
| 5 | U.C.D. | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 11 |
| 6 | Cobh Ramblers | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 8 |
| 7 | Wexford | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 6 |
| 8 | Shamrock Rovers II | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 | -4 | 5 |
| 9 | Galway United | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 9 | -4 | 4 |
| 10 | Athlone Town | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 18 | -8 | 2 |
Here are this weekend’s First Division fixtures with all games on Friday 21st August at 19:45 unless otherwise stated: –
Athlone Town v Shamrock Rovers II
Cabinteely v U.C.D.
Galway United v Bray Wanderers
Wexford v Drogheda United
Cobh Ramblers v Longford Town (Saturday 22nd August at 19:00)
Next weekend sees the second round of the Extra.ie FAI Cup second round take place. The full draw is as follows: –
Athlone Town v Wexford
Galway United v Shelbourne
Drogheda United v Derry City
Bray Wanderers v Finn Harps
Cobh Ramblers v Dundalk
U.C.D. v Sligo Rovers
Shamrock Rovers v Cork City
Bohemians v Cabinteely
Last night Dundalk played in their Champions League qualifying tie, losing 3-0 against Slovenian champions NK Celje, and over the next week Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians, and Derry will play their Europe League qualifying ties, you can read Liam’s preview of their fixtures HERE.
