The most interesting game this weekend comes in the fight to reach the final European spot this season, currently it would appear to be a two horse race between Dundalk and Waterford with The Lilywhites in the driving seat four points ahead of The Blues. The sides currently sitting 3rd and 4th respectively face each other tonight with Waterford hoping to close the gap, St. Pat’s, Shelbourne and Sligo are six points off Dundalk and would appear to be out of the running though Pat’s do have two games in hand over Waterford and one over Dundalk which is worth bearing in mind.
Shamrock Rovers could have been crowned SSE Airtricity Premier Division champions by now but following two positive Covid-19 tests in their camp their fixture last weekend as well as their midweek game and fixture for this weekend have had to be postponed with several other players having been unable to train due to being in close contact with the two positive cases.
Of course this postponements gave 2nd placed Bohemians an opportunity to close the gap at the top of the table but they could only manage a 0-0 draw away to Dundalk last week keeping them four points off top spot but they have a second bite at the cherry tomorrow when they host relegation threatened Finn Harps.
At the other end of the table Cork are now just a point behind their nearest competitors in the relegation fight after they managed to pick up a draw last week against Waterford while Finn Harps had no game. Colin Healy’s side face a trip to Sligo this weekend, with just two games remaining for City and trailing 8th placed Derry by six points it would appear that the best they can hope for is to reach the relegation/promotion play-off spot but they have at least given themselves a fighting chance of doing just that.
Here is this weekend’s full fixture list: –
Derry City v Shelbourne (Friday 23rd October at 19:45)
Sligo Rovers v Cork City (Saturday 24th October at 17:00)
Bohemians v Finn Harps (Saturday 24th October at 19:30)
Waterford v Dundalk (Sunday 25th October at 14:00)
Here are the current league standings: –
| Pos | Club | Pl | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| 1 | Shamrock Rovers | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 7 | 31 | 38 |
| 2 | Bohemians | 16 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 34 |
| 3 | Dundalk | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 19 | 5 | 25 |
| 4 | Waterford | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 21 | -5 | 21 |
| 5 | St. Patrick’s Athletic | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 19 |
| 6 | Shelbourne | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 18 | -5 | 19 |
| 7 | Sligo Rovers | 16 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 15 | 22 | -7 | 19 |
| 8 | Derry City | 15 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 16 |
| 9 | Finn Harps | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 20 | -11 | 11 |
| 10 | Cork City | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 27 | -19 | 10 |
There are also two First Division games this weekend, here are the details with both games taking place tomorrow at 15:00: –
Bray Wanderers v Galway United
Drogheda United v Wexford
Here is the full First Division table: –
| Pos | Club | Pl | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| 1 | Bray Wanderers | 16 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 29 | 12 | 17 | 35 |
| 2 | Drogheda United | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 35 | 17 | 18 | 33 |
| 3 | U.C.D. | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 42 | 27 | 15 | 29 |
| 4 | Longford Town | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 21 | 4 | 29 |
| 5 | Cabinteely | 17 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 25 | 31 | -6 | 28 |
| 6 | Cobh Ramblers | 17 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 22 | 20 | 2 | 26 |
| 7 | Galway United | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 17 | 6 | 23 |
| 8 | Athlone Town | 17 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 23 | 39 | -16 | 15 |
| 9 | Shamrock Rovers II | 17 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 22 | 28 | -6 | 14 |
| 10 | Wexford | 16 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 42 | -34 | 5 |
Last week was a low scoring one for our writer’s in our charity prediction league, in part due to the reduced fixture list but also because only Darren predicted a draw between Cork and Waterford and a few dropped points after Dundalk v Bohemians ended in a goalless draw.
Currently Liam leads the way, holding an eight point lead over Rodney and looks to be in the driving seat but as we have seen before things can all change very quicky.
Here is the full leaderboard: –
| 1. Liam (Irish Cancer Society) | 49 |
| 2. Rodney (Marie Curie Cancer Care) | 41 |
| 3. Keith (North-West Hospital)/Richard (The National Autistic Society) | 37 |
| 5. Darren (Cancer Research UK) | 35 |
| 6. Cameron (Prostate Cancer UK) | 32 |
| 7. Adrian (Alzheimer’s Society) | 30 |
As usual it is three points for predicting a result correctly and a point for predicting the correct outcome in a fixture, Darren starts us off this week.
Darren (Cancer Research UK)
Derry City 0-0 Shelbourne
Sligo Rovers 1-0 Cork City
Bohemians 1-0 Finn Harps
Waterford 1-2 Dundalk
Cameron (Prostate Cancer UK)
Derry City 2-1 Shelbourne
Sligo Rovers 3-0 Cork City
Bohemians 4-0 Finn Harps
Waterford 1-2 Dundalk
Liam (Irish Cancer Society)
Derry City 0-0 Shelbourne
Sligo Rovers 2-0 Cork City
Bohemians 2-1 Finn Harps
Waterford 2-1 Dundalk
Richard (The National Autistic Society)
Derry City 3-1 Sherbourne
Sligo Rovers 0-0 Cork City
Bohemians 2-3 Finn Harps
Waterford 0-1 Dundalk
Rodney (Marie Curie Cancer Care)
Derry City 2-1 Shelbourne
Sligo Rovers 2-0 Cork City
Bohemians 3-0 Finn Harps
Waterford 2-2 Dundalk
Keith (North-West Hospital)
Derry City 1-1 Shelbourne
Sligo Rovers 1-0 Cork City
Bohemians 0-0 Finn Harps
Waterford 2-1 Dundalk
Adrian (Alzheimer’s Society)
Derry City 2-0 Shelbourne
Sligo Rovers 2-0 Cork City
Bohemians 3-0 Finn Harps
Waterford 1-1 Dundalk
