Following on from their win last week against Dundalk, Bohemian FC secured their place in Europe next season. They knew going into their game against St. Patrick’s Athletic in Richmond Park that a point would suffice. And they got it as the game finished in a goalless draw. Bohs had to play out the last half hour with ten men as James Finnerty was sent off in the 63rd minute.
The last European spot will now be contested between St. Pat’s and Derry City. It is Derry who are in the driving seat thanks to their 2-1 win away against Sligo Rovers in the Showgrounds. Jamie McDonagh and Barry McNamee scored for Derry, while Lewis Banks had initially given Rovers the lead in the game. So Derry are five points clear with two games to go and one of those is against St. Pat’s in the Ryan McBride Brandywell.
The race for 6th place and with it a spot in next season’s Scottish Challenge Cup will go down to the last game of the season. Rovers are two points clear of Waterford. The men from the South East of Ireland were beaten 1-0 by Finn Harps in Finn Park. Joshua Smith had the game’s only goal in the 6th minute. All in all, a great way for Harps to prepare for the upcoming playoffs.
UCD will have to look to rebuild as their relegation was confirmed over the weekend. They were beaten 3-0 by Shamrock Rovers in the Belfield Bowl, with Joey O’Brien, Graham Cummins and Brandon Kavanagh scoring the goals for Shamrock. The division’s remaining fixture saw Cork City welcome the champions Dundalk to Turner’s Cross.
In recent seasons this game would have been a near title decider, but such has been Cork’s collapse this season that they hadn’t even been a blip on Dundalk’s radar. That said, they did salvage some much-needed pride as they beat the Lillywhites 1-0, with the goal coming from Daire O’Connor in the 45th minute. For Dundalk, they are oddly out of form having now suffered two league defeats in a row.
The playoff series continues in the First Division: having seen off Longford Town on penalties, Cabinteely welcomed Drogheda United to Stradbrook on Friday night. For Drogheda, it was their first competitive game in four weeks and it showed as they were caught cold by the hosts in the 5th minute as Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters gave Cabinteely the lead.
Drogheda though worked their way back into the game and ensured that it finished 1-1 as Jake Hyland snatched their equaliser in the 79th minute. The second leg will be played in United Park this coming Friday evening, where the winners of this tie will then go on to play Harps.
