Another weekend of staggered action in the SSE Airtricity League and another step closer to the Premier Division title for Shamrock Rovers. The league leaders beat their Dublin rivals Bohemian FC 1-0 in the Tallaght Stadium. Daniel Lafferty got the game’s only goal after four minutes. Shamrock have now opened up a five point lead.
Up to third now are the form side in the league Sligo Rovers. They recorded their fourth win in their last five league games as they beat North West rivals Finn Harps 3-1 in the Showgrounds. Ryan De Vries, Ronan Murray and Ronan Coughlan got their goals. Mark Russell scored for Harps who finished with nine men as both Mark Coyle and Kosovar Sadiki were sent off. It’s some turnaround for Liam Buckley’s side as prior to the lockdown they had lost their opening four games.
Waterford are up to fifth thanks to their 3-0 win against St. Patrick’s Athletic in the Regional Sports Centre. Ali Coote, John Martin and Michael O’Connor got their goals. Shelbourne remain mid table and Cork City in the relegation battle after the sides drew 1-1 in Tolka Park. Dayle Rooney gave Shels the lead and Deshane Dalling equalised for Cork.
It has been a busy few days in the First Division as well with games on Friday and Monday night. Despite mixed results Drogheda are top of the table. They bounced back from a 1-0 defeat against Cobh Ramblers to beat fellow promotion contenders Cabinteely 5-1 in United Park. It was a miserable few days for Cabo who were also beaten 3-0 by Bray Wanderers.
The Seasiders had a good few days as they are up to second level on points with Drogheda. They won their second game 3-1 against Athlone Town. It was a good period also for new Galway United manager John Caulfield. In his first game in charge his new side beat Athlone 4-1 away in the Athlone Town Stadium. They followed this up with an impressive 3-0 win against UCD in the UCD Bowl.
For UCD it was a tale of two halves as in their preceding fixture they had beaten Wexford 8-0. Yousef Mahdy and Colm Whelan both got a hat-trick apiece with Liam Kerrigan and Isaac Akinsete getting the other goals. Shamrock Rovers II lost both of their fixtures. They were beaten 2-1 by Longford Town and 1-0 by Cobh Ramblers with both fixtures having been played in the Tallaght Stadium.
