Drogheda United v Shelbourne (Premier Division)

Back-to-back poor results against the league bottom two sides will have Drogheda boss Kevin Doherty demanding a response as he goes up against his former club on Friday night. A 1-1 draw away to UCD was followed up by a shock 3-0 hammering away to Finn Harps but United have been a tough nut to crack in the tight surrounds of Head In The Game Park since their promotion so are likely to make things difficult for Damien Duff’s Shelbourne this weekend. 

Being one of the division’s only part-time teams, it’s a huge credit to Kevin Doherty that Drogheda currently hold the fifth best home record in the top-flight with just four defeats in 13 home games. One of those losses was against Shelbourne but that was a game where there was little to nothing between the sides only for two shocking individual errors to cost the Drogs. 

Shelbourne were off last week due to European postponements but Damien Duff’s team come into this one on a three-match winning streak with the likes of Sean Boyd and Jack Moylan in great goalscoring form. Boyd, who has scored three goals in his last two games, grabbed the winner in the other H2H meeting between Shelbourne and Drogheda this season with the Drumcondra outfit winning 1-0. 

Going back to Drogheda’s ability to make things difficult for the opposition when playing at home, Drogheda’s last five home league matches have all featured under 2.5 goals and with this game marking a merger of two of the divisions lowest scoring sides, that may be the market to play here. 

Bohemians v Dundalk (Premier Division)

“Same old Bohs” was the cry of many after the Gypsies yet again threw away a lead in defeat to Sligo Rovers last Sunday. Keith Long’s men have lost more points from winning positions than any other team this season with their ability or lack of it to manage games at crucial periods costing them dearly this season. A big turnover of players during the recent transfer window will not have helped matters and Keith Long’s future at the club may depend on his new signings hitting the ground quickly. 

Dundalk are certainly a more gelled together side despite having only been put together in the off-season but Stephen O’Donnell has got his recruitment spot on and has been rewarded with Dundalk currently sitting in a lofty second place. Such a league standing is far greater progress than anticipated at this stage of the Dundalk project but there are still areas for improvement. 

Having lost the services of centre-back Mark Connolly to Derry City, Dundalk have been left with a defensive pairing lacking in pace in the shape of Andy Boyle and Sam Bone. Long-term, O’Donnell is likely to address this but for now that is the cards he has been dealt and that lack of pace in behind in something Bohs can exploit here. Bohemians have scored in every home game this season while Dundalk have struggled on the road with just two away wins all year.

Dundalk legend Pat Hoban has hit form of late with the Galway native scoring late against Derry City last time to notch his eighth league goal of the campaign. With lots of goals flying around this fixture in recent times (BTTS has landed in the last 6) Hoban may fancy his chances of extending his run of goals and moving closer to Dundalk’s all-time goalscoring record. 

Cork City v Treaty United (First Division)

Cork City continued their march towards the title with a ruthless 6-1 win at home to bottom outfit Athlone Town last Friday and that result will have sent a shudder down the spine of Treaty United supporters given the Rebels have scored TWELVE without response in three meetings this season. 

Having found themselves 2-0 down inside the opening twenty minutes against Waterford last week, Treaty followers would have been fearful of another tonking from a top three side but to their credit, Tommy Barrett’s men dug in and managed to put some gloss on the result by scoring a late goal. 

With Galway United only picking up a point at home to Wexford last time out, Cork City now find themselves three points clear at the top with a game in hand. Treaty United, meanwhile, are clinging onto the division’s final play-off place but that may change this weekend with Wexford (Treaty’s main challengers) at home to struggling Cobh Ramblers. 

All in all, that makes this a big game for both sides but Treaty United’s tendency to fold quite tamely in this fixture this season is obviously a huge concern. As is the fact most sides seem to crumble under the pressure of playing in front of big crowds at Turners Cross where the Rebels have won seven from twelve this season. 

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Bray Wanderers v Longford Town (Division 1)

Bray Wanderers circus-like existence has been well documented in ABC previews this season. From a hugely unpopular takeover, club staff challenging fans to a fist fight, woeful on-field performances to crowd violence, Netflix really are missing a trick by not featuring the Seagulls in a “All or Nothing” series. As a result, last weekend’s bye will have come as a welcome respite for Pat Devlin and his players who will undoubtedly have been taking notes as Longford Town cruised to a 2-0 home win against Cobh Ramblers, a team that Bray Wanderers were turned over by just a few weeks ago. 

Longford’s old achilles heel of not being clinical in front of goal was evident during the win over Cobh with De Town spurning a number of great opportunities in front of goal. So much so that Cobh boss Shane Keegan admitted after the match that it could have ended 5-0. 

New signing Jordan Adeyemo was again on the scoresheet for Longord with the ex-Galway man notching two goals in his first five appearances now. Adeyemo’s ability to press from the front has breathed new life into Gary Cronin’s team who appear to have really benefited from having such a strong focal point and that’s got to be a concern for Bray fans given the level of mistakes their team have made in defence this season.   

Wanderers have now won just one of their last nine matches with realisation setting in that the play-offs are as good as out of reach. A tame cup exit has effectively signaled the end of any purpose to this 2022 season for Bray with supporters demanding an immediate change. 

Despite all of that, Longford Town will be well aware that Bray are unlikely to be walked over on Friday with 1W, 1D & 1L for Longford in the H2H’s this season. Cabinteely were always Longford’s bogey team in years gone by and with this Bray side effectively being a clone of “Cabo”, this is likely to be a tight affair. 

Wexford FC v Cobh Ramblers (Premier Division)

Cobh Ramblers season can be summed up in a few words, hard-working, some promise but more often than not……DEFEAT. Last Saturday’s 2-0 loss in Longford was Cobh’s 18th defeat of the campaign from just 24 matches. Despite showing some nice glimpses and trying to play the game the right way, Cobh Ramblers never looked like scoring with Town keeper Luke Dennison failing to break sweat on the night. 

Similar comments were made about Wexford FC in the past but not this season with manager Ian Ryan developing a reputation as being one of the best up & coming bosses in the country. Ryan has got Wexford playing a lovely brand of football but in contrast to Cobh they are extremely effective with Wexford scoring in 9 of their last 10 matches. 

A win here could see Wexford jump back into the play-off places and they’d certainly be well worthy of a place in the promotion race given they’ve only lost once in their last ten games in all comps, that defeat being a narrow 1-0 loss against the league leaders Cork City! 

All three meetings between Wexford and Cobh this season have gone the way of Ian Ryan’s men and while the first two clashes were tight enough (3-2 & 4-2) the 3-0 score line last time out is probably a truer indication of the gulf in class between the two teams this season and a similar outcome might be on the cards here. 

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