The final weekend of the season is upon us and both divisions boil down to 90 minutes, but Shamrock Rovers’ faltering title bid is undoubtedly the main event.
By Shane Breslin
There will be a trail of something from Bray to Tallaght on Friday night. It’s probably fair to say that everyone but the black and red chaps from Phibsboro and around will hope it’s the spoils of victory for Shamrock Rovers, a late evening celebration parade on the Dart and Luas from suburb to suburb through the heart of the city.
The Hoops, having tried their best to throw everything away over a torturous last six weeks, stand 90 minutes away from a first League of Ireland title since 1994, a crowning moment 18 months on from the club’s triumphant move to their new home in Tallaght.
They meet a Bray Wanderers with little, as the cliché-peddling sages might say, but pride to play for. The Seagulls have taken the most they possibly could from the final third of the season, having recovered from eight points adrift at the foot of the table to consign Drogheda United to bottom spot and automatic relegation.
Their focus will be firmly on a single game relegation play-off with Galway United next week (on which, it’s hard not to feel sympathy with Galway manager Sean Connor, whose side could conceivably finish the season 14 points ahead of their rivals yet lose out in a one-off game, which would then see them face the winners of the First Division promotion play-off for the right to the final place in the Premier Division for 2011. But I digress.)
Where this weekend is concerned, with anything less than a Bray win transporting the title to Tallaght, the Seagulls are hardly in the best position to take the result needed to derail the Hoops’ juddering juggernaut.
Or are they? Is there, perhaps, a school of thought which suggests that Bray, removed of all the pressure under which they’ve been playing virtually since the first ball was kicked in March, could be capable of the big performance that would leave an indelible mark on the 2010 League of Ireland season? Or is that just an exercise in straw-clutching, one last hope of beleaguered Bohs fans for whom the future is as uncertain as their recent past has been memorable?
The percentage bet is that Rovers, having escaped from their slips and blips and botch-jobs, will get the job done in Bray. Thousands of Hoops fans have snatched up all available tickets for the Carlisle Grounds in readiness for the party atmosphere that is sure to descend whenever the Hoops limp over the line.
Top four go head-to-head in First Division
Elsewhere this weekend we’re certain to see confirmation of the return of Derry City to the top division, 12 months after one of the most disheartening episodes in a league which has witnessed more than its fair share of disheartening episodes. The Candystripes, reconstituted and relegated to the First Division after the revelation that the club had been engaging in under-the-table payments to players, lie three points clear of second placed Waterford United with an unsurpassable goal difference.
The events of late 2009 were so unpalatable that one of the League’s longest serving players, Clive Delaney, lost all patience and jetted off to Australia, and big Dubliner won’t have been alone in turning his back on the League of Ireland as a result. Nevertheless, once the formalities are out of the way this weekend, it will be good to see the new Derry City entity back where they belong, in every way except geographically.
While Derry’s promotion is effectively a fait accompli, the Premier Division title race cannot claim a monopoly on the final weekend drama, with the destination of the First Division play-off places promising a night of twists, turns and twirls on Saturday.
Any two of Waterford, Monaghan United and Shelbourne can yet advance to the initial stage of the promotion/relegation tournament, and the added excitement lies in the fact that the top four all face one another, with Monaghan hosting Derry at Gortakeegan and Waterford making the trip to Tolka Park to take on Shels.
Without anything approaching anti-establishment resentment – honest! – it would surely be more equitable if Shels ultimately miss out on a return to the top division. Either Monaghan or Waterford would bring a greater mix to the top flight, which has been unsatisfyingly Dublin-centric this season. The Vantage Club debacle may have Irish soccer indebted to the tune of eight fat figures, but it would be good to see whatever wealth the little League of Ireland is capable of generating spread to other parts of the country. Imagine Shamrock Rovers and their dozens of bus-loads of Championes-chanting fans descending on Monaghan in 2011.
But stay. We’re getting ahead of ourselves, on so many different levels.
There is plenty of water to flow under that particular bridge, starting all over the country on Friday and Saturday night. You could do worse than getting along to see what it’s all about. If you can haul yourself away from the Late, Late and X Factor, that is.
Edit: Just caught sight of this, the most innovative promotion I’ve seen in many a year. Fair play Fingal. (Now, if they can get their match programme right…)
Airtricity League of Ireland – final weekend fixtures:
Premier Division (all Friday 29 October, 7.45pm)
Bohemians v Dundalk
Bray Wanderers v Shamrock Rovers
Drogheda United v Galway United
Sligo Rovers v St Patrick’s Athletic
Sporting Fingal v UCD
First Division (all Saturday 30 October, 7.45pm)
Athlone Town v Limerick FC
Finn Harps v Mervue United
Monaghan United v Derry City
Salthill Devon v Longford Town
Shelbourne v Waterford United
Wexford Youths v Cork City FORAS
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