Stephen Walsh's Betting Column (17th March 2017)

Well for the fourth week in the row the column narrowly missed out on the perfect result with Bray Wanderers and Cork City failing to win their games by the amount we in the column were hoping for so as to make a profit for the blood bikes south.

Today across the country many people will still be thinking about who they will be backing for the Gold Cup but one can’t forget that there is a full round of League of Ireland fixtures to be played in the next two days.

Paddy Power has again kindly sponsored the bet for this week. They have also increased the odds on the treble from 5.44/1 to 8/1. The link can be found here: http://www.paddypower.com/football/football-specials/league-of-ireland-specials?ev_oc_grp_ids=3057077

The first game on the treble will be that of UCD at 11/10. The Students have suffered one loss this year to Waterford but in saying that they were large outsiders for that game in betting terms and people weren’t expecting to see them get any result. The Students have a young squad even by their standards this year but while they may be young they have proved very good at getting a result. None more so than their first game of the season where an inexperienced side owing to Collingwood Cup commitments defeated Cabinteely in the first game of the season.

The number of games the UCD team has had to play in recent weeks has also decreased as the third level tournaments begin to wind down meaning they can devout more time to preparing for League matches while in the first week or two that was not the case.

Wexford on the other hand lost to Cabinteely last week and before that they scrapped a late draw with Cobh Ramblers who drew with Shelbourne in the league. As a result all the form lines indicate a UCD victory tonight to get the treble of to the perfect start.

Derry City the underdogs for the League title are the second pick in the treble at 4/11. They had a superb home victory over Dundalk at home on Monday night and listening to the vibes coming out of Kenny Shiel’s camp it is clear that they are all working together despite their lack of experience to build on last season’s third place. Despite missing the prolific Rory Patterson up front, other players have come to the fore with Nathan Boyle and Ronan Curtis in particular finding the net in recent weeks.

Drogheda United on the other hand had a dream start to the league with two victories in a row but they have been brought back to earth in recent weeks with two defeats to both Cork City and Bray Wanderers and I don’t see them being able to stop a third from happening tomorrow.

Lastly the final game of the treble will be the meeting of Sligo Rovers and Bray Wanderers in the Showgrounds on Saturday night.  Two sides on opposite sides of the spectrum will play each other with Sligo yet to secure a victory while Bray have flown out of the blocks suffering only one defeat so far this season.

Sligo will feel unlucky not to have got something from Cork on Monday night considering that they went ahead in the second half but again their defence let them down at crucial times which has been a common theme so far this season. Limerick and Dundalk have both fired numerous goals past them this year showing that questions  still remain over their defence and with Dylan Connolly and Anto Flood finding the net showing recently expect Bray’s good form to continue leading them to win at 5/4.

Bets:

UCD 11/10

Derry City 4/11

Bray Wanderers 5/4

Treble €5= (Was €32.22) Now with Paddy Power Enhanced Bet: €45