Stephen Walsh Betting Column (April 21st 2017)

There is a phrase saying that many an Irish person will have heard over the years and that it is a mother’s advice is often very good to listen too. Of course yours truly ignored that last week when the mother said “Don’t bother with the handicap bets and just stick with the wins”. Well it was clear that she was right unlike me as Waterford achieved a win and not the required handicap meaning that the wait for a second win goes on.

Sophia Housing Agency will again be the charity who will benefit from the bet if we manage to pull off the treble. Thanks again goes to Paddy Power who have enhanced the bet for tonight from 5.23/1 to 8/1

Of course if you haven’t seen during the week, Extratime.ie will be abseiling of Croke Park next Saturday in aid of the ISPCC.

So now to the important aspect of the column; what are the bets for the weekend?

Well to answer the question, the treble consisting of both divisions will be; Limerick, Bray Wanderers and Waterford.

First up is Limerick. They have won their last two games on the bounce and as speculation still surrounds as to who will be the next permanent boss, one can say that Limerick are a different proposition to the side that Martin Russell managed a few weeks ago. They have tightened up hugely at the back and with the exception of the game against Cork City on Monday that had a very inexperienced line up then they look a lot more solid. Attacking wise they will always have a chance of a goal and this has been shown with them nearly scoring in every game so far.

Their opponents on the other hand, Galway United had a first win of the season against Derry City on Monday in the Cup but outside of that their league form has been abysmal and as a result they are sitting at the bottom of the table. Ronan Murray has been a bright spark for Galway this season but outside of that they haven’t had too much to be celebrating about and as a result I can see Galway losing and if it continues for another few weeks, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Shane Keegan going, such is the pressure on clubs at the foot of the table.

The second game will see Bray Wanderers being backed for victory. They opened up as favourites for this tie but that has quickly moved around yet I still think that Bray have had the better form this season and are more than capable of victory.

This week in the build up to the game, Gary McCabe who has been very prolific in front of goal mentioned that he was happy to be away from Rovers and that he was enjoying playing in Bray. One doesn’t say words to that effect if they don’t believe in it as it will very likely be used as a motivational tool by Stephen Bradley. Bray have had no problems finding the net this season, second only to Cork City in the goals scored column however they have conceded a huge number of goals at the other end and this will be a cause of concern for Harry Kenny.

Shamrock Rovers have been inconsistent this season so far struggling to get successive wins in the league as we now approach the tenth week. They have a number of players returning from injury but still at the end of the day I don’t believe the squad is performing as well as Bray this season.

Lastly we will pick Waterford for the third leg of the treble. Yes as some would say it is easy to back favourites but the point of this column is to raise money for charity. They have been in good form of late and are clearly in good form having not tasted defeat since playing Athlone Town at the start of the season. Cabinteely have played some superb football this term and have got some brilliant results but still home advantage won’t be enough to stop Waterford from collecting the three points.

Bets:

Limerick: 4/7

Bray Wanderers: 7/4

Waterford: 11/10

Bet enhanced from 5.23/1 to

Bet link: Here