First Division Round-up: Series 14
Credit:
Finn Harps, UCD, Shelbourne, Sporting Fingal, Longford Town and Limerick FC each enjoyed wins over the weekend as the top of the table tightened and the gap at the bottom stretched.
1st UCD:
UCD made very hard work of their trip to Monaghan. Despite enjoying a numerical advantage for just under an hour, it took late goals from Ciaran Kilduff and Timmy Purcell to earn the three points – earlier Chris Mulhall had got their first.
Nevertheless, top of the table after fourteen games, with Finn Harps the visitors next, good times.
2nd Shelbourne:
An absolutely massive win for Shels’ last Friday. Their second victory over Waterford this season have seen Shels’ rise to second in the table, with a game in hand over their rivals. Anto Flood’s second half strike was the difference as Dermot Keely’s men maintain the pressure on UCD.
Tough trip to Limerick up next.
3rd Sporting Fingal:
Two weeks ago, following a heavy home loss to Waterford, things looked tough for Liam Buckley’s Santry side - five points from four winnable games was just not good enough. However consecutive 1-0 victories at UCD and Wexford Youths have seen them recover very well.
Ross Gaynor’s late winner in Wexford on Friday comes in time for a run of fixtures against the lower teams. Kildare up next, followed by Finn Harps.
4th Waterford United:
Contrast the response from Waterford following the Sporting Fingal game two weeks back, to that of Fingal themselves. As noted, Sporting have won two very tough ties since that 4-1 loss. Waterford, however, have lost to Wexford Youths and then last Friday in Tolka Park against Shels.
This culminates in a drop to Fourth in the league, three points off the lead. It all shows the narrow margin between the top five in the division, with each side capable of taking points off each other. Home to Athlone next
5th Wexford Youths:
At the start of the season, fixtures against Shels, Sporting and Waterford yielded zero points and perhaps put an insurmountable gap between the Youths and the promotion candidates. A total of three points from the second meetings against those sides still hides the improvement made by Mick Wallace’s team. It took a late strike for Fingal to win last Friday and two goals in a minute hampered their impressive performance against Shels’ a fortnight ago.
Travelling to Longford next, heads wont be too down.
6th Limerick FC:
Pat Scully could not have hoped for a better lead up to St Patricks Athletics’ visit for the cup game this week. Shane Tracey and Paul Cummins each found the net in the first half against Athlone to give Limerick the win.
Home to Shelbourne next.
7th Mervue United:
It looked a tough game to call before Mervue travelled to Ballybofey. However Finn Harps were completely dominant in this fixture and the 2-0 scoreline was a fair reflection.
One win in seven for United, Monaghan next.
8th Athlone Town:
Well beaten by Limerick, it is one win in eight for Brendan Place’s team. Very tough tie in Waterford next up.
9th Monaghan United:
Monaghan’s excellent run has come unstuck in the last two games. First at Tolka, going down 2-1 to Shelbourne, and then on Friday last, a soul destroying late loss to UCD having lead with five minutes to go.
First Barry Clancy and then Alan Byrne gave United the lead, who also saw Cathal O’Connor dismissed midway through the first half. However UCD goals in the 85th and 90th minute stole the points.
10th Finn Harps:
Michael Funston and Oisin McMenamin’s late goals saw off Mervue in a very convincing display in Ballybofey. Seven points from nine is a welcome sight for a club going through such a torrid time. No longer looking below in the table, Harps can now look up.
11th Longford Town:
Longford beat Kildare on Friday, but only just. Despite first Liam Lynch, then Jason McCartney giving the Town the lead, Kildare equalised. And, despite having an extra man after Davy Byrne was dismissed with a half hour remaining, Longford took until the 92nd minute to snatch the victory, thanks to Gary Curran.
12th Kildare County:
Where did all the 4-0 losses go? Kildare will be gutted to have lost right at the death. At 2-2, thanks to a brace from David O’Riordan, the 92nd minute loss personified the season Kildare are experiencing. Earlier on Friday, Kildare had been dealt a blow when they received word that four of the players that were due to play had been told they were not properly registered. Even with Davy Byrne’s dismissal on 60 minutes, Kildare looked like they would get a point. Desperately unlucky.
1st UCD:
UCD made very hard work of their trip to Monaghan. Despite enjoying a numerical advantage for just under an hour, it took late goals from Ciaran Kilduff and Timmy Purcell to earn the three points – earlier Chris Mulhall had got their first.
Nevertheless, top of the table after fourteen games, with Finn Harps the visitors next, good times.
2nd Shelbourne:
An absolutely massive win for Shels’ last Friday. Their second victory over Waterford this season have seen Shels’ rise to second in the table, with a game in hand over their rivals. Anto Flood’s second half strike was the difference as Dermot Keely’s men maintain the pressure on UCD.
Tough trip to Limerick up next.
3rd Sporting Fingal:
Two weeks ago, following a heavy home loss to Waterford, things looked tough for Liam Buckley’s Santry side - five points from four winnable games was just not good enough. However consecutive 1-0 victories at UCD and Wexford Youths have seen them recover very well.
Ross Gaynor’s late winner in Wexford on Friday comes in time for a run of fixtures against the lower teams. Kildare up next, followed by Finn Harps.
4th Waterford United:
Contrast the response from Waterford following the Sporting Fingal game two weeks back, to that of Fingal themselves. As noted, Sporting have won two very tough ties since that 4-1 loss. Waterford, however, have lost to Wexford Youths and then last Friday in Tolka Park against Shels.
This culminates in a drop to Fourth in the league, three points off the lead. It all shows the narrow margin between the top five in the division, with each side capable of taking points off each other. Home to Athlone next
5th Wexford Youths:
At the start of the season, fixtures against Shels, Sporting and Waterford yielded zero points and perhaps put an insurmountable gap between the Youths and the promotion candidates. A total of three points from the second meetings against those sides still hides the improvement made by Mick Wallace’s team. It took a late strike for Fingal to win last Friday and two goals in a minute hampered their impressive performance against Shels’ a fortnight ago.
Travelling to Longford next, heads wont be too down.
6th Limerick FC:
Pat Scully could not have hoped for a better lead up to St Patricks Athletics’ visit for the cup game this week. Shane Tracey and Paul Cummins each found the net in the first half against Athlone to give Limerick the win.
Home to Shelbourne next.
7th Mervue United:
It looked a tough game to call before Mervue travelled to Ballybofey. However Finn Harps were completely dominant in this fixture and the 2-0 scoreline was a fair reflection.
One win in seven for United, Monaghan next.
8th Athlone Town:
Well beaten by Limerick, it is one win in eight for Brendan Place’s team. Very tough tie in Waterford next up.
9th Monaghan United:
Monaghan’s excellent run has come unstuck in the last two games. First at Tolka, going down 2-1 to Shelbourne, and then on Friday last, a soul destroying late loss to UCD having lead with five minutes to go.
First Barry Clancy and then Alan Byrne gave United the lead, who also saw Cathal O’Connor dismissed midway through the first half. However UCD goals in the 85th and 90th minute stole the points.
10th Finn Harps:
Michael Funston and Oisin McMenamin’s late goals saw off Mervue in a very convincing display in Ballybofey. Seven points from nine is a welcome sight for a club going through such a torrid time. No longer looking below in the table, Harps can now look up.
11th Longford Town:
Longford beat Kildare on Friday, but only just. Despite first Liam Lynch, then Jason McCartney giving the Town the lead, Kildare equalised. And, despite having an extra man after Davy Byrne was dismissed with a half hour remaining, Longford took until the 92nd minute to snatch the victory, thanks to Gary Curran.
12th Kildare County:
Where did all the 4-0 losses go? Kildare will be gutted to have lost right at the death. At 2-2, thanks to a brace from David O’Riordan, the 92nd minute loss personified the season Kildare are experiencing. Earlier on Friday, Kildare had been dealt a blow when they received word that four of the players that were due to play had been told they were not properly registered. Even with Davy Byrne’s dismissal on 60 minutes, Kildare looked like they would get a point. Desperately unlucky.
About Gordon Hunt
Gordon Hunt is one of extratime's Dublin based reporters. Having worked with the site since it's inception, Gordon's name is carved into the foundations of extratime's tower block. View Full Profile