Kildare County -v- Shelbourne
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Shelbourne will be looking to secure second-place in the League Of Ireland First Division for this season when they take on bottom-of-the-table Kildare County at Station Road, Newbridge on Saturday evening (kick-off 7.45pm). Following last week's results, Shelbourne cannot catch league leaders UCD, and will subsequently have to face Sporting Fingal in the play-offs, but they will nonetheless be looking to finish the league in good form after their somewhat bizarre 5-4 defeat to Longford Town last week.
Kildare County will be involved in a play-off themselves in the coming week with a two-legged relegation/promotion encounter with Salthill Devon to decide their fate for next season. They have found themselves in this predicament largely due to their poor home form, where they have only managed two points all season. They had still been in with a shout in recent weeks, but three losses on-the-trot has meant that they can't avoid finishing bottom in the table.
This match will see the return once again of Kildare’s first-ever manager in the League of Ireland, Dermot Keely, who was their manager for a year before taking over at Dublin City. Joey Somerville is now in charge of The Thoroughbreds and he, like his counterpart Keely, will be hoping that they can go into their play-off tie on the back of a good result here.
While they would be favourites to win this match, Shels haven't been as ruthless as perhaps they should have been in recent weeks with points dropped against Longford Town and Athlone Town proving to be their undoing in the title race this season. In their two games against each other earlier in the season, Shelbourne were the victors on both occasions, but they were made to fight to the very end by a County side that looked like they might have enough about them to climb off the bottom of the table.
Unfortunately, since then Somerville has had to contend with a number of suspensions and injuries, as well as a few players who decided to leave the club, and they have been severely depleted for their recent matches.
So, with a win meaning they would face Sporting Fingal at home in their play-off match, it is difficult to see anything but a Shelbourne win in this game.
Extratime.ie prediction: Kildare County 0 – Shelbourne 2.
Key man: David McAllister (Shelbourne) – With 17 goals this season already, there is a good chance that he might find the back of the net again.
Venue: Station Road.
Last encounters this season:
16/05/09 Kildare County 0 Shelbourne 3;
21/08/09 Shelbourne 2 Kildare County 0. paddypower.com odds: Kildare County 15/2, Shelbourne 2/7, Draw: 7/2.
Kildare County colours: White and Black.
Doubtful: Darren Kelly, Trevor Bowers.
Injured: None.
Suspended: None.
Form guide (league): L L W L L L.
Leading Scorer: Philly Hughes (6).
Shelbourne colours: Red.
Doubtful: Damien Brennan (groin), Stephen Quigley (ankle).
Injured: Kevin Doherty (calf), Peter Hynes (groin), Alan Keely (hamstring), Ritchie Baker (hamstring).
Suspended: None.
Form guide: D D D W L W.
Leading Scorer: David McAllister (17).
Kildare County will be involved in a play-off themselves in the coming week with a two-legged relegation/promotion encounter with Salthill Devon to decide their fate for next season. They have found themselves in this predicament largely due to their poor home form, where they have only managed two points all season. They had still been in with a shout in recent weeks, but three losses on-the-trot has meant that they can't avoid finishing bottom in the table.
This match will see the return once again of Kildare’s first-ever manager in the League of Ireland, Dermot Keely, who was their manager for a year before taking over at Dublin City. Joey Somerville is now in charge of The Thoroughbreds and he, like his counterpart Keely, will be hoping that they can go into their play-off tie on the back of a good result here.
While they would be favourites to win this match, Shels haven't been as ruthless as perhaps they should have been in recent weeks with points dropped against Longford Town and Athlone Town proving to be their undoing in the title race this season. In their two games against each other earlier in the season, Shelbourne were the victors on both occasions, but they were made to fight to the very end by a County side that looked like they might have enough about them to climb off the bottom of the table.
Unfortunately, since then Somerville has had to contend with a number of suspensions and injuries, as well as a few players who decided to leave the club, and they have been severely depleted for their recent matches.
So, with a win meaning they would face Sporting Fingal at home in their play-off match, it is difficult to see anything but a Shelbourne win in this game.
Extratime.ie prediction: Kildare County 0 – Shelbourne 2.
Key man: David McAllister (Shelbourne) – With 17 goals this season already, there is a good chance that he might find the back of the net again.
Venue: Station Road.
Last encounters this season:
16/05/09 Kildare County 0 Shelbourne 3;
21/08/09 Shelbourne 2 Kildare County 0. paddypower.com odds: Kildare County 15/2, Shelbourne 2/7, Draw: 7/2.
Kildare County colours: White and Black.
Doubtful: Darren Kelly, Trevor Bowers.
Injured: None.
Suspended: None.
Form guide (league): L L W L L L.
Leading Scorer: Philly Hughes (6).
Shelbourne colours: Red.
Doubtful: Damien Brennan (groin), Stephen Quigley (ankle).
Injured: Kevin Doherty (calf), Peter Hynes (groin), Alan Keely (hamstring), Ritchie Baker (hamstring).
Suspended: None.
Form guide: D D D W L W.
Leading Scorer: David McAllister (17).
About Daire Walsh
Daire Walsh began reporting for Extratime in 2009, when he covered Kildare County's games in the League Of Ireland First Division. He currently reports on games involving the league's Dublin sides and also Bray Wanderers. … View Full Profile