League Preview: Dundalk -v- Shamrock Rovers

DUNDALK

Dundalk went into the international break in a healthy position with 11 points garnered from their opening six matches, leaving them occupying third place in the league table.

They are currently four points behind the leaders Bohemians and only one point behind second placed Derry City.

They have a much changed squad from last season but they have settled very well so far and Stephen O Donnell will be more than happy that his blend of long serving players like Andy Boyle, Greg Sloggett and Pat Hoban are blending well with new recruits such as Waisri Williams, Conor Malley and Rayhaan Tulloch.

It was one of the new recruits, O’Malley who made all the difference in their last outing, a 1-0 away win at neighbours Drogheda Utd.

English born O'Malley, who joined on a free transfer from Rochdale in January, struck a spectacular goal in the 64^th minute at Weavers Park to secure the three points for The Lilywhites.

Tullock’s dazzling footwork in the penalty area set up the chance for O’Malley and he opened up his body to curl the ball past Colin McCabe for a wonderful goal and his first of the season.

Dundalk Head Coach spoke with the Irish Times this week and sad ‘’Dundalk-Rovers is a fixture you always look forward to’’

“They haven’t won any games yet, but they haven’t lost many either and they carry a lot of weapons and a lot of good players.

“Performance-wise, they’ve been good and sometimes results can be a bit of an impostor, so we’re under no illusions what they’ll bring, but we also know that we can be really competitive and really good ourselves.”

SHAMROCK ROVERS

Shamrocks Rovers and UCD are the only two teams in the Premier Division yet to win a game this season, a statistic that few pundits would have predicted at the start of the season.

Rovers have drawn five and lost one game since the campaign kicked off on Feb 17^th and occupy eight position in the table, on the same points total as Cork City and St Patricks Athletic and only four points ahead of bottom of the table UCD.

Their stuttering start continued right up to the international break when they lost a 2-1 lead to St Patricks Athletic in their last game and ended up sharing the points after a 2-2 draw.

They had the momentum to pick up their first win of the season at home with goals from Richie Towell and Jack Byrne and although Eoin Doyle pulled one back for St Pats with a penalty just prior to the break, they held that 2-1 lead up to the 88^th minute.

Jake Mulraney scored a great equaliser however following a pass from Adam Murphy and Rovers had to be content with yet another draw, much to the disappointment of their fans in the 7,674 crowd.

The panic buttons are not yet being pressed at Tallaght Stadium and Manager Stephen Bradley and his staff will be  confident they can claw back the 10 point advantage that leaders Bohemians have built up at the other end of the table.

The next two matches will be highly informative however as they face Dundalk away this weekend and then Bohemians in Dalymount Park on Friday April 7^th, two games that may yet prove to be season defining for them.

Stephen Bradley spoke to the Shamrock Rovers media team this week and said ‘’We’ve had a good two weeks’ training (during the international break) and we’ve had a little recovery in there as well for the players. It gave us a chance to review the first few games, what we did really well and what we need to improve on going forward. So, it’s been good for that, it gave us a little breathing space. It’s always nice when you get little breaks to do that but we’re looking forward to getting back into games on Friday against Dundalk.”

He went on to make an assessment of their opponents on Friday night, saying ‘’They’ve been in very good form, had some really good results and they’re sitting in a good position in the league so we know it’s going to be a tough game. It always is in Dundalk. The pitch is a complete leveller in that regard, it makes for a different game. They’ve started well and they’re playing well so it’ll be a difficult game.”

Referee:  Arnold Hunter

MATCH STATS

Dundalk only managed to score one goal against Shamrock Rovers in the four games played in the 2022 season.

They won 1-0 at home in June but lost twice (1-0 and 3-0) with the first game between the sides back in March ending in a 0-0 draw.

BETTING

Dundalk 27/10; Draw 11/5; Shamrocks Rovers 19/20                     

PREDICTION

Dundalk 2-1 Shamrock Rovers

Dundalk

Injured:  John Mountney

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Shamrock Rovers

Injured:  Simon Power

Doubtful: Markus Poom, Dylan Watts.

Suspended: None