Shamrock Rovers v Bohemians

• Alan Smith
• Fri, Sep 26 2008




Arguably the biggest derby in Irish football takes place tonight in Tolka Park as Shamrock Rovers and league leaders Bohemians meet in what is sure to be a ferocious battle. Bohs are on a hot streak of form at present with a – point lead ahead of St. Pats and a win tonight could make their dreams of winning the Eircom League title for the first time since 2003 come true.

The Hoops welcome back Eoin Doyle, Danny O'Connor and Corie Treacy all from suspension. Aidan Price (shoulder) remains sidelined, while John Martin is available once again. Darragh Maguire (back) and Sean O'Connor (groin) are still not 100% but should be okay. The same goes for Robbie Creevy, who was injured in the warm-up last week and couldn't play against Galway United.

Speaking ahead of the game Rovers boss Pat Scully said "Their consistency this season has been fantastic and they've got a good mixin the team. Pat Fenlon brought in five or six players and they're now a powerful, physically strong team of quality.” Who clearly has the utmost respect for their main rivals.

"They're very good at getting the ball into the box, and if you stand off them they also have players who can score from distance. You have to very careful against them.Having said that, once we go out and play as well as we can, we can beat anyone. If we play to our full potential I'd be very confident we can get the desired result." admitted Scully ahead of the tie.

Pat Fenlon’s Bohemian will be at almost full strength going into the game with only Conor PowellI ruled out due to suspension. In midfield, Fenlon is likely to select Stephen O'Donnell and Gary Deegan as his central pairing. Killian Brennan is likely to resume on the left but the right wing position will be given some consideration by the Manager. Jason Byrne, Anto Murphy and John Paul Kelly are the obvious choices but Fenlon will be mindful of the threat Rovers pose out wide and he may opt for experience over youth. In attack, the evergreen Glen Crowe will lead the line and his partner could either be Mindaugas Kalonas or Neale Fenn.

Despite being runaway leaders at the top and in a rich vein of form Fenlon is cautious going into it “The game will be very tough for us. We were not at our best against Finn Harps last week and a repeat performance may not be good enough in this game. It's up to us to get our attitude right before we take to the pitch and hopefully then we can create a platform to win the game."

Due to the rivalry which exists between these two sides, special arrangements have been made for supporters. Arrangements are as follows: Shamrock Rovers' fans should enter via the usual Drumcondra end stiles and will be based in the Drumcondra and Riverside stands. While Bohemians' supporters should enter via the Ballybough end and have been allocated section F of the Main Stand and the Ballybough stand.

ExtraTime.ie Prediction: With these games it is hard to predict an exact result so maybe a score draw. 1-1 would be my very uneducated guess.