The Airtricity League Premier Division continued this Friday evening with all ten teams contesting match series eight. Shamrock Rovers maintained their seven point lead at the summit with a three one victory over UCD in Tallaght Stadium with last week’s Ireland squad member Jack Byrne scoring twice in an excellent performance. The ‘Hoops’ have of course played two matches more than their pursuers. Second place Dundalk maintained their challenge with a one nil victory over Cork City in front of the live RTE 2 cameras at Oriel Park. Third place Bohemian scored the only goal in their Dublin Derby meeting with St Patrick’s Athletic in Dalymount Park. Derry City defeated North West rivals Sligo Rovers by two goals to nil in the Brandywell while struggling Finn Harps made the lengthy journey to face Waterford in the RSC where they crashed to a four nil defeat.
P W D L F A G/D Pts
Shamrock Rovers 9 7 1 1 15 3 12 22
Dundalk 7 4 3 0 11 3 8 15
Bohemian 7 4 2 1 6 3 3 14
Derry City 7 3 2 2 9 7 2 11
Waterford 7 3 1 3 11 9 2 10
Cork City 7 3 1 3 8 8 – 10
St Patrick’s Athletic 7 2 2 3 3 5 -2 8
Sligo Rovers 7 2 1 4 5 10 -5 7
UCD 7 1 1 5 6 12 -6 4
Finn Harps 9 0 2 7 6 20 -14 2
Just three points separated the top eight teams in the Airtricity League First Division table as they entered match series six this weekend. Joint leaders Bray Wanderers scored the only goal to defeat visitors Cobh Ramblers in the Carlisle Grounds while Athlone Town went down to a two nil defeat by Limerick in the Markets Field. Stradbrook hosted the meeting of Cabinteely and Galway United with the hosts scoring the only goal for victory while Wexford, who shocked Bray Wanderers last weekend, went down to a two one defeat by Drogheda United in United Park.
Longford Town are set to face Shelbourne in the City Calling Stadium at 7.30pm on Saturday evening.
P W D L F A G/D Pts
Bray Wanderers 6 4 0 2 7 3 4 12
Limerick 6 3 2 1 7 4 3 11
Cabinteely 6 3 1 2 10 9 1 10
Drogheda United 6 3 1 2 8 8 – 10
Shelbourne 5 3 0 2 11 7 4 9
Athlone Town 6 3 0 3 6 7 -1 9
Longford Town 4 2 2 0 5 1 4 8
Cobh Ramblers 6 2 0 4 9 11 -2 6
Galway United 5 1 0 4 6 6 – 3
Wexford 6 1 0 5 6 19 -13 3