Airtricity League action this weekend…07/11/2021

There were three fixtures played this Friday evening in the Airtricity League Premier Division. Second place St Patrick’s Athletic went down to a three nil defeat by third place Sligo Rovers in Richmond Park which guaranteed the visitors participation in the Europa Conference next year. Finn Harps played out a one all draw with visitors Derry City while Waterford went down to a three one defeat by Shamrock Rovers in the RSC.

The remaining two Series 34 fixtures took place on Sunday afternoon with Bohemian defeating Drogheda United by two goals to one in Dalymount Park while Dundalk overcame relegated Longford Town by two goals to nil in Oriel Park.

With the top three League places already defined, the battle for the fourth European Qualification place is still very much in the balance. Bohemian can secure that prize with victory over St Patrick’s Athletic in the FAI Cup Final. Should the ‘Gipsies’ lose that Aviva Stadium contest then the position will go to the side finishing fourth in the Premier League. They themselves currently hold that position on goal difference from Derry City and Dundalk who have played one extra match. Bohemian play host to Champions Shamrock Rovers on Friday evening while Derry City welcome third place Sligo Rovers to the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium. In the final series of matches one week later, Bohemian travel to face Sligo Rovers while Derry City journey to Dundalk..

                            P  W  D  L   F  A   G/D  Pts
Shamrock Rovers(Champions) 34 23  6  5  56 24   32   75
St Patrick’s Athletic      34 18  6 10  54 40   14   60
Sligo Rovers               34 16  8 10  42 29   13   56
Bohemian                   34 13  9 12  56 44   12   48
Derry City                 34 12 12 10  45 41    4   48
Dundalk                    35 13  9 13  43 44   -1   48
Drogheda United            35 12  8 15  44 41    3   44
Finn Harps                 34 10 10 14  37 50  -13   40
Waterford                  34 12  4 18  34 54  -20   40
Longford Town(R)           34  2  8 24  21 65  -44   14

The first legs in the First Division Play-Off Semi-Finals took place on Wednesday the 3rd November with Bray Wanderers playing out a scoreless draw with Galway United in the Carlisle Grounds while Treaty United went down to a three nil defeat by visitors UCD in the Markets Field.

The second legs took place on Sunday the 7th November with Bray Wanderers defeating Galway United with the only goal in Eamonn Deacy Park to qualify for the First Division play-off final while Treaty United defeated UCD by two goals to one in The Bowl but it was not enough as the ‘Students’ progressed to the play-off final on a four two aggregate.

The First Division Play-Off Final is set for the 19th November with the victors facing the side finishing 9th in the Premier Division in the Promotion/Relegation Final one week later.