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The Airtricity League Premier Division continued on Friday evening with second place Cork City journeying to face Bohemian in Dalymount Park  where they suffered a crushing four two defeat which leaves  their chance of retaining their League Title hanging by a thread. Third place Shamrock Rovers trounced Limerick, likely candidates for the relegation play-offs, by five goals to nil in Tallaght Stadium while Fourth place Waterford defeated relegation favourites Bray Wanderers by two goals to nil at the Regional Sports Centre.
On Saturday evening in the Showgrounds, St Patrick’s Athletic collected the points with a two one victory over hosts Sligo Rovers.   

UCD have won the Airtricity League First Division and promotion to the Premier Division following their one all draw with second place Finn Harps in the Bowl this Friday evening. The Ballybofey side are assured of a play-off position while there is a three way contest for the remaining two play-off roles. Third place Shelbourne, are on forty seven points, following their one all draw with Cabinteely at Stradbrook while Drogheda United superseded Longford Town in fourth place with a two one victory over them in United Park. One point separates the pair with just one match remaining.  

Our Under 16 side played out a one all draw with their hosts Bulgaria in their second friendly international at 3pm (Irish time) in Sofia on Thursday afternoon. Head Coach Paul Osam ran the rule over those members of his nineteen player travelling squad who did not see any action in the first encounter on Tuesday afternoon. Cork City midfielder Oran Crowe gave Ireland the lead but the hosts recovered to secure a draw which was probably a fair outcome.

Ireland played out a one all draw with hosts Poland in a friendly international which took place in Wroclaw this evening. This was a massively improved showing from that of Thursday last although the intensity of a competitive encounter was missing. A much changed side, there were six changes to the starting eleven, actually sought to retain possession and pass the ball unlike a whole plethora of previous matches where the ‘hot potato’ syndrome reigned. There were a number of quality performances and one must hope that patience and perseverance is the order of the day in forthcoming contests. John Egan, playing in the centre of a back three, caught the eye with his dogged determination and successful tackle ratio while Shaun Williams was the picture of composure in the holding midfield role. Debutant Aiden O’Brien surprised with the quality of his target man performance and capped a fine performance with the goal while the energy, industry, perseverance and quality control displayed by Callum O’Dowda, creator of the goal, made him the unquestionable star of the show. The multitude of second half substitutions did dilute matters and permitted the hosts to equalise with just minutes remaining but as previously mentioned, let us now show the requisite patience and perseverance and permit these international novices to lead us into the future.

Our U21 side suffered a humiliating six nil European Championship qualifying defeat by Germany in Tallaght Stadium this evening. With injuries, suspensions and withdrawal impacting upon resources this was always likely to be a difficult task but the margin of defeat was quite humbling. The visitors scored after just six minutes and while three of their remaining five goals were scored from the penalty spot they were comprehensive victors. Ireland now drop to third on the Group Five table behind Norway on goal difference and while technically we still retain the outside possibility of a play-off spot by finishing second there are long odds about that with visits to Israel and Germany our two remaining fixtures.

Following the disappointment of their one nil defeat in Longford on Sunday afternoon our U19 side, guided by Head Coach Tom Mohan and assisted by new Technical Advisor Colin Healy, gained revenge over visitors Wales with a two nil victory in Eamonn Deacy Park, Galway this afternoon. Goals from Aaron Connolly and substitute Gavin Kilkenny secured the well merited victory.

New Technical Advisor Richard Dunne in tandem with Head Coach Paul Osam will be pleased with the performance of their U16 charges who secured a four two victory over their hosts Bulgaria in Sofia this afternoon. Early goals from Louie Barry and Ben McCormack were cancelled out by the hosts prior to the half time break but Ireland responded in the second half and further goals from Billy Vance and Barry again, underpinned an impressive four two victory. The sides are set to meet again at 3pm (Irish time) on Thursday afternoon at the same venue.