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2019 Airtricity League Champions Dundalk continued their Europa League Group B journey this Thursday evening when they travelled to face Rapid Vienna in Austria. The match which ended in a four three victory for the hosts was of quite poor quality. Dundalk took an early lead through Patrick Hoban but a very poor performance from goalkeeper Aaron McCarey handed the hosts three of their goals. Substitute David McMillen scored two late penalties which gave the scoreline a better but in reality false impression. The other Group B contest saw Arsenal defeat Molde of Norway by four goals to one at the Emirates Stadium.  

In Group H, Shane Duffy and his Glasgow Celtic colleagues suffered a crushing four one defeat by Czech Republic side Sparta Prague in Celtic Park while Glasgow Rangers played out a three all Group D draw with Benfica in Lisbon. The played against ten men for the great majority of the match and led by three goals to one with a little over ten minutes remaining only to falter badly and concede two late goals. In Group G, Leicester City made no mistake against another Portuguese side Sporting Braga with a four nil victory at the King Power Stadium. Tottenham Hotspur and Matt Doherty made the journey to Bulgaria where Ludogorets were defeated by three goals to one in Group J.  

Sheffield United striker David McGoldrick has announced his retirement from International football. Born in Nottingham, the 32 year old qualified for Ireland through his maternal grandfather. He scored just one goal in 14 international appearances but was seen as a vital component of the re-shaped Ireland under Stephen Kenny. His retirement comes as something of a surprise but he has suffered a series of injuries which may have influenced his decision.

Former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy has been appointed manager of Cypriot club APOEL on an 18 month contract. His former Ireland Assistant Manager Terry Connor will join him in Nicosia as his Assistant. APOEL have had a disappointing start to their League season and currently sit tenth on the League Table.

Wednesday
Current Championship leaders Reading went down to an unexpected three nil defeat by visitors Preston North End in the Championship this Wednesday evening. Alan Browne was in action for the victors while Sean Maguire was an unused substitute. James McClean and Stoke City went down to a three two defeat at Watford while Birmingham City suffered a two one defeat by visitors Wycombe Wanderers who included Daryl Horgan in their starting eleven while Scott Hogan was an unused substitute for the hosts.  Midfielder Jason Knight was in action with Derby County who conceded a very late goal to provide visitors QPR with a one nil victory. Conor Masterson was an unused  substitute for the victors. Chris Hughton saw his Nottingham Forest charges score deep into stoppage time for a two one victory over visitors Coventry City. The hosts included loanee Cyrus Christie in their starting eleven while Harry Arter was an unused substitute. James Collins scored the only goal on 70 minutes for Luton Town to defeat their hosts Rotherham United. 

Tuesday
Ryan Manning was an unused substitute for Swansea City who played out a one all draw on their Championship visit to Brentford this Tuesday evening. Callum O’Dowda and his Bristol City colleagues came from behind to secure a two one victory at Huddersfield Town.  Daragh Lenihan and Derrick Williams started for Blackburn Rovers in their scoreless draw with visitors Middlesbrough. Williams was forced off through injury on 77 minutes.

In League One, Jack Taylor and his Peterborough United colleagues secured a two nil victory at Bristol Rovers while Anthony Scully and Sean Roughan were in the Lincoln City side which went down to a three one defeat by visitors Portsmouth for whom Ronan Curtis, Sean Raggett and Marcus Harness all started with Curtis scoring the third goal. Anthony Forde started for Oxford United who defeated visitors Rochdale by three goals to one. Mark Sykes and loanee Olamide Shodipo were second half substitutes with Shodipo scoring just seconds after his introduction. The visitors oncluded Gavin Bazunu in their starting eleven. Sunderland scored  a two one success over  visitors Ipswich Town who included loanee Mark McGuinness, Alan Judge and Stephen Ward in their starting eleven. Goalkeeper Kieran O’Hara and Burton Albion played out a one all draw at Shrewsbury Town.

Loanee Joshua Kayode and his Carlisle United colleagues secured a three two League Two victory over visitors Newport County while another loanee Lee O’Connor was in the Tranmere Rovers side which scored the only goal for victory at Harrowgate Town.

 

The Airtricity League First Division play-offs took place this Saturday afternoon and saw Galway United score the only goal in the Carlisle Grounds to defeat Bray Wanderers while Longford Town twice came from behind to secure a three two extra-time victory over UCD at The Bowl.

Galway United and Longford Town will face each other in the First Division Play-Off Final at 7.45pm on Friday next the 6th November in Belfield with the winners then facing the ninth placed Premier Division side for the right to participate in the Premier Division next season.

 

The first quarter final of the 2020 FAI Cup took place on Saturday afternoon the 31st October with the sole surviving First Division club Athlone Town shocking Premier Division side Shelbourne with a four one success in the Athlone Town Stadium.

The remaining three contests have been re-scheduled for Friday the 20th November 2020.

Bohemian v Dundalk           19.30 Dalymount Park
Finn Harps v Shamrock Rovers 17.30 Finn Park
Sligo Rovers v Derry City    17.30 The Showgrounds

The draw for the semi-finals was made on Friday the 30th October and produced the following pairings:
Athlone Town v Bohemian/Dundalk
Finn Harps/Shamrock Rovers v Sligo Rovers/Derry City

Monday
Craven Cottage hosted the meeting of struggling Premier League sides Fulham and West Bromwich Albion this Monday afternoon where the hosts secured  a two nil victory. Callum Robinson was a 56th minute substitute for the visiting ‘Baggies’.

Sunday
Shane Duffy was in action for loan club Glasgow Celtic who defeated Aberdeen by two goals to nil in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup which has been held over from last season. They will face Heart of Midlothian, two one conquers of Hibernian after extra-time in the other semi-final.

The noon meeting of Aston Villa and Southampton in the Premier League produced seven goals with the visiting ‘Saints’ taking a four goal lead before the hosts pulled one back on 62 minutes and then scored twice in added time. Conor Hourihane was an unused substitute for the hosts while Shane Long was an 85th minute substitute for the visitors. Jeff Hendrick was in the Newcastle United side which defeated visitors Everton by two goals to one at St James Park while Ciaran Clark was named on the substitute bench following his recovery from injury. The late kick-off featured Matt Doherty in action for Tottenham Hotspur who defeated visitors Brighton & Hove Albion by two goals to one. Aaron Connolly was not included in the visitors matchday squad.

Saturday
The Sheffield United duo of John Egan and Enda Stevens started with David McGoldrick an 81st minute substitute as they went down to a one nil defeat by Bramall Lane visitors Manchester City in the  Premier League early on Saturday afternoon. A little later Kevin Long started for Burnley with Robbie Brady a 73rd minute substitute as they suffered a three nil defeat by Turf Moor visitors Chelsea. Young defender Jimmy Dunne was an unused substitute for the hosts.

There was a 12.30pm start for Bristol City and Callum O’Dowda who went down to a three one Championship defeat by visitors Norwich City at Ashton Gate. Goalkeeper Mark Travers was an unused substitute for AFC Bournemouth who were held to a one all draw by visitors Derby County for whom Jason Knight was again in midfield action. Chris Hughton and his Nottingham Forest charges went down to a one nil defeat at Middlesbrough where Cyrus Christie was in the starting eleven but Harry Arter was again missing from the matchday squad. Alan Browne started with Sean Maguire an unused substitute for Preston North End who suffered a two one home defeat by visitors Birmingham City at Deepdale. Early midweek substitute Conor Masterson started for QPR who scored  alast minute winner to defeat visitors Cardiff City by three goals to two at Loftus Road. James McClean started and scored the only goal for Stoke City to defeat visitors Rotherham United for whom summer signing Kieran Sadlier was an unused substitute. Ryan Manning was also an unused substitute  for Swansea City who who defeated visitors Blackburn Rovers and their Irish duo of Daragh Lenihan and Derrick Williams by two goals to nil. Struggling sides Wycombe Wanderers and Sheffield Wednesday met at Adams Park where Daryl Horgan was in action with the hosts who secured a one nil victory.

Goalkeeper Kieran O’Hara was in League One action with Burton Albion who went down to a two one defeat by visitors Blackpool at the Pirelli Stadium. Arsenal loanee Mark McGuinness retained his starting position for Ipswich Town alongside Alan Judge for their one nil victory over visitors Crewe Alexandra at Portman Road. Jack Taylor continued his midfield role for Peterborough United and scored the final goal in their five one victory over visitors  Shrewsbury Town at London Road. Ronan Curtis and his Portsmouth colleagues went down to an unexpected two nil defeat by visitors Charlton Athletic at Fratton Park. Manchester City loanee Gavin Bazunu was in action with Rochdale who played out a one all draw with visitors Bristol Rovers.

Rotherham United loanee Joshua Kayode was in the Carlisle United went down to a one nil defeat at Exeter City in League Two while Glasgow Celtic loanee Lee O’Connor was in the Tranmere Rovers side which suffered a one nil home defeat by Lancashire rivals Morecambe.

 

2019 Airtricity League Champions Dundalk were in Europa League Group B action this Thursday evening when they went down to a three nil defeat by Arsenal in the Emirates Stadium. Given the significant fiscal gap between the sides, this was a reasonable performance by the ‘Lilywhites’. One extremely unusual statistic from the match was the fact that Dundalk did not concede one single free kick over the ninety plus minutes. The other Group B contest between Molde of Norway and Rapid Vienna ended in a one nil victory for the hosts in Molde. 

In Group H, Shane Duffy started for Glasgow Celtic who took a two goal lead against Lille in France but then conceded twice in the second half to garner just one point from the contest. Glasgow Rangers scored the only goal to defeat Lech Poznan from Poland at Ibrox Stadium in Group D. Leicester City took an early two goal lead against AEK in Athens in Group G and held on for victory despite conceding one second half goal. In Group J, Tottenham Hotspur went down to a one nil defeat by Royal Antwerp in Belgium where Matt Doherty was an unused substitute as also was Dublin born defender Dennis Cirkin.