League Of Ireland: Derbies To Decide Capital Gains
The League Of Ireland focus switches to the capital this week as two potentially season defining derbies take place. Both derby games will have keen significance at both ends of the table as they pit title contenders against relegation threatened teams.
Elsewhere UCD will aim to throw the form book further out the window and continue their recent resurgence while reigning champions Sligo Rovers will be hoping to recapture the blistering form which has evaded them over the past few weeks. Read more
The Dublin Derby between St Patrick’s Athletic and Shamrock Rovers finished scoreless on Tuesday evening, a result that may dishearten the Saints who had the better of the opportunities.
Shamrock Rovers lifted the Setanta Cup after a convincing 7-1 victory over Louth natives Drogheda United on Saturday afternoon.
Shamrock Rovers battle Drogheda United in this weekend’s Setanta Cup Final as Trevor Croly looks to capture his first trophy as manager of the Hoops although an ex player will have a lot to say about that come kick off.
This week’s Airtricity League series features four league games complimented by a Setanta Cup Final between Shamrock Rovers and Drogheda United. Despite the season still being relatively young we can already get a fair idea of who will challenge at the top and who will be cast adrift at the bottom but such is the unpredictability of the league that results could surprise us at any instance. The pressure at the bottom is certainly heating up and some big games this season will determine whether the race for the drop will be exclusive to the three teams who already look destined for relegation. 
Declan Devine’s Derry City have enjoyed a blistering start to the 2013 League of Ireland new season. The Northern Irish club sit at the top of the tree after the first round of fixtures were completed on Friday night, chasing them, Sligo Rovers who collected their first league title last November. This time around we’re looking at whether the challenge of Derry City will fade away throughout the league season (from here to October for those who do not know) or will we be looking at the eventual winners of the Airtricity League Premier Division.
Week 11 came to a close Friday evening, around quarter to ten, and we knew exactly who stood where. Ian Baraclough knew his side had dropped to second place after title chasers Derry City had won and unforgettably his side, had not. Sligo picked up just the point after they could only muster a draw at Shamrock Rovers.
It was a game that had been circled by both sets of supporters for several weeks as the dreaded “relegation six pointer”. UCD were in confident mood coming off the back of an impressive 2-0 victory over Shamrock Rovers. That game had also marked their first clean sheet of the season but from early on it looked like this might not be the case at Tolka Park. 
