1. Can Sligo bounce back from Tuesday’s blip?
Sligo Rovers have looked practically untouchable in the opening weeks of their title defence but the champions’ run of 10 straight wins came to an end on Tuesday night against Mick Cooke’s Drogheda United, a team who seem to have the voodoo sign over them of late.
Ian Baraclough did make a few changes for the trip to Hunky Dory’s Park — Evan McMillan, Ross Gaynor, Raf Cretaro and Lee Lynch all started on the bench — but the depth of Sligo’s squad means that defeat can’t be pinned on the manager’s selections.
Sligo’s resilience will be tested again tonight when they travel to Inchicore to face a St Pat’s side who have strung together three straight wins and three clean sheets to power up the table into third. Win and Sligo will underscore their early-season dominance; lose and they won’t seem quite as invincible any more.
2. How much longer does Mathews have?
“Unacceptable” was Alan Mathews’ word of choice when describing Monday’s glum 4-0 defeat against Pat’s. The call for his head from sections of the Shelbourne support made that much plainly obvious.
Shels are now bottom of the table with one draw and seven defeats and there’s no denying that Mathews is under severe pressure. Although any sort of a result against Cork in Turner’s Cross tonight would be a bonus, the silver lining for Mathews and those still on his side is that they should have opportunities to pick up points against Limerick, UCD and Bray in the coming weeks.
Bohemians in ninth place are only six points clear of Shelbourne, albeit with a game in hand, so there’s no denying that a win or two would be a massive tonic — but how much time will he get to turn things around?
3. Will Derry play into Rovers hands?
It’s very early to try to identify Trevor Croly’s footballing “philosophy” but on the basis of Shamrock Rovers’ recent performances, the new man in Tallaght seems to be a firm advocate of “death by football.” But the Hoops aren’t Barcelona, and though they are easily dominating possession in most games, they are doing so without offering any real cutting edge in attack.
For the moment, it’s best to treat last week’s 7-0 thumping win over Bray as an aberration. Hopes were high going into Tuesday’s Setanta Cup semi against Cork but many of Rovers’ old flaws seemed to present themselves again. Their goal came courtesy of a lucky deflection and, a late chance for James Chambers aside, clear-cut opportunities were few and far between.
Cork seemed happy to sit back and soak up the pressure, content that Rovers would not find their way through. Under Declan Devine, Derry have been playing a much more open and expansive brand of football, preferring to take the game to teams and banking on their red-hot strikers to come good. Will that play into the Hoops’ hands when the sides meet in the Brandywell tonight?
4. Do Limerick have a disciplinary problem?
Limerick moved up to seventh place with a win against Bohs on Tuesday night but they did it the hard way, coming from a goal and a man down to win 2-1 thanks to Dave O’Leary’s stoppage-time winner.
Patrick Nzuzi’s red card was Limerick’s fourth in eight league games, a worryingly high rate. Although Limerick have adapted well to life in the Premier Division such disciplinary problems will be their undoing, particularly considering the size and strength of their squad relative to others in the top flight.
Stuart Taylor is still settling in to life in the League of Ireland but this needs to be a priority for the manager.
5. Can Longford stretch their lead in the Classico?
David O’Sullivan’s seventh goal of the season was enough to see off Wexford Youths in Ferrycarraig last week and open up a small bit of breathing space for Longford at the top of the First Division table.
The chasing pack are still tightly clustered behind them though and Athlone will be able to close the gap to a single point if they can take home the spoils from tomorrow night’s Midlands Classico in City Calling Stadium.
The visitors are without the suspended Roddy Collins Jr while skipper Aidan Collins is also a doubt.
Airtricity League fixtures (all kick-offs Friday, 7.45pm unless stated)
Premier Division
- St Patrick’s Athletic v Sligo Rovers (Fri, 7.05pm)
- Bohemians v Dundalk
- Cork City v Shelbourne
- Derry City v Shamrock Rovers
- Drogheda United v UCD
- Bray Wanderers v Limerick (Sunday, 3pm)
First Division
- Mervue United v Wexford Youths
- Waterford United v Cobh Ramblers
- Finn Harps v Salthill Devon (Friday, 8pm)
- Longford Town v Athlone Town (Saturday, 7.30pm)
