1. Pat’s progress sees them visit Ukraine next
ST. PAT’S BECAME the toast of the league when a 2-0 win against Shakhter Karagandy was enough to send them though to the third qualifying round of the Europa League at Richmond Park last night.
The Inchicore outfit were 2-1 down after the first leg but goals from Evan McMillan and Derek Doyle sent them past their eastern European counterparts.
They will face Karpaty Lviv in the next round, with the first leg in Ukraine but still have to contend with an important league tie on Saturday night against Sligo Rovers.
2. Bohs bow out of Europe
Bohemians had no such luck however, as a 1-1 draw at Dalymount Park wasn’t good enough for them to advance past Olimpija Ljubljana, Pat Fenlon’s side going out 3-1 on aggregate.
Christy Fagan’s first half goal had given Pat Fenlon’s men a decent chance of causing an upset, but Ger O’Brien’s unfortunate own goal with ten minutes to go put an end to their hopes of progressing.
They can now focus on the league, where they currently lie eight points adrift of the top but with a game in hand over Sligo.
3. Hoops head to the Tivoli Gardens
Rewind 48 hours previous and Shamrock Rovers created history by making it through their first Champions League tie when defeating Flora Tallinn.
While the game itself won’t live long in the memory, the result will and Rovers now face FC Copenhagen, who reached the last 16 only to be defeated by Chelsea last season, in the 3rd qualifying round.
The champions travel to Copenhagen for the first leg this Wednesday, with the return in Tallaght six days later on August 2nd.
Even if they do succumb to the Danes then a Europa League qualifier will await, so Rovers will have at least four more games in Europe.
Alan Mannus, who kept a clean sheet in both legs against the Estonian champions, played his last game for the Hoops in Tallinn however, after he confirmed a move to Scottish club St Johnstone. Rovers have moved quickly though, bringing in Richard Brush as an immediate replacement for Mannus.
4. Sligo and Derry look to extend league lead
Those European fixtures means league action is curtailed a bit this weekend with only two fixtures this evening and one tomorrow in the premier division.
With the champions’ tie with Bray Wanderers postponed, this weekend gives Sligo the chance to extend their gap at the top of the table.
The Bit O’Red face Pats at the Showgrounds on Saturday evening, but before that Derry City will have the opportunity to move to the top when they welcome Dundalk to the Brandywell tonight.
Stephen Kenny’s men are unbeaten in eight and will fancy their chances against midtable Dundalk. A win would move them one point ahead of Sligo for 24 hours at least.
Perhaps the most important game of the weekend is a relegation tussle between Galway United and Drogheda however, with the former travelling to Louth needing a win to keep any glimmer of hope alive.
Drogs have lost the last four games but Galway remain rudderless, after shipping eight against Connacht counterparts Sligo last week.
A win for the home side would push them nine points clear, a lead that, at this stage anyway, would keep them safe from last place.
Galway know that a victory here – just their second of the season – would put them only three points behind the Louth side.
5. Blues for Liverpool after loss in Waterford
While the Hoops support that travelled to Estonia was the most impressive on the continent seen in some years, a bemusing amount of people turned up to watch Liverpool reserves play Waterford United on Wednesday night.
An estimated attendance of 5000 travelled to the RSC to see the Reds’ second string play the locals and thankfully United won the game thanks to a second half goal from Seamus Long.
Hopefully it will show those on Suirside that they’ve a good team right on their doorstep, and one that should ignite more passion than any cross-channel club can.
Incidentally, it seems that it is not the quality of clubs but the brand that attracts Irish people, because just 800 turned up to see Villareal face UCD in Belfield.
In terms of footballing quality, the Spaniards should be a much bigger draw than the reserves of a team that failed to qualify for Europe last season.
