1. Moving fixtures was unjustified
Just 529 fans paid to see Wales v Northern Ireland last Friday night, while 10 League of Ireland clubs saw a big drop in the attendances they should have had if the games kicked off at their usual time.
Thankfully, the response at the laughable attendance proved the worthlessness of what was only a glorified group of international friendlies.
Still, at least Ireland got their hands on the most elusive thing in football: international silverware.
2. Derby day part deux
Tonight’s Shamrock Rovers v Bohemians clash will see a bumper crowd at Tallaght Stadium, however, as the champions face their biggest rivals for the second time this season.
The earlier meeting between the Hoops and Bohs at Dalymount saw the away team, who were also down to ten-men, grab a very late equaliser through Ronan Finn.
Expect plenty of drama again tonight, and while this game is prone to an incredible amount of draws, the Hoops are worthwhile favourites as they look to stay on top of the pile.
3. It’s all heating up
Hot on Rovers’ tails will be Sligo Rovers and Derry City, who face Dundalk and Galway United at home respectively.
The Bit O’Red have quietly slipped into second place, just two points behind the leaders in recent weeks and they should have enough to take the points against Dundalk, though the Lilywhites haven’t lost since a defeat away to Derry on 8 April.
It’ll be a major shock, meanwhile, if Derry City don’t defeat a Galway outfit that are now bottom of the table on goal difference after losing to Drogheda United last week. A slip up from the Hoops would be most welcome for both sides.
4. Tightly-bunched
Taking goal difference out of the equation for a moment, depending on a various combination of results, seven of the 10 teams in the league can be top of the pile tomorrow night.
Apart from UCD, Galway and Drogheda, the rest are all bunched tightly, with only three points separating Shamrock Rovers at the top and Bray Wanderers in seventh position.
That alone proves how difficult it is to predict games in this league – any team in that group of seven is capable of defeating each other, just look at Bray’s results against Shamrock Rovers.
What will be incredibly interesting is how teams strengthen in July, because if a side can bring in a couple of top signings, they could well be near the top right up until the end of the season.
We’re almost half-way through the season and having such a close-knitted group can only be a good thing.
5. End game for some clubs this season already
While there are three teams off the pace in the Premier Division, there’s a similar situation in the First Division, with Finn Harps, Wexford Youths and Salthill Devon tailed off towards the bottom.
In the case of Harps it is somewhat surprising, seeing as many tipped them off to be a dark horse in the league this season.
The sacking of James Gallagher means Peter Hutton and Felix Healy should, with time, see them improve, but there’s little to play for now after such a terrible start to the season.
In the case of Youths, I’m sure owner Mick Wallace has more worrying things on his mind, but his side have yet to register a home win this season, while Salthill don’t look to be making any strides towards improving either.
Meanwhile, Waterford United sacked Stephen Henderson over the weekend after a disappointing string of results – he becomes the third manager to be given the boot already this season.
