Shels vintage to be Corked

Shelbourne v Cork City

The glamour clash of the weekend is the one El Punter and also Sniffer will be taking in on Friday night. It's an irresistible fixture with enough subplots to offer a tale of Shakespearean proportions.

Pat Fenlon's men are in the process of pissing away with the league title as they build up a lead reminiscent of Walter Swinburn's on Shergar in the '81 Derby. The rumored dissolution of the squad during the transfer window never materialized and Joseph Ndo has been playing football that many would say belongs to a different league.

The goals have been avalanching past opposition defences, with Pats, Sligo and Drogheda all conceding three goals, not to mention the eleven accumulated against Waterford and UCD. Patches don't get any more purple than this.

And so enter Cork City. Trouble in the camp. Tonked in Europe. Listening to 'I told you the squad was too small' from every corner of the league.

They're are stubborn lot in Cork, they've something to prove at Tolka. They don't score enough goals. They dropped points at Waterford. It's not looking good.

Some bookies are as short as 8/13 on Shels winning. A look at the recent form might suggest Shels are favourites as hot as the Red Shels by the Sea-shore we've been listening to post-victory at Tolka recently.

All the value here is in Cork however. Gamble will be back to shore things up in the midfield. It's almost a Cup Final for the Leesiders as failure to win will see a big chance at silverware pass them by. A modest stake on Cork is the recommendation.

Shels 4/5
Draw 2/1
Cork City 7/2



Bray Wanderers v Bohemians

It's been a difficult season for Bray. They've now lost arguably their three most recognizable faces in Eamon Zayed, Pat Devlin and Wesley Charles. But a new name has been catching the attention of league watchers as the wily Romanian Andri Georgescu has been flummoxing defences with his brand of attacking tricks.

The Wanderers responded in the best manner possible when they found themselves three goals down to Derry last week. Apparently Eddie Gormley gave it the hair-dryer treatment at half time and Bray came out to pull two back.

Bohs are now third from bottom, two 1-0 wins have been followed by two 1-0 defeats (one in the league cup). Losing at home to Longford isn't really acceptable for the Gypsies. Paul Devlin has offered some endeavor up front since arriving, but Shane Ward and Vinny Arkins have been largely disappointing so far this season.

The visitors will have their work cut out against a Bray team that looks to have an improved attitude. Again I'm keeping a watching brief.

Bray 7/4
Draw 9/4
Bohs 5/4




Longford Town v UCD

The students head to Flancare on the back of an improbable 1-0 road victory in Sligo. This game could be a hard one for the purists. Expect low scoring, and perhaps a draw. These teams drew 2-2 at Belfield just over a month ago and since then Longford have put a decent run together if you overlook two somewhat inevitable defeats suffered against Cork and Derry.

Longford 11/10
Draw 2/1
UCD 9/4




Derry City v St Patrick's Athletic

I wonder just how professional Derry will have been after Thursday night's fantastic victory? The players certainly deserved to let their hair down and all should be back to pace of things by Sunday evening. Derry are irresistible at home - and increasingly so away from the Brandywell also! I can't see Pats - who haven't played in three weeks - causing them too many problems here. Home win.



Derry City 4/7
Draw 12/5
St Pats 9/2



Drogheda United v Sligo Rovers

You have to go back to the 7th July since Drogheda won a league match, they've since dropped points to UCD, Longford and were convincingly beaten by Shelbourne. Zayed has yet to hit form, Fitzpatrick has yet to master the first touch and Fabio's jaw has yet to heal. It's gone a little flat at United Park.

Sligo on the other hand are the moxy-most team in the league, but they are in a slump at the moment too. It'll be interesting to see how they respond to the back to back defeats by UCD and Shels. Their much talked of weak away form has certainly improved with three wins from their last five trips from the west - albeit assisted by assignments to Bray, Waterford and Bohs.

It's a pretty non-committal week for El Punter, and I'm not going to play here either. 'You gotta know when to hold 'em' as Kenny Rogers oft sang.


Drogheda 8/11
Draw 9/4
Sligo Rvs 10/3