Cathal Dervan, Editor
That Petrol Emotion were never the Undertones and the Undertones were never That Petrol Emotion. Teenage Kicks were the boyhood dreams growing up in Derry for the young Tones while the ageing Emotions were looking for someone to Detonate Their Dreams by the end of their 15 minutes of fame.
Confused? Well you have every right to be if you were born any time after USA ‘94 but there is a League of Ireland connection and there is a Premier Division title race analogy here if you have enough patience to stick with rambling.
Teenage Kicks is one of the best pop songs in the history of pop songs, delivered with all the brashness of punk and still as fresh as ever as visitors to the Brandywell tonight will discover when Derry City entertain Galway United and the song will feature on the match day playlist - as it always does.
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Getting shirty…
The O’Neill brothers - Damian and John - are well known around the City ground and they are the links between the Undertones and That Petrol Emotion, the band that almost gave them a second shot at the big time.
These days the O’Neills are back with the modern version of the Undertones, Paul McLoone doing a very good job as long term replacement for the enigmatic frontman Fergal Sharkey. And the current edition of the Undertones are a band well worth checking out on their tour of Ireland this Christmas season.
By then, the League of Ireland title race will have been decided and one of current champions Shamrock Rovers, current table toppers St Patrick’s Athletic and current double contenders Bohemians will have the trophy sitting on their mantlepiece.
Who will it be? After an incredible weekend of football last weekend, including a Fantastic Friday and a Manic Monday for Pats when they beat Rovers at home and hammered Dundalk away, we can still only guess but the central question is really a simple one - who will detonate their dreams as That Petrol Emotion sang two singles before their 1994 break-up.
Now you can see where all this is coming from. Pats have a teenage dreamer in Ryan Sheridan, a wonderfully balanced young footballer who is filling Kian Leavy’s boots with real skill. And Rovers have clearly missed the teenage touch offered by Arsenal bound Victor Ozhianvunu before his injury at the start of the summer.
Those two, currently level on points and separated only by goal difference at the top of the table although Rovers have played one less game, are the most likely winners but Bohs, only three points adrift and with a game in hand on Pats as well, aren’t out of the running just yet.
Which makes this weekend’s games, the last series before the international break, so intriguing and so important from a psychological point of view.
Pats don’t get the chance to build on last week’s momentum until Saturday when they go to play a Sligo Rovers side already all but relegated. An away win is a racing certainty here unless Sligo pull a rabbit from a hat they don’t appear to have in their possession this season.
By the time the Saints kick-off at the Showgrounds tomorrow night, Bohs could be level on points with them if they beat their Drogheda visitors and the Dublin Rovers could be ahead of them based on the outcome of their biggest game of the season as rejuvenated Waterford travel to Tallaght Stadium tonight.
Beat the Blues and the Hoops will go three clear, draw and they move one point ahead. Win and they will convince their own fans and the detractors that they have the ability to keep the trophy in their cabinet. Lose and it will be very difficult for anyone outside their dressing room to believe this can be turned around.
That’s how big the games this weekend are. Season defining with the potential to detonate those teenage dreams. You heard it here first - mostly because you won’t read that line anywhere else!
As for Wednesday Week? That’s for another day!
After a fantastic weekend of Premier Division action in the League of Ireland, why is there no protest about the lack of local based players in the Ireland squad for the upcoming window? That’s one of the topics discussed by Darryl Geraghty and editor Cathal Dervan on this week’s LOI Let’s Talk Football Special...
The full episode is available on site now and you can watch all the previous Let’s Talk Football episodes now on TheSportsHacks.com
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