Cathal Dervan, Editor
There’s a football man from Waterford called Matt who’s very excited right now as he looks forward to the Club Orange FAI Cup final next month and the meeting of his beloved Blues and Derry City at the Aviva Stadium.
He’s a man well versed in all things League of Ireland, a man who knows what it takes to win league titles and FAI Cups and what is needed to survive relegation battles as his club are attempting right now.
He’s also a man who regularly signs off his social media posts with a simple and very relevant statement - you can’t beat live football. And he’s right as events proved at Tallaght Stadium on Monday night when Shamrock Rovers re-installed themselves into pole position for this season’s title.
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That was as good a live sporting event as you will see in Ireland this year, full of drama on and off the pitch and even after the final whistle.
In fact, the drama has continued all week. In his post-match press conference, Hoops boss Stephen Bradley had a pop at more than Bohs and the manner in which some coaching staff members from various clubs conduct themselves.
The Bohs, currently engaging in a self-imposed media ban, then broke that ban to allow their manager Alan Reynolds vent his frustrations with a few verbal offerings of his own aimed firmly in the direction of Tallaght.
Just as we were digesting that release came further rumblings from the St Pats’ boss Stephen Kenny about the fact that his team have had to wait 27 days between their win over Sligo on September 19th and tonight’s enticing Dublin derby at home to Shels.
That delay was of course due to the international break and the FAI Cup semi-finals which the Saints failed to qualify for but Kenny has a very good point - they will now put their own title hopes on the lines against Shels tonight in Inchicore and Derry City at the Brandywell on Monday evening in a re-arranged fixture.
By Tuesday they could be confirmed as the only side left with Rovers in the title race as Bohs could well stumble against the aforementioned Waterford at Dalymount tonight when Rovers face a difficult journey to Galway United.
Thanks to Messrs Bradley, Reynolds and Kenny, the off-field action has nearly been as enticing and as interesting as the potential for drama offered by tonight’s fixture list. Nearly.
Those three managers have had their say and will, no doubt, have plenty more to say tonight at Eamonn Deacy Park, Richmond Park and Dalymount Park.
And their words will garner even more attention as the business end of the League of Ireland season reaches boiling point.
But there’s one other certainty around all of this - what really matters in the title race is who does their talking on the pitch, who puts their manager’s beliefs into action rather than their words.
Rovers have the ascendancy and Bradley is currently top of the pops. Pats must ignore the injustice of a 27 day wait to sample live football, twice in the space of four days now as it happens.
And Bohs, for all their media releases amidst a media ban, have to hope that their players can drag themselves off the floor tonight following their recent cup disappointment against Waterford and the derby defeat on Monday.
All that really counts at any time in football is the action on the pitch, the live football that can’t be beaten as my friend in Waterford says.
That live football tonight promises to be juicier than ever in Dublin and Galway and it will tell us so much about where the SSE Airtricity LOI trophy will be going for presentation purposes over the next three weeks.
So do yourself a favour tonight - get to a game. And enjoy it. If the past week is anything to go by, you won’t be disappointed.
It's another pivotal weekend in the race for the League of Ireland Premier Division title. particularly so for St Patrick's Athletic who must beat Shelbourne today and Derry on Monday to keep Shamrock Rovers in sight. Our LOI regular pundit Darryl Geraghty and editor Cathal Dervan look back to the Tallaght derby and ahead to all the big matches between now and Monday.
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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