St Patrick’s Atheltic go into tonight’s game with Derry knowing a win will see them within a hair’s breadth of the top of the table; while also taking three points off the league’s undoubted form side.
Declan Devine’s men have won six on the bounce now and are scoring for fun, with 23 goals in 9 games meaning they have scored more than any other side this season, and more than twice what Liam Buckley’s men have managed.
However, what Derry don’t have, and what will surely be the memory that sutains a boisterous atmosphere at Richmond Park tonight, is last week’s win over Sligo. When Sligo arrived in Inchicore the feeling was a win would be as near a cessation of a title race as one can get after less than two months of football.A superb performance from Buckely’s men put a halt to talks of Spring time coronations, and the league table suddenly feels alive, for both Derry and Pat’s. The winner of tonight’s game will go forward with significant momentum.
Sligo welcome a side who have become something of a thorn in their side, at least over two legs of Setanta cup action. Drogheda United took a 2-1 aggregate win over Sligo and talk of crisis is already slipping into the Sligo conversation. A little premature? Almost certainly, but, as is the nature of these situations, the continuation of that feeling all depends on a win tonight.
Elsewhere, Cork City travel to Dundalk, following their disappointing last minute concession of a draw to struggling Shelbourne, and Shamrock Rovers and UCD duke it out in the second most important all-South Dublin derby.
UCD have been in poor form, with only Shelbourne’s mediocrity saving them from total isolation at the basement of the table, and Rovers will see this as another game with which to start moving the Croly era forward with, relatively, relaxed resistance.
Shelbourne, in a stupendous example of sensible scheduling from the FAI, travel to Thomond Park on Saturday evening, to face Limerick while the rest of the city, and the entirety of Munster, concerns itself with rugby. Alan Mathews men might be thankful for the lack of onlookers if the two sides’ respective form keeps up. Limerick have won the last two games, and remain undefeated in the last four. Shels meanwhile come into the game on the relative high of a stolen stoppage time point away to Cork last week, but remain on two points from a potential twenty seven.
Premier Division Fixtures
7:45 p.m. St. Patrick's Ath v Derry City - Richmond Park
7:45 p.m. U.C.D v Shamrock Rovers The - UCD Bowl
7:45 p.m. Bohemians v Bray Wanderers - Dalymount Park
7:35 p.m. Dundalk v Cork City - Oriel Park
Saturday, April 27, 2013
7:45 p.m. Sligo Rovers v Drogheda United - The Showgrounds
7:45 p.m. Limerick FC v Shelbourne - Thomond Park
Image: St. Pat's and Derry meet in a rematch of last year's FAI Cup final
©INPHO/Donall Farmer
