After a bumper opening weekend, with sellout crowds left, right and centre, we're into week 2. St Pat's are at home again, the champions are on the road again and Cork venture from the bottom to the top of the country.
Bohemians v Dundalk, Dalymount Park, 7.45pm
Declan Devine, the Bohs players and the sizable travelling contingent were exultant in the aftermath of their rousing 2-1 victory over Cork City in Turner's Cross in the televised game last weekend.
Bohemians were comfortably the better team for the vast majority of the game, though James Talbot's howler, trodding awkwardly on the ball and allowing Ruari Keating a tap-in finish, made it an unnecessarily edgy finale on Leeside.
Ahead of this week's game, the manager was inclined to pay tribute to the support.
Devine said: "Last week in Turner's Cross, it was amazing. Our support gave us the impetus to start the game properly and ultimately helped us get the three points. There were 6,500 there but all I heard up until the last ten minutes was the 700 or so Bohemians fans.
"It is great to be back at Dalymount. Everyone is really looking forward to it. We have the two sides of Dalymount for tomorrow sold out with Bohs fans, and it is fantastic that we will have that level of support behind us.
"A lot of the credit for that has to go to people behind the scenes for that. Everybody - staff, members, volunteers - has been working day and night over the past number of weeks to get the place ready for our first home game and it's up to us now to pull it all together on the pitch.
"We are getting that relationship between players and fans again, and the excitement is building. We have to do everything in our power to send our fans home happy."
Devine has added to his squad during the week, 28-year old Polish defender Krystian Nowak signing from Universitatea Cluj.
But it is their opponents who have frantically busy on the transfer front since last Friday, Stephen O'Donnell drafting in Finnish attacker Johannes Yli-Kokko from Helsinki, Wasiri Williams from Swansea City and former England underage striker Rayhaan Tulloch from West Brom.
The burst of transfer activity follows a dispiriting start to the season, a 1-1 draw at home to last year's great survivors UCD. John Martin's first half goal was cancelled out by Ciaran Behan's effort 12 minutes from time.
A worrying start perhaps, for a side who briefly threatened to enter the title race until a horrendous run of results in autumn catapulted them out of the running.
"We're disappointed with the result against UCD last week and after the first 20 or 25 minutes, we were disappointed with the performance," admitted O'Donnell.
"But, as I said to the players, the very first game of the season doesn't define anyone. Bohs had a good result in Cork on the opening night and they seem to have a good camaraderie amongst them. They’ve obviously brought back Keith Buckley, who's been there previously, and he will help galvanise them. They’ve good attacking threats and they've good options and depth in their squad.
"It’s always a good atmosphere at Dalymount and we'll bring good support so we’re really looking forward to and it's up to us to go up there and stamp our authority on the game and get our quality out."
Team news
Bohemians: James Akintunde (foot) and Jay Benn (head) are rated 50-50.
Dundalk: New signings Johannes Yli-Kokko, Wasiri Williams and Rayhann Tulloch have been named in the squad while Darragh Leahy is available after missing the 1-1 draw with UCD with an illness.
Derry City v Cork City, Ryan McBride Brandywell, 7.45pm
Derry will be kicking themselves at the failure to see it out in Richmond Park.
Big movers again in the off-season, Higgins started two members of the new contingent in Inchicore - ex-Pat's man Adam O'Reilly getting a "predictable" (according to Johnny Ward) reaction from the home fans, while Irish U21 international Ollie O'Neill, scorer of the winner against Sweden in Tallaght last year, played for the first hour before being replaced by Patrick McEleny.
It was Jordan McEneff who scored Derry's first goal of the 2023 campaign, deceiving David Odumosu with a lovely strike. Renowned for having a fearsome home record, Derry did lose three times in the league at the Brandywell last season, Dundalk taking six points and Duffer's boys winning a famous 2-1 victory last April.
For Colin Healy and co, last week was a bracing reminder of the step-up in quality from the First Division. Turner's Cross was heaving for their first game back in the Premier Division since 2020. Needless to say, Roy Keane was picked out by the photographers.
Against Bohs, Cork almost snatched a draw in a harum-scarum finale, though it would have been scarcely deserved. Healy was adamant that his side hadn't showcased the best of themselves on their first night back in the Premier Division for three years.
"Last Friday was unlike us," Healy said this week. "We rushed a lot of passes, and Bohs had a lot of the possession, particularly in the first half. That's something we'll have to improve on.
"We were disappointed with the first half, but we changed the system in the second half and we were unlucky not to get the draw in the end. We need to forget about that now and move on, as we have a massive game to look forward to on Friday, against Derry City.
"We did okay against Derry last year in the Cup. They're a serious team. They've got quality all over the pitch, and a very strong squad. It's a very big pitch up there, so it's going to be a very tough game, but it's one we're looking forward to. We worked very hard to get back into this division, so now that we're here, we need to step up."
Teams news
Cork City: Cian Murphy remains sidelined, while Matt Healy is doubtful.
Derry City: Sadou Diallo is suspended. Michael Duffy and Cameron McJannet are out after picking up knocks in last week's draw, while Cameron Dummigan continues to recover from a hamstring injury.
Drogheda United v Shamrock Rovers, Head in the Game Park, 7.45pm
Like Derry, the champions surrendered two points in the dying moments last weekend. Graham Burke gave them a first half lead, somewhat against the run of play, pinging a 25-yard shot into the far corner.
The Hoops have opted against appealing Roberto Lopes' red card, the centre-half sent off for raising his arms to the face of Kaillin Barlow midway through the second half.
The decision not to appeal is not an endorsement of the ref's call, as Stephen Bradley makes plain in his comments on the eve of the Drogheda clash.
"I didn't see Pico’s at the time but watched it back immediately after that game," the Shamrock Rovers boss said this week.
"It was an embarrassing decision and if that’s the road we’re going down, it’s becoming a joke. The players tell me that the referee had his hand on the yellow card initially, but gets caught up in the emotion of it and gives the red.
"And how the linesman doesn’t see the Liam Burt one, he was on that side. It’s quite clear that Liam is running away and is caught with an elbow."
Aside from his anger over the refereeing, Bradley summarised the performance in Sligo as "just okay", adding that his team were "sloppy for large parts of it".
Drogheda, who survived with ease last season, began with a goalless draw in Tolka. Kevin Doherty tossed three teenagers into the starting line-up, Elicha Ahui, Ben Curtis, and Freddie Draper all seeing out the 90 minutes.
Team news
Shamrock Rovers: Ronan Finn is out for a few weeks after picking up a knock during a training camp. Sean Gannon, Sean Hoare and Sean Kavanagh, however, are all close to a return and may be sprung into action in some form this weekend.
St Patrick's Athletic v Shelbourne, Richmond Park, 7.45pm
Opening up with two home games, for whatever reason, St Pat's were buoyed by a late equaliser against Derry, Joe Redmond snatching a draw in the final minutes.
It was an encouraging start for Tim Clancy's side, given they lost 4-0 at home to the same opposition early last season.
While continuity was the order of the day at Inchicore in the off-season, three of the new signings began on the opening day. Estonian international Vladislav Kreida impressed in midfield, while Dutch import Noah Lewis started in the heart of the defence.
Tommy Lonergan, whose goals helped UCD stay up in 2022, started the game, eventually making way for Eoin Doyle with 15 minutes remaining. Jake Mulraney, back from the MLS, was introduced for the final eight minutes as Pat's set about rescuing the game.
Shelbourne opened with a disappointing goalless draw at home to a youthful Drogheda side, who they bashed 6-0 in the penultimate game of the last campaign.
Sean Boyd and Paddy Barrett both hit the woodwork in the second half, while Shane Farrell flashed a couple of shots as Damien Duff's vainly chased a winner in the second half.
While Shels weren't exactly free-scoring in 2022 and were relatively stingy at the back - at least relative to the other teams in the bottom half - they did play out a riotous 4-4 draw with Pat's in Tolka last October.
"Our games against Shels last year were fairly competitive," says Pat's boss Clancy.
"I know we beat them 4-0 at the end of the season but they were preparing for the cup final so they probably took their eye off the ball. They beat us once and we beat them 3-0 on the opening night, we also had that crazy game over in Tolka that ended in a draw.
"We're expecting a tough game, they are a fit team who are well organised so we'll need to match their energy and their fitness levels and hopefully we'll still to be able to create chances and get goals and win the game."
Duff also feels little can be taken from that late-season result.
"Our guys may as well not have been there, they had all eyes on the FAI Cup final," said Duff. "Rightly or wrongly, it’s wrong, you can’t go into a league game like that, but I understand human instinct."
"Lads went in focusing on staying fit and available for what was to come so honestly for us, it wouldn’t be worth reading too much into the scoreline or that night.
"I think there’s great history there, in the 2000s Shels v Pats was the fixture, that was the rivalry everyone was watching. Ollie Byrne and Pat Dolan, two of the big personalities in the league.
"Shels and Pats under Pat Dolan have had many battles down the years and that’s back to the front now. I think it’s down to our lads being competitive, upsetting people along the way. But the bit of needle has been reignited, take it as a compliment that that’s there."
Team news
St Patrick's Athletic: Harry Brockbank (calf) Adam Murphy (knock) will miss the game.
Shelbourne: JR Wilson has returned to full fitness. Shane Griffin (muscular injury) is close but remains out. Long-term absentees Conor Kane and Jad Hakiki are stepping up their recovery.
UCD v Sligo Rovers, Belfield Bowl, 7.45pm
Both sides claimed impressive points due to late-ish goals last weekend, the Students coming away from Oriel Park with a result, Sligo snatching a draw at home to the champions.
The Showgrounds erupted in the 95th minute as Lukas Browning capitalising on a weak clearance from Darragh Nugent, controlling the ball before drilling it low to the corner from the edge of the box.
Sligo go into this game at the favourites, but manager John Russell is expecting a testing encounter from the Students.
''This weekend’s game against UCD will be another tough test, he said.They had an excellent result and performance against Dundalk in their opening game.
‘’We only managed to beat UCD once last season. I know some of their players have moved on but, they always seem to have another batch of talented young players coming through.
‘’We will have to be at our best to get something from the game’’.
Up in Oriel a night earlier, a beautiful Behan free-kick on 77 minutes delivered a result for Andy Myler's men on the opening weekend.
UCD put in a superb burst down the closing stretch to survive in the Premier Division in 2022, pipping a shell-shocked Waterford in the subsequent playoff.
However, they were badly weakened in the off-season, losing Colm Whelan to Derry City, Tommy Lonergan to St Pat's, Sean Brennan to Drogheda United, Dylan Duffy to Lincoln City and Evan Caffrey to Shelbourne. That's on top of Liam Kerrigan's move to Como last autumn.
Ahead of the 2023 season, Myler issued a warning that UCD needed to go full-time if they wished to remain in the Premier Division long-term. Otherwise, he said, they'd be "left behind."
Team news:
Sligo Rovers: Niall Morahan continues to recover from an ankle injury picked up in pre-season and should return to the squad. Bogdan Vastsuk is nursing a minor hamstring problem and will be assessed tomorrow while goalkeeper Conor Walsh, who picked up an ankle injury in training last week, is a doubt.
Women's President's Cup launched
The first Women's President's Cup fixture will be played between FAI Cup runners-up Athlone Town and back-to-back WNL champions Shelbourne at the Athlone Town Stadium with a 4pm kick off.
Athlone Town's Laurie Ryan and Shels' Pearl Slattery met with Uachtarán na hÉireann Michael D. Higgins ahead of Saturday’s fixture.
The game will be live on LOITV with tickets available online and at the Stadium on Saturday.
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