We are coming towards the stage of the season where everyone will have played everyone else once, and the look the table takes on at that time might not be a million miles away from how it looks in November when the prizes are being handed out. Although Bohs fans will see St Pat’s for the first time on Monday next, Sligo and Derry look like they deserve to occupy the top 2 spots in the table. Shamrock Rovers can be expected to go on a run and improve on their current position, challenging Pat’s for third. They can get the bandwagon rolling again away to UCD tonight, with Shamrock fancied to win by two or more at 6/5 with Bet365.

The live action on RTE comes from the plastic pitch in Dundalk where a surely weary Cork City team arrive to take on Stephen Kenny’s Dundalk. Getting knocked out of the Setanta Cup on Monday last will have been a sucker punch to Cork and Dundalk can take advantage with a narrow win at 13/10 with Sporting Bet. Cork’s habit of letting in late goals is already problematic but tonight they are without Danny Murphy and Colin Healy.

Derry will be hoping to perform better at Richmond Park than Sligo did last weekend, and can go top of the league if they can beat St Pat’s. The home side are playing well of late, with Killian Brennan pulling the strings in the midfield. Derry will be a strong test though and it’s a game that looks extremely difficult to call. If Pat’s take the three points here they’ll have to be taken very seriously indeed.

Sligo look a very short price to beat Drogheda at the Showgrounds, even though they already did so this week. On that occasion, the narrow win wasn’t enough and Sligo went crashing out, missing out on a final against Shamrock Rovers. Quite ludicrously, the final will be held in Tallaght a year after Drogheda had to travel to the same location for the League Cup Final. While Sligo are well capable of blowing out anyone in the league, there are enough reasons to avoid backing them. This current Drogs side don’t allow many teams routine home wins against them.

Another long odds-on home team who look best avoided is Limerick. Most people will expect them to breeze past Shels but already this season Shels have taken draws against Shamrock Rovers, and last week against Cork City. It is quite simply not the case that Shels are as bad as they look on paper and frankly it would be madness to side with unproven Limerick at twos on.

Recommended:
Bohs, 1pt 2.08 (Pinnacle)
Shamrock -1.5, 1pt 2.2 (Bet365)
Dundalk, 1pt 2.3 (Sporting Bet)

“Maybe the players were a bit affected by having that game just three days after the trip to Limerick,” added Callaghan.

“The schedule is dictated to us without consultation and now we have another three-day break before the rescheduled match against Pats.”

In training Bohs have identified areas for improvement and talked through the recurring problems with individual errors.

“But we can’t blame players,” insisted Callaghan. “With a young squad you are more likely to have these errors and we have to keep supporting the young lads.”

The manager believes that Bohs fans understand that their team is a “work in progress – and in progress over two or three years” but the players and coaches “know the reality of where we are”.

“We haven’t given the fans a lot to shout about, especially at home. If we don’t put in a shift we can’t call on the fans as a twelfth man,” said Callaghan.

“I am a realist. We have to improve the results and if the system needs tweaking, that’s my responsibility.”

Friday’s game against equally youthful Bray assumes greater importance given Bohs’ recent record “but every game is a must-win”, insisted Callaghan, “whether we’re playing Bray or UCD or Shamrock Rovers”.

In the last ten league matches between the sides Bohemians have lost just once.

Having missed Dave Mulcahy last Friday, due to late withdrawal through illness, Bohemians may have to count without the experienced midfielder again. Dave Scully and Darragh Reynor (both illness) are also unlikely to be fit for selection, while Stephen Traynor is recovering from a medical procedure.

Captain Owen Heary (ankle) also remains sidelined, as he has been for over a month.

Indeed, attacking options are in desperate need for Bohs. Unfortunately for the home fans, they were treated to another 90 minutes of frustrating action, with the team in red and black struggling to create any clear cut chances. The Lilywhites featured former Bohs men Stephen O’Donnell and Keith Ward in central midfield, and that duo were the dominant force in a classy performance from the visitors, who continued their 100% away record.

After a relatively promising start, Dundalk began to take control after 15 minutes, and took the lead in the 20^th. Dean Delany has had what can only be described as a nightmare week. After arguably being at fault for both Limerick goals on Tuesday, he made another error here. Richie Towell’s 30 yard free kick was struck well enough, but the former Shelbourne keeper only parried the shot in front of him. The ball dropped kindly for Tiernan Mulvenna, who had an easy 4 yard finish.

Credit to Delany, he picked himself up, shrugged off the ire from large sections of the Jodi Stand, and made a string of impressive saves. Mulvenna struck a low shot that Delany tipped around the post, and saved well again from John Dillon after the resulting corner. Mulvenna probably should have doubled the visitor’s lead after 35 minutes, but couldn’t connect with Ward’s devilishly whipped free kick.

Half time brought changes for Bohs as Dave Scully and Chris Lyons entered the fray. The isolated Kevin Devaney was hooked along with Shane Murray, and the subs formed a two-man strike force in the second 45. For the first 15 minutes, things looked up, with the lively Lyons latching onto some of Scully’s bustling knock-ons. Still, no real chances fell for Bohs, and you felt the second goal was always going to come.

When it did, it was yet another sloppy goal for Bohs to concede. A Roberto Lopes header was cleared out to Richie Towell, who let fly with a speculative 25 yard effort. The shot would almost certainly have gone wide, but took a wicked deflection off the charging Lopes, and wrong-footed Delany to seal the deal for Dundalk.

The last ten minutes were as frustrating as the first 80. Set-piece delivery was simply awful all night, with long range free kicks being floated out of play or failing to beat the first man on more than one occasion. When chances are few and far between, set pieces need to yield better results. Bohs have a full week to prepare for what becomes a crunch clash with Bray Wanderers in a week’s time.

Worryingly for Bohs, they now have an identical record to last season – 7 points from the opening 8 games. Given this season’s squad have had a much more settled pre-season, the home fans will be hoping for a repeat of the last term’s mid-season kick-on in the coming weeks.

Bohemians: Dean Delany, Derek Pender, Roberto Lopes, Stephen Paisley, Luke Byrne; Ciaran Nangle, Shane Murray (Dave Scully ’46), Michael Barker, Ryan McEvoy (Conor O’Brien ’75), Karl Moore; Kevin Devaney (Chris Lyons ’46). Subs not used: Keith Buckley, Michael Scott, Greg Murray, Shane Fitzgerald. 

Dundalk: Peter Cherrie; John Sullivan, Andy Boyle, Mark Rossiter, Dane Massey; John Dillon, Richard Towell, Stephen O’Donnell, Keith Ward (John Mountney ’64); Tiarnan Mulvenna (Darren Meenan ’70), Vinny Faherty (Pat Hoban ’80). Subs not used: Kurtis Byrne, Stephen McDonnell, Sami Osobi,  Aaron Shanahan.

Tonight Cork face a Shelbourne team who sit at the bottom of the table, level with UCD on one solitary point. These are the only 2 teams Bohs have beaten this season and having seen both sides, there probably isn’t a huge gap between them and ourselves. With that in mind, and the fact that Cork played in Tallaght on Monday, it might be time to back Shels to get something from this trip. The one point Shels have this season came against Shamrock Rovers where they were able to dig in for a draw, so maybe they can look to repeat that tonight down by the Lee. The draw is

Back to matters at the top now, and just how serious a title tilt are Shamrock Rovers going to have this season? They lave left a lot to do, but a win for them tonight in Derry coupled with defeat for Sligo in Inchicore would cut the deficit to nine points – still something of a mountain to climb. For all their draws this season, Shamrock have the longest unbeaten run of any team in the league, but the prices look correct for their trek to Derry, where the home side is marginal favourite. This of course wouldn’t have been the case at the start of the season but people have had their views challenged by Rovers inability to kill games until last week’s win against Bray.

Although it would throw the title race wide open, and Sligo’s defeat in Drogheda proves they’re beatable, a home win in Inchicore is difficult to back. Pat’s have an inferior squad to Sligo and need every player in top form to be able to turn them over. Again nothing stands out at the prices. It will probably be a low-scoring game, and if there is a winner it could be by one goal perhaps in the final quarter of the game where quality players on either side could take advantage of a defensive slip.

The Drogheda v UCD game looks a fairly straightforward home win but UCD ran Cork close and Drogheda aren’t yet the sort of team we’d be comfortable tipping up at odds shorter than 1.5. They will have their appeal to some on the handicap markets, but this isn’t a sure thing either. UCD may keep this tighter than people think, for longer than people think.

Moving onto our own game, there are always reasons to take note of recent trends, and there are also reasons why we sometimes want to ignore recent trends. Our home games this season, in terms of total goals, have been 3,0,3,4. Dundalk’s last 8 away games have seen over 2.5 goals so perhaps this is the bet for tonight’s game. 2/1 the home win might see some interest but this goals bet is a better one. Losing Feely and McMillan to transfers, and Heary to injury means that we are not remotely the same team defensively as we were last season, and Dundalk have the tools to score at Dalymount. With Lyons back though, we should score as well.

Bray and Limerick complete the weekend’s fixtures on Sunday and there is nothing worth getting involved in here.

Recommended:
Cork City v Shelbourne draw, 1pt 4.24 (Pinnacle)
Bohs v Dundalk over 2.5 goals, 1pt 2.38 (Hills)

Their squad includes five players who have represented Republic of Ireland at under-21 level: goalkeeper Saul Deeney, defenders Richard Keogh (club vice-captain) and Mark O’Brien, and midfielder Jeff Hendrick and forward Conor Sammon (pictured), who both recently made their first full international appearances.

Details on ticket sales for this match will follow.

“The lads are working really hard in training and we’re trying to address those issues of concentration and communication,” he continued. If Bohs cannot get on a winning run “it won’t be for lack of effort”.

There were lots of positives in the team’s display on Tuesday, insisted Callaghan. Midfielder Shane Murray in his first league start was “brilliant” and he is “a fantastic prospect”.

Striker Kevin O’Leary was brought on late, and “we thought he might nick it for us”. He had scored a hat-trick in an earlier friendly against Irish Universities, and is showing promise and an eye for goal.

“I thought we dominated that game and were much the better side but sometimes the lie of the land just isn’t with you. It’s a cruel game. We were pegged back with another goal of the season contender [as with the first goal of the game against Derry City],” said Callaghan.

With Michael Barker and Shane Murray in for David Mulcahy and Stephen Paisley, the team’s average age dropped and youthful inexperience was a factor in the final outcome.

Callaghan and his coaching team, including a psychologist, will be giving more attention to the mental aspects of the game as they seek to eliminate the costly errors, but also to ensure the goal-scoring opportunities are taken.

“Seventy per cent of the game can be in your mind, and we have to address that,” said Callaghan. “One good thing about Tuesday’s game was that we probably had more chances than in any other this season. We changed the system a little to get more players forward, and I felt it worked.”

There may be some personnel changes for Friday as Chris Lyons (ankle) returns from a month-long lay-off, perhaps taking a place on the bench. Captain Owen Heary (knee injury) remains out.

Aaron Callaghan’s side should have taken the lead right the beginning when Kevin Devaney was presented with a great opportunity after a mix-up in the Limerick defence between Aaron Brown and goalkeeper Barry Ryan. But the 22-year-old, who usually keeps his composure in front of goal, couldn’t do so this time.

Despite that setback, Bohs began to dominate the game and it was Shane Murray who was looking the most impressive in the centre of the park. A darting run and a superb ball to the back post from the Arklow man should have found Devaney but once again the former Finn Harps and Sligo player failed to convert as the ball just evaded him.

After a pretty uneventful first half, the game sprung into life in the second. Limerick began to get on the front foot and a powerful shot from Daniel Galbraith tested Dean Delany but the Bohs No 1 held on.

Then, Bohemians struck the first blow. A diagonal ball found its way to Buckley. The No 7 was getting ready to shoot when he was tumbled over from behind. Alan Kelly was left with no option to point to the spot and show Nzuzi a red card. McEvoy stepped up and side-footed the ball past Ryan in the Limerick goal.

Bohs seemed to be in the ascendancy but five minutes after taking the lead, Shane Treacy stepped up and fired a free-kick past Delany. It beat him at his near post; the ex-Shelbourne stopper really should have done better. After this, the home side began to take control, despite Callaghan introducing Dave Scully and Kevin O’Leary into the fold.

Limerick had numerous chances to win it before they finally sealed the deal as Bohs seemed to run out of ideas playing against 10 ten men. Brown wasted a golden opportunity after he fired wide from a Treacy cross but, against the run of play,  Scully should have been the Bohs supersub when he found himself in on goal, but he blasted over the bar.

That was the last chance for the Gypsies as Treacy delivered a ball into the six-yard box. Delany opted to stay on his line and for the second time of the match, his poor positioning proved costly as David O’Leary was left with the easiest of headers to nod to back of the net as the home crowd erupted.

Limerick FC: Barry Ryan; Shaun Kelly, Aaron Brown, Stephen Folan, Patrick Nzuzi; Shane Tracy, Stephen Bradley, David O’Leary; Axel Bossekota (Rory Gaffney 66), Craig Curran, Danny Galbraith. Subs not used: Shane Cusack, Shane Costelloe, Val Feeney, Pat Purcell, Steven McGann, Darragh Rainsford.

Bohemians: Dean Delany; Michael Barker, Roberto Lopes, Derek Pender, Luke Byrne; Keith Buckley (Karl Moore 86), Dave Mulcahy, Ryan McEvoy, Shane Murray (Dave Scully 69) Ciaran Nangle; Kevin Devaney (Kevin O’Leary 78). Subs not used: Greg Murray, Conor O’Brien, Stephen Paisley, Dwayne Wilson.

Referee: Alan Kelly.