THE WEEKENDER: APRIL 26
April 26, 2013
BETTING COLUMN BY SEAMUS O’CONCHUR
While it’s a bit early in the season to be using the phrase “six-pointer”, there will be a faint whiff of desperation off both sides tonight as we welcome Bray Wanderers to Dalymount. Although the visitors have been all at sea in recent weeks (last 2 results 0-7 v Shamrock Rovers and 0-4 v Limerick), they travel to Phibsborough to face a Bohs side who have hardly been striking fear into opposing teams, with no goals in our last 4 home games.
It’s a very tight game to call, but Bohs look the better side and [our only two] wins against Shels and UCD earlier this season prove that we can scrape wins against the teams around us in the table. Some of our approach play has been useful enough this season, with our finishing and defending letting us down. Bray will surely give up chances tonight and we can be backed at 2.08 with Pinnacle to win our third victory of the 2013 season.
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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)
