Stephen Bradley will be hoping for a good result against Cork City
Photo Mark McDermott
Rovers looking to bounce back with a trip to Cork
Another big week of action is ahead of us this week in the League of Ireland.
With only three points separating the top seven teams it is all to play for. St Patrick’s Athletic are set to host Galway United this Friday while Shamrock Rovers undertake the long journey to Cork, reports Michael Howley.
Both clubs find themselves in a frustrating vein of form at the minute.
Hopes of leap frogging Drogheda United to take top spot in the league have been dashed by recent results for both teams.
Pat’s have only managed a single win in their last five games and their spirit will be dampened by a crushing defeat to Bohemians last week in Dalymount.
Cruising to a 1-0 victory, The Saint’s conceded twice in injury time to forfeit the points to their northside rivals.
Shamrock Rovers have not managed a win in their last three games either though admittedly have faced stellar competition from the likes of Bohemians, Pats and most recently Shelbourne.
The three Dublin derbies saw Rovers collect a paltry 2 points and while they still find themselves well in contention with the rest of the pack sitting on 19 points, they will surely be disappointed that they could not break away like we are so used to them doing.
The week ahead is set to be big for both teams. Rovers make their way to Munster to play Cork City, who funnily enough, happen to be the last team they managed to pick up three points against.
Despite recent results not going their way, confidence should be high for the Tallaght outfit who will be heavy favourites when they line out against what is a less than impressive Cork City side.
The re-emergence of star man Jack Byrne should be more than enough to inspire them to a win.
Pats on the other hand are faced with a far tougher task, at least on paper.
They will square off against joint league leaders Galway United at Richmond Park in a pivotal clash at the top of the table.
The two teams have faced off once already at the beginning of the season with Galway managing to secure a 2-1 win at Eamonn Deacy Park back in February.
Pat Hickey’s two goals that day were enough to secure victory for the home side and since then Galway have established themselves as one of the hardest to beat sides in the league.
Currently sitting pretty on 20 points joint top of the table with Drogheda United, Pats will need to put the heartbreak of last week’s outing at Dalymount behind them and bring their A game if they plan on getting anything out of this match.
