Here is a look at how the last round of fixtures in the League of Ireland Premier Division panned out- the most recent set of ones before the international break. We saw a new leader in the form of Derry, while Finn Harps also picked up their first win of the campaign.
UCD (O’Neills) 1-1 Bohemians (O’Neills)
Derry City (O’Neills) 2-1 St Pats Athletic (Umbro)
Drogheda United (Umbro) 1-0 Dundalk (Umbro)
Shelbourne FC (Umbro) 0-3 Finn Harps (Joma)
Shamrock Rovers (Umbro) 2-2 Sligo Rovers (Joma)
The week started with newly promoted UCD holding Bohs to a draw at home. Fellow promoted outfit Shelbourne were however beaten 3-0 by Finn Harps, giving the latter their first league win of the campaign in the process.
The Harps scored more in this game (3) than they had in the five previous league games put together (2). Ethan Boyle, Conor Tourish and Eric McWoods were on target for the visitors as the Joma outfitted team claimed all three points- also the only away side to do so in this game week.
Defending champions Shamrock Rovers had to stage a second half comeback to draw with Sligo. Trailing 2-0 at the hour mark, Rovers first pulled one back through Graham Burke’s spot kick, and their comeback was complete when Aidan McDonnell put one through his own net nine minutes from time.
Derry City were the big gainers in this round, with their 2-1 win over St Pats Athletic taking them to the top of the table. The star of the show for them was former Man City youth product Will Patching, who scored both goals for the home side-the medio opened the scoring in the fourth minute.
Tom Grivosti had equalised for St.Pats just after the break, but Patching snatched victory for Derry with his last minute winner. The likes of Casumo Ireland have Shamrock as favourites for the league crown, but Derry, who have switched from Adidas to O’Neills for the current campaign, are just behind them at the time of writing.
The all-Umbro clash between Drogheda United and Dundalk saw a surprise winner, with Dundalk slumping to their first loss of the campaign, with the game marred by crowd trouble at the end. The Lilywhites also have some problems in front of goal to sort out- they’ve scored only onnce in their last four league games. Almost half of the teams in the LOI (5/10) wear Umbro, but Drogheda were the only double-diamond outfitted club to claim victory over the weekend.
Dundalk will however get a chance to atone in the next round when they face UCD- the only side yet to win a game in the league this season. Derry and Shamrock will be away at Bohs and Finn Harps respectively, with St Pats against Drogheda and Sligo versus Shelbourne completing the next round of fixtures.