Investigation underway as Shamrock Rovers report alleged racist comment aimed at Victor Ozhianvuna
An investigation is underway after Shamrock Rovers reported that a Waterford fan aimed a racist comment at teenager Victor Ozhianvuna prior to Friday night's Premier Division between the sides.
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RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Kellyann Hogan, Cian Lynch, Michael Murphy and Niamh Rockett scoop May Player of the Month awards
Waterford duo Niamh Rockett and Kellyann Hogan are the May winners of the PwC GPA Women's Player of the Month awards for camogie and football, with Limerick talisman Cian Lynch and Donegal's Michael Murphy named the PwC GAA/GPA Hurler and Footballer of the month respectively. Cian Lynch delivered commanding performances for Limerick in the Munster Hurling Championship in pivotal wins over Waterford and Cork as they pursued their sixth provincial title in a row. Lynch was the Man of the Match in the six-point victory over the Déise and was instrumental in the 16-point victory over Cork that booked his side's spot in a seventh consecutive Munster final, won by Cork on penalties last weekend. Donegal stalwart Michael Murphy delivered inspirational performances throughout the month, none more so than in the Ulster title decider versus defending All-Ireland champions Armagh. After taking two years off, Murphy (35) was the difference-maker, scoring three points and helping set up plenty more as Donegal retained their provincial crown. Murphy followed this up with an eight-point haul in the defeat against Tyrone in the All-Ireland series. Rockett made history with the Déise as they recorded their first ever senior championship victory over Kilkenny in Nowlan Park on 31 May. The free-taker scored nine of Waterford's 17 points and will look to continue her scintillating form in the next round as Waterford take on Dublin on Saturday week. The Waterford women's football team came agonisingly close to overcoming the reigning All-Ireland champions Kerry, with Hogan's six well-taken scores a key factor in the Déise running Kerry close. Hogan then put in a dominant performance in Waterford's nine-point victory against Cork to book a rematch against the Kingdom in the Munster Football Championship final. A standout performance in the middle of the park and four scores from the Ballymacarby clubwoman were unfortunately not enough however, as Waterford tasted defeat at the hands of Kerry once more.
The 42
7 hours ago
- The 42
Club by club guide as League of Ireland resumes after mid-season break
THE LEAGUE OF Ireland resumes tomorrow after a brief respite for the mid-season break. If you're in need of a quick refresher of where your Premier Division club – or rival – is at, look no further. 1st – Shamrock Rovers The league leaders signed off before the break with a goalless draw against Galway United. Manager Stephen Bradley was angry at the drop off in performance level and even though there's a cushion of a six-point lead the nature of this league means that can be whittled away quickly. Case in point, tomorrow's TV game with Shelbourne could see the champions, who are down in fifth, also reduce the difference to six. The Hoops bolstered their attacking ranks with the signing of striker John McGovern from Dungannon Swifts, and he should add some dynamism for the second half of the campaign. The future of Josh Honohan is also up in the air with interest from across the water. 2nd – Drogheda United Drogs could be forgiven for not being able to enjoy the mid-season break at all given the situation with their place in this season's UEFA Conference League qualifiers being up in the air. Owners Trivela Group also have a controlling stake in Danish side Silkeborg IF, and their cup victory, combined with a higher league place domestically, means they should take priority in the European competition. Missing out on €525,000 in prize money would be a blow, but at least they remain well equipped to earn a place in Europe on league form. One thing is for sure, Kevin Doherty and his players won't have time to dwell on things, they face St Patrick's Athletic tomorrow and host Rovers on Monday. 3rd – Bohemians There are two standout moments involving Bohs during the first half of the season. The first was boss Alan Reynolds motionless in the centre circle looking towards the away fans at Tolka Park after Shelbourne scored a late goal for a 1-0 win on 11 April. The travelling supporters were being kept back and the mood was low. Bohs had nine points from as many games – three wins and six defeats – and it looked like an uphill battle to salvage the season. Well, Reynolds got Bohs climbing and in the nine games that followed before the break they amassed 21 points – seven wins and two defeats. The second standout moment was the delirium that resulted from a stunning comeback to beat Shamrock Rovers 3-2 after trailing 2-0 at half-time in Tallaght. Bohs need to kick on, starting away to Cork City tomorrow, to ensure that derby day doesn't turn out to be the highlight of their season. 4th – St Patrick's Athletic June 2024 was the last time Stephen Kenny's side lost at home, that defeat coming against a Dundalk side now in the First Division. Twenty two games later the Saints have back to back fixtures at Richmond Park against Drogheda United tomorrow and Shelbourne on Monday. Derry City also visit Inchicore on Monday, 23 June. Add in away games against Galway United and Cork City and it's a very busy two-week period. Not since beating Bohs on 14 March and Waterford on 28 March have Pat's won consecutive games. June would be a good time to do so. 5th – Shelbourne Damien Duff wanted to bring in at least one new centre back before this season started. Injury to Paddy Barrett later made that even more of a necessity. Rewind to the first night of the season, when the lights went out at half-time of their game with Derry at Tolka Park. Shels were seriously impressive in a 4-4-2 formation with Mipo Odubeko and Sean Boyd up top. It looked to be a blueprint for retaining their crown. The pair helped the champions completely outplay and overpower the visitors. Boyd scored twice but injury has also derailed his year so far, at a time when his form and confidence seemed to be taking him up a level. He earned a new deal over the winter amid interest from St Mirren in Scotland. Tomorrow offers the perfect chance to build up momentum and, who knows, possibly even use Europe as a springboard like others have before them. Advertisement 6th – Derry City New boss Tiernan Lynch joked ahead of the opening game of the season away to Shelbourne that the home club would have to make room for wheelchairs in the away dressing room to accommodate an apparently aging squad. Others were making different kind of assertions about a raft of signings that cost a few bob and had solid pedigree in the UK. A comprehensive defeat to Shels, in which at least one of their new signings complained about the physicality of the opponents, did not set a positive tone. To their credit, Derry grew stronger as the season went on and five wins from six between 18 April and 9 May illustrated as much. One draw and two defeats before the break is the reason they dropped to fifth. They can't resume the campaign in the manner they started it. 7th – Galway United A return trip to the Ryan McBride Brandywell will be a welcome sight for Moses Dyer. The Galway striker is the league's top scorer with nine goals and netted his first of the campaign against Derry City in a 1-1 draw back on 7 March. Galway headed into the break with a draw at Rovers and a win away to Cork prior to that, two results that were badly needed after four consecutive defeats. John Caulfield is on the lookout for players to strengthen his bid for European qualification and also knows the importance of keeping hold of Dyer. Having Bohemians' Cian Byrne tied down to a season-long loan will also be important as he has impressed in a defensive midfielder role. 8th – Waterford Before John Coleman was confirmed as the Blues' permanent successor to Keith Long, the Munster club made sure to the test the water of interest at different levels of the game in the UK. One manager out of work, who has experience throughout the British game, was sounded out for the job. However, a pre-arranged holiday meant he didn't want to pursue the opportunity further than those initial talks. Coleman had no such qualms about returning to the League of Ireland 11 years on from his four-month stint with Sligo Rovers. He has a deal until the end of the 2027 campaign but the second half of this campaign will be a handy barometer of the Scouser's impact. 9th – Cork City New boss Ger Nash went into the break buoyed by an impressive performance and 1-1 draw at home to Shelbourne. Just as important has been the return to action of striker Seani Maguire. With Ruairí Keating likely out for the remainder of the season the experienced forward will have to carry the burden with Djenairo Daniels, who has made an impressive start to life at Turner's Cross. Someone whose time may well be coming to an end, however, is the talented playmaker Cathal O'Sullivan. He was away on U21 duty with the Republic of Ireland during the break and is likely to leave this summer with at least four Premier League clubs showing significant interest. He was pictured at a Crystal Palace game recently but it remains to be seen if they are frontrunners. 10th- Sligo Rovers Another highly-rated prospect is the Bit O'Red's Owen Elding. The 19-year-old's stunning long range strike against Shelbourne caught the eye in a 3-2 defeat at Tolka Park in the penultimate fixture before the break. With seven goals, he trails Galway's Dyer by just two and if he is still at the Showgrounds after the summer window closes his contribution will be crucial. Boss John Russell dropped Connor Malley before the break, citing 'how everyone trains and plays in the games and how they conduct themselves.' Cork are only one point clear in the promotion/relegation spot while tomorrow's opponents, Waterford, have an 11-point cushion.
RTÉ News
10 hours ago
- RTÉ News
What the chasing pack must do to give us a proper LOI title race
Ten years ago, the Conroy Report was delivered to look into the development of the League of Ireland. Although there was much discussion around its findings at the time, it has largely been forgotten about by now. Fair enough, fans prefer to remember goals, games, players and managers. But it is interesting to look at a key recommendation from it which was adopted: the 10-team Premier Division. The decision was made to switch from 12 to 10 for the 2018 season and that has been stuck with ever since with no indication of a future change. While it was not a new concept, the two previous moves to 10 were never given the chance to get off the ground, lasting only three seasons from 2002 to 2004 and 2009 to 2011. The main aims were to have more games between the top clubs and to produce a tighter league. In terms of having a more exciting title race, it did not get off to a good start coming in during a phase of Dundalk dominance and their quick replacement by Shamrock Rovers. The average gap from first to second from 2018 to 2023 was 13 points (if you double Shamrock Rovers lead for the 18-game 2020 season). In the first three years the average gap from second to third was 17, though this dropped to 10 by the end of 2023. But 2024 brought the tightest league in a long time with the gap from first to eighth (21 points) closer than the gap from first to third (22 points) in the last 12-team season. One season is too small of a sample size to predict a future of close title races but 2025 started along promising lines. However, Shamrock Rovers five-game winning streak through May took them ahead of the chasing pack. It was their longest winning sequence since May 2023 and something only two teams (Shelbourne in early 2024 and St Pat's in late 2024) have done since the 2022. That gives the Hoops a six-point lead heading into a pivotal weekend where they and the other three clubs in European competition (Shelbourne, St Pat's and Drogheda United) clash twice in four days. Friday sees St Pat's v Drogheda and Shelbourne v Shamrock Rovers with St Pat's v Shelbourne and Drogheda v Shamrock Rovers on Monday. If results go the way of Stephen Bradley's side, they could come away with a nine-point lead. But a worst-case scenario would mean no longer have any lead. So, what is needed from the other three sides to mount a title challenge this weekend and beyond? Let's take a look. Shelbourne – Defensive improvement Shelbourne won last year's league title on the back of the stingiest defence in the division. Their 27 conceded goals were the fewest and only two teams had a better record since 2019. But Shels goals conceded per game has gone up this year from 0.75 to 1.05. Their eight 1-0 wins was the most in 10 years with a total of 16 clean sheets. They are on pace for just half that in 2025 with four so far. This drop in defensive performance has impacted their ability to hold onto leads. In 2024, they scored first 18 times and converted 89% of those into wins. That's the highest percentage for a team scoring first at least that many times since Dundalk in 2019. This year their conversion rate has dropped to 57%. It must be concerning that they have conceded within three minutes of scoring three times this year, something that didn't happen once under eight minutes last year. 2024's underlying numbers showed they exceeded expectations. Their 27 conceded came from an xG against of 41.48 (fifth best). They have returned much closer to the norm this year with 20 allowed from 21.5 xG against. Some of their other numbers have actually shown small improvements with shots against down and defensive duel success rate up. They will hope the returns of some key parts of last year's defense help as Sean Gannon, Paddy Barrett and Tyreke Wilson have a combined 19 starts in 2025. St Pat's – Away form Part of Stephen Kenny's revitalisation of St Pat's after his appointment in May last year was having the best away record in the league from that point to the end of the season. That included a run of five straight wins to the finish line which was their longest winning sequence since their 2013 title-winning team. That form has not continued into 2025 with their 10 points won away only leaving them ahead of basement dwellers Sligo Rovers and Cork City. They did win their last game on the road at Sligo Rovers, but it is just one of three this year, all against the league's bottom three. The victory ended a run of four consecutive losses which was their worst in seven years. The Saints have been unable to replicate their home form where they have the league's highest points per game (2.11) and their most since 2014. Central to their inability to pick up away points has been scoring just eight goals, the fewest in the league. Their rate is 0.80 per game. Eight of the last 18 teams who have had this low of a goal return over a full season were relegated. St Pat's were last this low over a full season in 2009 when they ended seventh. The issue has not been creating chances but taking them. At home, they outperform their xG (18 from 14.38) but away they have scored just eight from a 12.7 xG. Although they are taking 1.4 more shots per game at home, they are hitting the target better away so end up with the same number of shots on target per game - 4.4. Nearly half of their overall goals have come from strikers Aidan Keena and Mason Melia (12 of 26) but just 25% of that duo's goals have been away from Richmond Park. They will need to start carrying that form with them, as Keena did with his match-winning penalty in Sligo last time out. Drogheda United – Big-match wins Drogheda are in a different position to the others in that they are already outperforming their 2024 season. They're just four points shy of last season's total of 34. But despite their good run to end 2024 they didn't get a win over either Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne or St Pat's. Galway United were the only other team they failed to beat. This has largely continued into 2025 though with some improvement. They did get a win earlier in the season at Shelbourne but have failed to get any more since over last year's top three and didn't come away with any goals in the last three. The issue is worst against Monday's opponents Shamrock Rovers who they trail by six points. The Hoops have taken 15 points from games against the other European qualifiers compared to Drogheda's seven. United have taken just one point from 21 available in the last seven meetings with Shamrock Rovers. The aggregate score from those fixtures is 18-2. They will first need to correct the flow of goals against them. In the first nine this season, Drogheda allowed just 0.55 per game but in the 10 since that is well up to 1.4. This is especially key against a Shamrock Rovers side scoring 2.27 since Jack Byrne entered the starting lineup 11 games ago. A lot has and can change in a league with a lot of big games packed into a short amount of time. At the end of April, more than half the league had legitimate thoughts of a title contest. But Shamrock Rovers' impressive run through May has cast doubts on that. With this weekend's big double-header and Europe on the horizon, more swings could be seen. Shamrock Rovers showed an ability to improve by leaning on proven stars like Byrne, Graham Burke, Arron Greene and Rory Gaffney. The teams below can all clearly make improvements, but time is quickly becoming of the essence if they are to be genuine title contenders.
