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Irish Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
St Joseph's v Shamrock Rovers streaming details of ECL 2nd qualifying rd 1st leg
Shamrock Rovers' 16-match Euro odyssey last season ended in heartbreak of a defeat on penalties to Molde in Tallaght on February 20. Just over six months later, the Hoops return to the stage but are not on the champions' path on this occasion having lost their Premier Division crown to Shelbourne. Hoops boss Stephen Bradley insists that it's not an impossible task to qualify for the Conference League group stages and their bid to climb the mountain again starts today. 'We're really looking forward to it," said Bradley. "We've obviously done really well in Europe in the last few years, with two group stages in the last three years. "We want that again, time will tell if we can make that happen. But if we want to make that happen, it starts here. We'll go there and fully respect St Joseph's and our approach will be to win the game and help put ourselves in the next round." Where is the game taking place? St Joseph's are hosting the game at the Europa Point Stadium in Gibraltar. What time is kick-off? The game will kick off at 5pm and Rovers will have to deal with hot conditions despite the late afternoon kick-off, with temperatures of over 30 degrees expected. How can I watch it? It is not being broadcast on terrestrial TV but you can stream the game live for €4.99 on OneFootball at this link What are the betting odds? St Joseph's to win 4/1, draw 11/4, Shamrock Rovers to win 4/7 Full strength Bradley has a full strength squad at his disposal for the game against opponents who saw off Cliftonville on penalties in the first qualifying round. The Hoops boss was at both legs and says the tie turned on a Cliftonville in both games. 'They play similar systems to ourselves. They've scored five goals over the two legs against Cliftonville so they know how to score goals," he said. "There's no doubt they have some really dangerous players, you can see that and they have good quality in midfield and their front three are dangerous. We've watched them in real detail and they'll be given the respect they deserve. To score five in two legs shows they know how to score goals. 'We're an experienced team. We're ready to win the game. Whatever it throws up, we'll be ready for it. The squad's in a good place. "We always get better in the second part of the season. It's up to us to go and do it. We want to do it. We want to be there again. We want another taste of that. How we went out (last season) still doesn't sit right with me. We want to try and get back and put that right. That starts here." Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.
Irish Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Shamrock Rovers consider further transfer moves after making loan signing
Stephen Bradley says that Shamrock Rovers will carefully weigh up transfer prospects in this window with the Hoops signing Connor Malley on loan from Sligo Rovers. Rovers are "down the line", according to boss Bradley, in talks to sell teenager Victor Ozhianvuna - with Arsenal believed to be set to shatter the LOI record to sign the 16-year-old on a pre-contract. Ahead of tonight's Conference League second qualifying round first leg tie with St Joseph's in Gibraltar, Malley's arrival bolsters a Premier Division table-topping squad that Bradley says is in a good place. 'We're obviously delighted to get a player of Connor's calibre in the door," said Bradley of the 25-year-old midfielder who is in second season with Sligo after spending the 2023 season with Dundalk. "He's someone we've admired for a long time and we spoke to him and he was very keen to come. So I think Connor will add real quality to the group. "It was clear to see he was a very good player. We spoke to him recently and we felt it was the right fit for us and for Connor. Thankfully when we met him, he was really keen to get it done. 'He's a midfielder who has a bit of everything. He scores, he creates, he's very good on the ball, so as I said, a bit of everything. When we've played against Connor, he's always one player who left a mark on us." Malley is keen to add to his game time this season having featured in 12 games for Sligo. 'Connor is well used to the league and I think from speaking to him, he just wants to get playing again," said Bradley. "He was very keen to be part of this group and we were keen to have Connor. "He knows what the league is about, although he hasn't played a lot of minutes this season, it'll be just about getting Connor up to speed as quickly as possible. "We play a friendly on Saturday so I'm hoping we can get Connor at least a half an hour on the pitch in that. Then we'll assess where Connor is and what we both feel he needs to be ready to play." Speaking yesterday ahead of the European tie, Bradley admitted that Rovers were looking at a couple of targets but were in no hurry to strengthen further. "I know Stephen Mc(Phail) is looking at a couple of things but I've always said, and we stick to it, if it's not right we won't do it," said the Hoops manager. "The squad's in the right place, no injuries, we've got quality so we're not in a rush to do anything but if the ones become available that we feel improve us then we'll try and do it. I know Stephen has been really busy in the last while with a few things and that's definitely one of them." Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.
RTÉ News
8 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Floundering Cork City enter last-chance saloon against seasoned Sligo Rovers
It is survival of the fittest in the League of Ireland. Cork City have failed to stay in the Premier Division in their last two attempts in 2020 and 2023 and they are in danger of failing to do so again in 2025. The team they must catch are Sligo Rovers, who have been masters at surviving this level for 20 years. With European competition taking the attention of most of the top six this weekend, the battle at the bottom between Cork City and Sligo Rovers will draw a lot of eyes. Rovers' improved form since the mid-season break has seen them take 11 points from six games, nearly half of their season total of 23. That has opened an eight-point gap from the Rebels on the bottom. A loss for Cork would mean an 11-point advantage, which seems insurmountable given they have only taken the same number of points from their last 22 games and would only have 11 further games to turn things around. If Cork City are looking to learn how to stay in the top-flight, they could learn a thing or two from Friday's opponents. Only Bohemians and St Pat's currently have longer uninterrupted spells in the Premier Division than Sligo Rovers who are in year 20 since their 2005 promotion. That's despite suffering four relegations in 15 years following the creation of the First Division in 1985. Although they are familiar with the lower reaches of the table, having finished in the bottom half in five of the last eight seasons, Rovers haven't finished fewer than six points outside a relegation place since 2017. One clear difference in approach between the clubs is continuity in the managerial position. John Russell was appointed in May 2022 by Sligo Rovers In that time City have had five different managers in Colin Healy, Liam Buckley, Richie Holland, Tim Clancy and incumbent Ger Nash. Russell has been in charge for 115 games which is only behind Stephen Bradley (309) and Kevin Doherty (133) for longest spell at their current club. Russell recently went past his predecessor Liam Buckley who was in Sligo for 107 games. With the former Bit O' Red player having been assistant to Buckley, there has been a familiar face on the bench at The Showgrounds for well over 200 games. One shining light both teams have had this season to brighten up otherwise largely bleak campaigns has been the emergence of a young star from their well-respected academies. Cork City have enjoyed 18-year-old Cathal O'Sullivan becoming a key part of their team. Owen Elding is two days short of being a year older and has been an outstanding performer in a breakthrough season. While both are set to have great careers, Sligo Rovers have managed to get more production out of their starlet. Elding has a combined 12 goals and assists, ranking second in the league behind Michael Duffy (15). His eight goals are only bettered by one other player currently in the league in Padraig Amond, with Moses Dyer no longer with Galway United. O'Sullivan is yet to get on the scoresheet for City though he has contributed three assists. One of the clearest reasons why both teams have ended up fighting relegation has been an inability to keep goals out. Cork have the most conceded goals with 43 and Sligo have just four fewer. Their problems have come at opposite stages of the games. Sligo Rovers allowed eight goals in the first 15 minutes of games, the most in the league. And, as they are the only team in the league without a win from behind, this has put them at a major disadvantage. For Ger Nash's Cork, they concede late with a total of 11 in the last 15 minutes of games. This has led to them losing 20 points from winning positions. In the last 12 years, only four teams have lost more than this and obviously they were over full seasons. They have four losses from ahead this year and no team have five in the last 12 years. The key difference has been that Rovers have been able to make improvements as the season progressed. In their first 12 games, they saw 25 goals go into the back of their net. In the 12 since, that is down to 14. Only twice in that time have they allowed an early concession of a goal. For City, their defence has actually gotten worse with 19 allowed in the first half of the season rising to 23 in the second half. Although they haven't dropped points from in front in their last six, that is due to their three goals scored in that time all being when they already trailed. The teams haven't met since April so quite a lot has changed with Sligo Rovers improvement and Cork City's managerial change. But two constants stand out, Elding scored in the first and assisted in the second. While in that second, Cork turned a win into a draw by conceding in second half stoppage time. Time is running out for Cork City to fix the problems that have landed them back in this undesirable position. That makes this week's game a clear must-win. For a club who has been known for being one of the country's biggest and best, they are in danger of becoming known as its 'yo-yo' club. That is something nobody wants to contemplate on Leeside.
Irish Independent
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Shelbourne rue missed chances as Qarabag hit three in Champions League first-leg clash
The Azerbaijani champions' European experience came to the fore as Shels struggled to live with their visitors for long spells of the first half, with an early Leandro Andrade strike putting Qarabag in the driving seat. Joey O'Brien's side were much improved after the break, however, and twice went close to a leveller through Harry Wood and Paddy Barrett, but Shels were made to pay for those missed chances as late strikes from Olexiy Kashchuk and Nariman Akhundzade saw Shels fall to defeat in this first leg, as the club's 11-match home unbeaten run in Europe came to an end. The Premier Division champions now face a steep task in next week's return leg, with Qarabag targeting a 12th successive group stage/league phase qualification, although the Reds still have cracks at the Europa and Conference League should Gurban Gurbanov's side finish this job in the Champions League second round next Wednesday. In a breathless opening 15 minutes, a loose pass from Seán Gannon allowed Kady a sight of goal but the Brazilian's shot was poor and rolled wide. But it was Shelbourne who were inches from taking a lead after just seven minutes. Ali Coote put an overhit cross from Harry Wood back into the danger zone as Tyreke Wilson saw a bullet header blocked. The ball dropped kindly to Gannon but the defender skewed his shot onto the post before Akhundzade cleared the ball off the line in the nick of time. More warning signs came moments later when Akhundzade went close after Zoubir outpaced Paddy Barrett to set up the chance, but with their next attack, Qarabag made no mistake. A well-worked move on the left flank saw Zoubir slot Tural Bayramov through on 13 minutes. The Azerbaijani international squared to Andrade who found the net to silence the sold-out home crowd. After losing Tyreke Wilson to injury, Shels needed the crossbar to save them when Akhundzade went close just before the half-hour mark. But the hosts finished the half strongly, Mipo Odubeko almost capitalising on a moment of hesitation from Qarabag 'keeper Fabijan Buntic, before Harry Wood rolled his shot just wide from a good position. Qarabag came flying out of the blocks on the restart as Lorcan Healy, starting his first European game, had to be at full stretch to claw Emmanuel Addai's header to safety, but then a re-energised Shels began to ask questions of their opponents' back line. A chance came their way on 54 minutes courtesy of a fabulous Kerr McInroy cross which put the ball on a plate for Wood, but the Leeds native got his shot all wrong, putting his head in his hands in disbelief that he didn't level the tie. As Shels searched for the leveller, it was a centre-half who went closest as an attempted cross by Barrett smacked off the crossbar, but for all their good work, two goals in four minutes late on silenced Tolka. On 81 minutes, a simple through ball cut through the Reds' defence as Zoubir hit the post, only for the ball to fall kindly for Kashchuk to tap in. Things went from bad to worse moments later when Ledwidge's header back to Healy looped over the goalkeeper and allowed Akhundzade to strike into an empty net. For the Reds, all roads lead to Baku for the second leg but they'll have regrets about this night and what could have been. SHELBOURNE: Healy; Gannon (Coyle 46), Ledwidge, Barrett; Caffrey (O'Sullivan 66), McInroy, Lunney, Coote (Martin 66), Wilson (Norris 19); Wood; Odubeko (Boyd 77). QARABAG: Buntic; Bolt (Huseynov 76), Mustafazade, Silva, Bayramov; Bichalho, Addai, Kady; Andrade (Kashchuk 77), Akhundzade (Gurbanli 87), Zoubir (Jafarguliyev 87)
The 42
2 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
Drogheda United travel to Derry City for repeat of 2024 FAI Cup final after third-round draw
A REPEAT OF the 2024 FAI Cup final awaits in the third round of the 2025 competition as Derry City host the reigning champions Drogheda United. Drogheda were crowned champions last year for the second time in their history after a 2-0 victory at the Aviva Stadium. The sides meet again at the Brandywell on the weekend of Sunday, 17 August. Advertisement A classic Dublin derby between St Patrick's Athletic and current Premier Division champions Shelbourne is also a standout tie from the draw. Two other clashes between local rivals will come in the form of Kerry FC v Cobh Ramblers while Salthill Devon take on Galway United. An all-Munster meeting of Cork City and Waterford has also been confirmed following the draw while Longford Town will travel to take on Shamrock Rovers. Bohemians will welcome Sligo Rovers to Dalymount Park. Fixtures will take place on the weekend of Sunday, 17 August, with RTÉ providing live coverage of third-round action. The station will also cover the two quarter-finals, both semi-finals, as well as the final at Aviva Stadium on Sunday, 9 November. FAI Cup Third-Round Draw
