League of Ireland betting.

Haaha .. Yeah I took them @ 4/1 when they were one down so we're in the same boat!

2-1 Drogheda!

Randomfriend wrote: »

I may be mistaken, but I think quite a few of the drogs squad are cup tied, I'll come back with solid info on that tomorrow.

Alan Byrne, Jason Marks, Cathal McMahon and Michael Schlingerman (Cup-tied)

gone over 2.5 in tonight's game. 11/10 with pp

Will be doing my annual big write up, waiting for handicap outright betting before doing it up.

Gavin shels wrote: »

Will be doing my annual big write up, waiting for handicap outright betting before doing it up.

Premier Division

Dundalk + 30 Handicap – 8/1 (Paddy Power) SMALL STAKE

Last season Dundalk finished bottom (excluding a defunct Monaghan Utd), 41 points off Sligo Rovers (top of the table) and just survived a relegation/promotion play-off. But since then they’ve have a turn of fortune, they’ve got new owners on board (A few local lads who own Fastfix) who have invested a good bit both on and off the field.

On the field Stephen Kenny comes in as new manager and has brought in nearly a whole new squad. The squad in my opinion won’t bag dozens of goals, but they’ve a quality keeper in Peter Cherrie, have a solid defence, decent midfield and with a bit of match fitness possibly a good couple of strikers.

My prediction is Dundalk is 5th place, which going on last seasons 5th place team (Derry City) they were 22 behind Sligo (up to 8th place last season covered the +30).

****Winner will be determined only after the handicap is added to all listed teams at the end of the season.****



Drogheda + 22 Handicap – 8/1 (Paddy Power) LARGE STAKE

Great handicap imo! Drogheda Utd finished 4 points behind Sligo in 2nd place last season.

Drogheda haven’t lost much in the way of top players, Sean Brennan and Paul Crowlet would be the two most notable but they’ve been replaced by David Cassidy, Graham Rusk, Paul O’Conor and 2 lesser players. Gary O’Neill has also been added to the books, and with game time he can score. So on paper it’s crazy to see why Drogheda are +22.

My prediction is Drogheda Utd 4th as a worse possibly case scenario. Sligo, with Danny North back will be the team to beat, Shamrock Rovers and St.Patricks managers will both be under pressure this season to achieve. Last seasons 4th place were Shamrock Rovers, who were just 5 points behind Sligo.


****Winner will be determined only after the handicap is added to all listed teams at the end of the season.****



Mark Quigley Top goalscorer (7/1 Boyles) SMALL STAKE €10

Danny North isn’t expected to be back till April at the earliest, thus missing the first month of fixtures at least for Sligo Rovers. Mark Quigley came to Sligo’s rescue when North got injured last season in August; Quigley replaced him and made a huge impact. Quigley has since moved to Shamrock Rovers and in my opinion with Gary Twigg gone from the League and North being injured he should be top goal-scorer.

My only concern with this is Shamrock Rovers have 4 quality strikers, in Quigley, Sheppard, Kilduff and Stewart. My guess is it will be a Quigley/Sheppard partnership until July when Sheppards loan is up, and then I’d say Stewart will come in.



First Division

Finn Harps to win the League – 6/1 (Ladbrokes) MEDIUM STAKE €15

Generally the bookies haven’t a clue how to price the First Division, last year I got insane odds on Longford and Longford (w/o Limerick) which were cut after I posted up my preview online.

Waterford Utd are rated favourite, this is based on last season imo, they have lost two of their best players (Gary Dempsey and Sean Maguire) and have replaced them with Gavin Kavanagh (on off defender at Cork City last season) and a non-prolific goalscorer in Vinny Sullivan (64 starts with 18 goals for Cork City last season) respectively.

Longford haven’t changed much since last season, but have added Chris Bennion as first choice keeper (played with Shelbourne last season). He WILL be the weak link having seen him play for Shels last season, he won’t have the strength of a defence on front of him at Longford as he did at Shels and he still struggled. In their pre-season friendly against Bohs, he played the 2nd half, conceded 3, two of which were lobs from outside of the box.

Athlone are priced as they are due to Roddy Collins taking over the reins. On paper they have a young inexperienced side. Keepers they have at hand are very weak, defence is weak and lacking numbers, midfield looks decent with some players on loan from St.Pats, and up front they should be ok as long as Gorman and McGee stay fit.

Onto Finn Harps, they’ve established a strong 29 man squad (they’re competing in the USL also so a few will go to that side), they’ve had a very strong pre-season (1-1 with Sligo and beat Dundalk 2-0) and they’ve had Donegal GAA fitness coaches in to get the conditioning 100% along with another fitness “camp”. On paper they look very strong, they’re defence is lacking numbers but they have a quality keeper on hand in Gallagher to make up of any short comings. As seen last season, a good start to the season, match fitness and being physically ready is huge in the First Division due to the distance of travelling involved and conditions at matches this is were I think Finn Harps will have the extra edge due to the side of their squad, their fitness preparation for the season and the amount of matches they’ve gotten to play (USL matches and pre-season). No fewer than 10 pre-season matches Finn Harps have played (two in 2 days at one stage, with 2 completely different starting elevens, 1-1 draw with Sligo Rovers and 2-1 win over Letterkenny)

Philly_C wrote: »

Nice write up Gavin. Backed Harps myself last week.

On Dundalk there the defence(centre backs in particular) doesn't fill me with whole load of confidence especially if there's one or two injuries. What's your opinion on Andy Boyle? I think the midfield is quite strong though and the debate is out on the lads up front. The handicap looks a good bet though.

On Drogheda you could say they over achieved last season but if they're any way as consistent as last season they should be within 22 points of the winners.

Good tips and I'll probably follow you on them.

Boyle is a solid player for a 21 year old, aslong as he has someone with some experience (Rossiter) by his side he'll do a quality job. The new owners at Dundalk have pumped in serious cash, and have huge plans which will be made public soon, they'll want a good first season to bulid on.

Drogheda took advantage for St.Pats and Shamrock Rovers mishaps, this season they'll fine it a bit harder imo, but they have a better squad at hand.