U19 League of Ireland 2013-14

Paz-CCFC

The senior LoI is nearing an end, having played three games of the final series, but the U19 League has only begun this weekend.

Cork City look to defend both the league and cup, having done the double two seasons running (all four trophies from the first two seasons of the competition have gone to the Leesiders). Shels, who were pipped by City to both competitions last season, will be looking to go one better, while Shamrock Rovers, who finished 3rd last year and 2nd the year before, won't be far off the mix either. The newcomers to the Elite Division, Sligo Rovers (Northern Division champions) and Athlone Town (Southern Division champions), will be looking to make a good account of themselves in their first season in the top flight.

In honesty, the league title could end up anywhere, as there's really little between the sides at this level. The 2012-13 season ended up with only 14 points separating first and tenth, with the only major gap being between tenth and the bottom two, Bohemians and Finn Harps, who were relegated.

Cork City got their title defence off to a perfect start, with a resounding 3-0 win against Bray Wanderers this afternoon in Bishopstown. The home side could have ended up with another two or three, but for some good saves by the Bray keeper. City's own goalie will be happy to have kept a clean sheet, but none will be happier than Greg Harte, who bagged himself an opening day hat-trick. Joining the Rebel Army at the top after the opening round of matches is Sligo Rovers, who beat their fellow promotees Athlone Town 3-0 at the Showgrounds. Perhaps the match of the weekend was Waterford United v Salthill Devon, as the Blues won out 5-3. Niall McCabe and Conor Barry both netted braces, McCabe for the home side, Barry for the travelling Galway men The only other win went to double runner-ups Shelbourne, who beat Drogheda United 2-0 in United Park. UCD drew 1-1 at home to Cobh Ramblers, while St. Patrick's Athletic couldn't emulate their senior side's result from last weekend, as they finished scoreless away to Shamrock Rovers.



Results

Cork City 3-0 Bray Wanderers
Drogheda United 0-2 Shelbourne
Shamrock Rovers 0-0 St. Patrick's Athletic
Sligo Rovers 3-0 Athlone Town
UCD 1-1 Cobh Ramblers
Waterford United 5-3 Salthill Devon

|| || P || W || D || L || F || A || GD || Pts
1|| Cork City|| 1||1||0||0||3||0||+3||3
1|| Sligo Rovers||1||1||0||0||3||0||+3||3
3|| Waterford United||1||1||0||0||5||3||+2||3
4|| Shelbourne||1||1||0||0||2||0||+2||3
5|| Cobh Ramblers||1||0||1||0||1||1||0||1
5|| UCD||1||0||1||0||1||1||0||1
7|| St. Pat's||1||0||1||0||0||0||0||1
7|| Shamrock Rovers||1||0||1||0||0||0||0||1
9|| Salthill Devon||1||0||0||1||3||5||-2||0
10|| Drogheda United||1||0||0||1||0||2||-2||0
11|| Athlone Town||1||0||0||1||0||3||-3||0
11|| Bray Wanderers||1||0||0||1||0||3||-3||0

Mars Bar

Galway United Supporters Trust weren't given a licence this season so that's my involvement with the league finished this year.

I enjoyed a lot of the games I saw last year. There is some very good talent on our shores.

Lawrence1895

Mars Bar wrote: »

Galway United Supporters Trust weren't given a licence this season so that's my involvement with the league finished this year.

I enjoyed a lot of the games I saw last year. There is some very good talent on our shores.

How come, may I ask? Financial reasons?

Anyway, it's so sweet to see Shels in the top half of a table

Mars Bar

Lars1916 wrote: »

How come, may I ask? Financial reasons?

Anyway, it's so sweet to see Shels in the top half of a table

FAI felt there was enough in two clubs and chose Mervue and Salthill because they are longer established at U19 level.

Lawrence1895

Mars Bar wrote: »

FAI felt there was enough in two clubs and chose Mervue and Salthill because they are longer established at U19 level.

But I can't see them in the table...

kksaints

Mars Bar wrote: »

FAI felt there was enough in two clubs and chose Mervue and Salthill because they are longer established at U19 level.

Whats Going on with the senior teams for next year in Galway? Mervue are having a decent season, Salthill not so much.

Hopefully soon we will se more players coming through to the main teams from this because its a good idea. Carroll is the only one I can think of with Pats. Is there any plans for an U17/18 league soon? I remember seeing rumours about it before.

kksaints

Lars1916 wrote: »

But I can't see them in the table...

Theres 2 division below this which are divided by regions.

Heres the website for it if you want to look.

http://www.loi19.com

Mars Bar

Lars1916 wrote: »

But I can't see them in the table...

That's coz they are in the Southern Division, the same division that GUST played in.

kksaints wrote: »

Whats Going on with the senior teams for next year in Galway? Mervue are having a decent season, Salthill not so much.

Not hearing and rumbles about a senior team whatsoever. As time goes on, it's less and less likely there'll be a squad together for the 2014 season.

Paz-CCFC

Mars Bar wrote: »

FAI felt there was enough in two clubs and chose Mervue and Salthill because they are longer established at U19 level.

They couldn't make space for them in the already jam-packed second tier, that had all of five teams in the northern section and six in the southern section last season? Is the regionalised second division definitely going ahead this season, if it has so few teams?

Edit: Thanks kkstaints. I was looking at Extra Time and couldn't find anything about the second division. Ridiculous that they decided Mervue and Salthill were enough, when the southern section only has five teams in it.

kksaints

Mars Bar wrote: »

Not hearing and rumbles about a senior team whatsoever. As time goes on, it's less and less likely there'll be a squad together for the 2014 season.

Pity without wanting to sound weird but the league needs a decent Galway team.

Paz-CCFC

Shelbourne are having a fantastic start, securing maximum points from the opening five. This included a 4-1 hammering of Cork City at home on the second weekend. City have managed to steady the ship, though, with seven points from nine in the past week, including a 3-2 win away to Waterford in midweek (a rescheduled match due to international call ups for City players). Plenty of other teams aren't far behind second place, but they'll have a lot of work to do to close the gap on Shels. Last place are nearly as far behind the rest, as the league leaders are ahead, with Drogheda, who have failed to gain a single point yet, sitting four behind second bottom, St. Pats. Things are only starting, though, so plenty could change in the weeks ahead.

The second divisions, north and south, have both started, as well. Dundalk and Derry City share first place in the Northern Division with six points each, but Derry (who have a 100% record) have played a game less. Mervue have already opened a five point gap on the rest of the Southern Divison, with maximum points from three games, but three sides do have a game in hand over them. Limerick would be ahead due to a goal difference of +8 from just two matches, as well as the extra game, but their 4-0 hammering of Mervue was later awarded as a 3-0 win for the Galway side, as Limerick had fielded an ineligible player.

Lawrence1895

Shels U19 with 5/5, Borussia Dortmund 5/5...happy days

Paz-CCFC

Lars1916 wrote: »

Shels U19 with 5/5, Borussia Dortmund 5/5...happy days

Have you been to any of Shels matches, Lars? One of the players scored an absolute cracker against Cobh in Tolka last weekend:

Lawrence1895

Paz-CCFC wrote: »

Have you been to any of Shels matches, Lars? One of the players scored an absolute cracker against Cobh in Tolka last weekend:

Until now, I could only go to the senior matches, since I'm usually working Saturday and Sunday:(

Paz-CCFC

Lars1916 wrote: »

Until now, I could only go to the senior matches, since I'm usually working Saturday and Sunday:(

Ah right, fair enough. Shels seem to have a real quality team this season. I think they have the vast majority of last season's starting lineup that finished as double runners-up, while, with other teams (City included), most of the players from last year are too old for this age group.

With the senior season finishing up in a month and a half, it's well worth heading out to a few U19 matches to help keep away the withdrawal symptoms. There are some very good players playing in the league - you could end up seeing the next big Ireland star - and the matches are usually very entertaining.

kksaints

Paz-CCFC wrote: »

Ah right, fair enough. Shels seem to have a real quality team this season. I think they have the vast majority of last season's starting lineup that finished as double runners-up, while, with other teams (City included), most of the players from last year are too old for this age group.

With the senior season finishing up in a month and a half, it's well worth heading out to a few U19 matches to help keep away the withdrawal symptoms. There are some very good players playing in the league - you could end up seeing the next big Ireland star - and the matches are usually very entertaining.

Most of them are free as far as I know aswell. Hopefully Pats u-19 will start to improve.

Gavin "shels"

Going to try get to a few U19 games, Shels are on fire at the moment one of the lads got a call up to the U19 International side last week too, 2pm on a Saturday isn't really ideal though.

Lawrence1895

Maybe, there will be U19 fixtures on a Friday evening, once the senior season is over, and I will head down to Tolka for sure

dan1895

Paz-CCFC wrote: »

Have you been to any of Shels matches, Lars? One of the players scored an absolute cracker against Cobh in Tolka last weekend:

Came in to mention that goal.
Someone asked me about entry into u19's on Friday but I didn't know. May head down to a game or two in the off season if I get a chance. Would be nice to see a Shels team win for a change.

Gavin "shels"

Lars1916 wrote: »

Maybe, there will be U19 fixtures on a Friday evening, once the senior season is over, and I will head down to Tolka for sure

Friday evening means floodlights which means money, so I wouldn't count on it.

Paz-CCFC

The senior League of Ireland is done and dusted for another year, but thankfully we won't have a football-less winter ahead of us. The 19s League is just hotting up, having reached the halfway point this weekend.

Shels, who steamrolled passed everyone in the first seven games, have lost two games in the last four, sit at the top on 27 points. Waterford United, who've won the last 5 matches in a row, are six points behind but have a game in hand. Cork City, who beat Drogheda United 2-0 this afternoon, are keeping up the pace on 20 points. At the other end of the table, this leaves Drogheda on just four points - eight behind second from bottom. They're in real need of a few wins, as the rest of the table pull away from them. No other major gaps exists between teams, as just five points separate 3rd placed Athlone Town and 11th placed Sligo Rovers. In the match of the weekend, Salthill Devon, who hammered UCD 7-2 last week, were the victims of conceding seven goals this time, losing out 7-4 to Sligo Rovers.

In the Northern Division, Derry City went three points clear at the top with a 1-0 win over Fanad, while Mervue have opened up a five point gap over second placed Limerick in the Southern Division.




League tables taken from loi19.com


We take a break from League action for a bit, as next weekend sees the second round of the cup. Shamrock Rovers at home to Cork City is perhaps the tie of the weekend. Here's the full fixture list for Round 2:

Paz-CCFC

Cork City were crowned champions of the Elite Division for the third year running at the weekend.. Shelbourne were 11 points ahead with 5 games to go. Derry won the Northern Divison and Mervue the Southern, so they'll replace Drogheda and Salthill. City were knocked out of the Cup in the semi-finals, so a third straight clean sweep won't happen, but Cobh could ensure all the trophies once again go to Cork. They play against Drogheda tonight in St Colman's Park.

Do any of the Shels fans have any ideas of how there was such a collapse late on? Did a lot of the 19s get called up to the first team, depleting the underage squad?

Also, why did the result of the semi-final between Shelbourne and Drogheda, which Shels won, get overturned?

SantryRed

Paz-CCFC wrote: »

Cork City were crowned champions of the Elite Division for the third year running at the weekend.. Shelbourne were 11 points ahead with 5 games to go. Derry won the Northern Divison and Mervue the Southern, so they'll replace Drogheda and Salthill. City were knocked out of the Cup in the semi-finals, so a third straight clean sweep won't happen, but Cobh could ensure all the trophies once again go to Cork. They play against Drogheda tonight in St Colman's Park.

Do any of the Shels fans have any ideas of how there was such a collapse late on? Did a lot of the 19s get called up to the first team, depleting the underage squad?

Also, why did the result of the semi-final between Shelbourne and Drogheda, which Shels won, get overturned?

Shels brought a player on off the bench who was not on the match card. Talk about amateur hour.

Gavin "shels"

Paz-CCFC wrote: »

Do any of the Shels fans have any ideas of how there was such a collapse late on? Did a lot of the 19s get called up to the first team, depleting the underage squad?

About 15 or so of the U19 squad signed for the Senior squad for this season, since Johnny Mac came in last season he was using U19 players.