Goalkeeper
Paul Skinner (Longford Town) – Guessed right to keep out Rory Patterson’s penalty and also made good saves from Keith Ward’s free-kick and Barry McNamee’s late chance.
Defence
Patrick McClean (Derry City) – His wonder-goal alone – his first for the club – would warrant a nomination for Team of the Week but the 19-year-old defender was assured on the ball and after his confident performance at the City Calling Stadium, he could force his way into the starting line-up for Tuesday night’s EA Sports Cup clash with Sligo.
Keith Cowan (Finn Harps) – One place where Finn Harps are strong is at the back and certainly against the high ball. The Harps rearguard held firm and Richard Brush, the hosts’ goalkeeper, never had anything out of the ordinary to deal with. That was thanks mainly to strong performances of those in front of him, notably Keith Cowan.
Brian Gartland (Dundalk) - An assured performance at the back and the Lilywhites centre-half also won the penalty that resulted in Ronan Finn’s winning goal when he was dragged to the ground by Mick Leahy.
Midfield
Brandon Miele (Shamrock Rovers) - The Tallaght man’s star continues to rise as he netted twice with his neat second goal the decisive moment of the game as it sucker-punched Bohs.
Stephen O’Donnell (Dundalk) – On a night that Dundalk were far from their best, it was perhaps unsurprising that their captain was among the better performers on the night. While the flair players struggled to find their rhythm on a rare off night, O’Donnell did the basics well and competed well in a bruising midfield tussle with Sligo skipper Craig Roddan.
Gary McCabe (Shamrock Rovers) – The midfielder’s opener on the stroke of half-time freed up the game for Rovers and created spaces that he himself took full advantage of after the resumption with his incisive passing ultimately taking its toll on Bohs.
Conan Byrne (St Patrick’s Athletic) - Two goals and one assist for Byrne, a constant threat in the St Pat’s attack. He struck a smashing volley into the Wexford net for his first goal.
Gary Shanahan (Galway United) - The 23-year-old winger is coming of age in this Galway United team, and where last season he lacked the end product, he has it in abundance this term. His lob of Mark McNulty was nothing short of sensational.
Forwards
Dave Scully (Finn Harps) – Dave Scully has certainly bought into what Finn Harps are about since joining the club and on Friday, as well as scoring the only goal of the game against his former club, he went through a mountain of work to maintain his side’s steady start to life back in the top flight.
David O’Sullivan (Longford) – The Longford striker got his side off the mark with a clinical header. His work rate was superb throughout and he kept pressure on the Derry defence, leading from the front as his teammates soaked up pressure in the second half.
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Now maybe the rest of sports clubs can follow suit for a few weeks. Show a bit of solidarity.
@Splat: the GAA ate only doing it because their supporters can’t behave themselves. Rugby and football (not Gaelic) supporters would have more respect for everyone
@Mattress Dick: *are
@Mattress Dck: I refuse to call football ‘soccer’ btw. Feel dirty just typing it
@Mattress Dick: agree. Football is football. GAA is Gaelic Football or GAA
@Mattress Dick: Soccer Hooligans might flow off the tongue better.
@Mattress Dick: it’s football in England. It’s soccer in Ireland. We have our own football
@John kane: not really, maybe outside of our biggest city. In Dublin football means the one where only one player can use their hands and the rest have to use their feet.
The other one is footrug!
@Mattress Dick: it is called both football and soccer in Ireland and elsewhere.
If someone told me they play football I’d have to clarify which one they meant.
@Mattress Dick: The proper name for the game is Association Football. From the word association came the name soccer. In the 60s and 70s it was called soccer widely including in England. There was a magazine/annual called Soccer. The new fangled infatuation with the term football being the only proper term is just that, an infatuation! Many clubs had the abbreviation AFC after their names to show the were Association Football Clubs! Rugby is properly called Rugby Football and few enough players kick the ball. American football often refer to their players as footballers and only two players, the kicker and punter kick the ball! For many people, soccer is just a term to differentiate which form of football is being played!