The three contenders are not showing championship form, but every point and goal will be scrapped for until 1 November.
Last year, Shamrock Rovers came to the Ryan McBride Brandywell, four points clear of second-placed Derry City in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division title race.
The striker got his body between the ball and the retreating Shane McEleney. Contact was inevitable and Burke knew it was coming. McEleney bundled Burke over and was instantly red-carded. Burke coolly rolled the ball to the net. “Did he use his experience?” he asked of McEleney, “Of course he did. And we got the penalty hat we deserved, from the two previous incidents that we should have got but we didn’t.”The Grace handball earned “Stonewall” status, with the Limavady man explaining, “You see those penalties given absolutely every week. It’s a penalty! There’s not a question about it, it’s a penalty. We didn’t get it unfortunately, but we kept going, we kept believing and we got a point.
There’s nothing new in that. Derry City’s fanbase has grown used to opposition teams coming up the road, plonking one striker up top that find himself grafting at the head of a heavy defence, and after some time, the tension and frustration grows, spreading around the place and coming down the Mark Farren Stand.And yet, with Shelbourne looking like they are cycling on flat tyres of late, they could be in line for a first league title since 1997.
For Rovers, their own Drive for Five has been eclipsed by progress in Europe. The chopped liver of an away day to Drogheda fails to whet the appetite the way the fillet steak of Chelsea might.
LOI Shamrock Rovers Shelbourne Soccer TITLE GRIND
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
League of Ireland previews: No rest likely for St Patrick’s as league rejects appealManager Stephen Kenny disappointed over League of Ireland's refusal to postpone Dundalk fixture just days before St Patrick's Athletic's important Conference League tie in Turkey
Read more »
League of Ireland title race 'a survival of the fittest'Derry City went top of the league in Waterford last week and go to Galway United tonight
Read more »
Ireland’s best portraits of 2024: National Gallery of Ireland announces AIB prize shortlistsShortlisted entries will be exhibited at the National Gallery of Ireland from November
Read more »
Seamus Coleman in line to face England as new Ireland boss names Ireland squadHeimir Hallgrimsson will confirm his plans for Nations League at a press conference at Aviva Stadium today.
Read more »
'Majority' of asylum seekers coming to Ireland from Northern IrelandIn April, a war of words broke out between the Irish and UK governments when Justice Minister Helen McEntee suggested that 80 per cent of those seeking asylum at the International Protection Office in Dublin stated that they had come from the UK via Northern...
Read more »
Elaine Crowley: ‘I’m a very melancholy individual and have been for most of my life’Elaine Crowley presents Ireland AM on Virgin Media and is an ambassador for Breast Cancer Ireland
Read more »