Harping On V Athlone Town

April 17, 2006

Tonight we welcome Athlone Town to Finn Park with both teams on a high after positive results last week. The way the league is shaping up so far it looks like being a very tight year in the first division. Most teams seem capable of taking points off the others, and although Shamrock Rovers have made a good start I don't think any team is likely to run away at the top this season. I think it's fair to say that the heavy pitches at this time of year don't suit us and hopefully our young side will be able to express themselves more freely as this situation improves, especially at home. Last weeks performance in Terryland Park was very encouraging after the disastrous defeat to Kilkenny. It was great to see the team remain calm and keep fighting to the very end and but for missed chances we could easily have taken home the three points. The goal was certainly a strange one when it came, and won't be going in the treasured memories vault for either the Galway United defense or their goalkeeper. That said the goal conceded here by Harps on Monday night in the dramatic league cup win was fairly terrible as well and unfortunately not entirely surprising. We are still prone to the most basic defensive blunders, and no doubt Tony Gorman will be doing his utmost to ensure a more solid back-line in the coming weeks. If we could keep things tighter and start taking even a slightly better percentage of the chances we're creating then we'd soon start racking up a lot of points. This league is as much about not giving away stupid goals as any attacking wizardry- as sitting through any edition of eircom League weekly is likely to show. On the plus side the attitude of the team seems to be very good indeed, and we generally seem to finish every game stronger than our opponents. Hopefully as the pitches get better and this relatively new side gels into more of a unit we'll see more the potential that this team has shown glimpses of fulfilled.

The hot topic around the league in recent weeks has been the saga of Shelbourne's problems with the taxman. Shelbourne faced a winding up order from the revenue, but stumped up 300k on Monday to allow the club to stay in business. Shelbourne's adventure seems to be indicative of a hardened attitude regarding the league from the tax authorities, and goes back to the shenanigans that took place at Shamrock Rovers in recent years. Newspaper reports suggest that every club in the league is going to have their tax affairs looked at, and many of the clubs have already made deals to pay arrears. To be honest, I welcome this development, as it levels the playing field for clubs like us that run our affairs properly. However, rumours still abound of dodgy dealings all over the league, of under the table payments to players especially. It strikes me as bizarre that footballers would still accept such a practice when it's in their interest to have things done properly. After all, a professional in any sport can now claim back taxes relating to their 10 best years of earnings at the end of their career. For all the efforts of UEFA licensing and the revenue commissioners the people best able to enforce best practice in the league are the players and the clubs, but it remains to be seen if the will is really there to clean up the game completely.