Chase is on as Bohemians slip up

NATIONAL LEAGUE: The jury may still be out on TV3's coverage of the league but after Friday night it seems that the station's timing is at least beyond question.

The perceived wisdom in recent years has been that the league table only offers its first real pointers to the course of the season after the first round of fixtures have been completed. Indeed, this time around it seemed that when each of the clubs had played each other once their standings suggested that the major issues of the campaign might already have been decided.

That remained much the case until the weekend with Bohemians still looking firmly in control at the top and UCD appearing to be in deep trouble at the bottom. After Friday evening's results the remaining fixtures in the title and relegation battles have suddenly started to seem a good deal more engaging.

The three goals scored by Sean Finn for UCD will have come as a bad blow for Bray and Drogheda. The latter's form of late strongly suggests that they might get sucked back into a dogfight to stay up despite all the promise of their early season showings and if Paul Doolin's side can draw some confidence from the win and avoid defeat in Derry this evening then they may survive another tough season in the top flight.

Certainly their defence has performed solidly enough in recent months to worry the teams immediately above them and if Finn's hat-trick prompts a general improvement at the other end of the field then they should start to pick up much-needed points over the coming weeks.

Bohemians, meanwhile, still have the winning of the championship in their own hands and suffering their first defeat of the season should not do much to dampen spirits around Dalymount Park.

Stephen Kenny's side still look the best in the race by a distance and although they have not been playing as well as they were in recent weeks the game on Friday at Drogheda will be viewed as a nicely-timed opportunity to get the show back on the road.

One defeat, of course, is not the reason that Bohemians suddenly find themselves under a bit of pressure with Shelbourne, Cork City and, potentially, Shamrock Rovers (who have a game in hand) just six points behind them. Despite scoring in every one of their league games they have, however, managed to draw six of the 16 matches they have played so far.

The team's difficulty in keeping clean sheets - the result of Kenny's admirable dedication to an attacking game - is a key factor in this but it needn't prove fatal. Shelbourne, after all, won the title three years ago having won 19, lost two and drawing a remarkable 12 of their 33 games.

What ensured that the Dubliners finished the campaign with a comfortable margin that season, though, was the inability of any of their rivals to put a genuinely solid run of results together.

Runners-up Cork City had drawn 10 and lost seven of their games. City's form this season has been worse but they remain in a position to mount a challenge over the last 11 weeks of the campaign if they can string some wins together.

Appearing more likely to close the gap though are Shelbourne and Rovers whose recent form has generated a real momentum after their early season difficulties.

In fairness to Pat Fenlon he always insisted Shelbourne would improve when key players returned and Stephen Geoghegan's goals in recent weeks have proven him correct.

Rovers, on the other hand, can thank Noel Hunt, who has scored the majority of their goals, and what increasingly looks like the best defence in the country.

Having dropped just two points in their last seven games Liam Buckley's side are still improving as Friday's hammering of Cork would indicate.

If, however, Bohemians pick themselves up, after taking just three points from their last four games, then the title should still be theirs.

But as we turn for home the title race is beginning to hot up.