Derry mired in predictable doldrums

Dave Barry won't need telling that it's still very early days in the new National League campaign but enough of the new race has been run to cast an eye over some of the trends which have started to emerge so far.

Most have, generally speaking, been predictable, with Cork building on their form in the League Cup to make the early running, Shelbourne - scoring freely and conceding too many - in second place, and both of the newly promoted sides finding the going tough. Derry City, on the other hand, have struggled to an even greater extent than is traditional for defending champions.

City have started only fractionally more poorly than Dundalk and St Patrick's Athletic did after winning their titles in 1995 and '96 respectively but neither of them managed to recover sufficiently well to mount a serious defence and unless Felix Healy's side start to turn things around quickly it is difficult to see how they will fare any better.

Also having suffered a series of injuries since the premature start of City's season the continued disciplinary problems of Robbie Brunton, who was sent off on Saturday, will not help his situation.

In the broader context, Derry's problems, like those of their predecessors, stem from the fact that winning the National League brings with it obligations which damage a club's chances of doing well the next season while offering few financial rewards to compensate. Below Derry things are much more as were foreseen in preseason with Kilkenny, hammered at the weekend by one of the big Dublin clubs, and Drogheda United both sinking already to the position which most pundits and followers of the game would have predicted for them.

Neither side is at full strength yet with City still waiting on several players to recover from injuries and United hoping to buy another couple in, but with Derry sure to climb and two of last year's strugglers - Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk - looking more capable than last season it's tricky to see who the two clubs are going to overhaul in the months ahead.

Indeed in each of the past four seasons the team occupying the bottom position at this stage of the campaign has gone down while the second team to be relegated has never been too far from the bottom with five games played.

Similarly during those years the team leading the race at this point has not gone on to lift the title and the fact that at the weekend Cork City failed to score for the first time this season against domestic opposition will be a disappointment to Barry as he prepares to bring his side to Tolka Park on Friday.

It's always tough to keep Shelbourne at bay at their home ground but there are generally chances to score there too and if the Southerners can keep up their earlier strike rate then they should remain stongly in contention over the months ahead.

Damien Richardson, meanwhile, may juggle things about after his side's defeat in Ballybofey. The Dubliners have coped well so far with a string of injury problems but after their recent visit to the Brandywell, a 2-2 draw, which they completely dominated, Felix Healy expressed the opinion that their tendency to allow goals in would once again cost them the championship. The Shelbourne boss would doubtless disagree but there is certainly a problem.

In between the two extremes of the table, Bohemians have looked exciting so far, although the long-term loss of Robbie Best to injury leaves Turlough O'Connor with limited options while St Patrick's Athletic's win in Cork should bring confidence.

Sligo and Finn Harps, the latter having benefited from Stuart Gauld's change of heart about leaving and the arrival in any case of his replacement Declan Boyle, have performed solidly while Shamrock Rovers, unbeaten until they met a reorganised and rejuvenated Dundalk on Friday, have held their own well. Overall there is good news too for all of the fans for, once again the average number of goals scored has risen. Four years ago the first 30 premier Division games produced a total of 55 which rose to 68 the following season. That figure rose to 73 in 1995 and 77 12 months later while the figure after the same number of games in this campaign is 97 with only one match - the opening tie between Derry and St Patrick's Athletic ending without a score.

It may be early days all right, but the signs so far are good.