First division leaders remain hopeful

On Soccer: The games may rumble on but a good many clubs will be distracted this week by the need to persuade the FAI's Independent Assessment Group (IAG) that they are worthy of inclusion in the domestic game's bright new future.

Such is the uncertainty regarding the precise nature of the committee's approach to its task of ranking clubs and recommending which will be in the top flight next season that supporters might be forgiven for regarding their various clubs' remaining fixtures as something of a sideshow.

That's more or less what has happened in the top flight where Dublin City's collapse appears to have persuaded people that all 11 remaining clubs will be competing among the elite again next year.

The first division, however, has produced an enthralling three-way battle for first place and though the boards at Dundalk, Shamrock Rovers and Galway United will doubtless take their respective meetings with the IAG very seriously there appears to be a marked reluctance on the part of the division's leaders, whoever that might be at any given point in time, to accept finishing in top spot will not result in promotion.

It will, of course, be interesting to see how anxious either the IAG members or the FAI itself is to upset those expectations during the coming weeks and quite how the clubs take the news in the event they are disappointed.

At the top of the Premier division, at least, it is business as usual and while the title race has not quite blossomed into the thrilling four-way affair it once promised to become, there is still a good deal of life left in Derry City's challenge to long-time leaders Shelbourne while Cork City and Drogheda United have plenty to play for in terms of Europe and the Setanta Cup.

For either of the latter two clubs the title itself now looks well out of reach with Cork City's surprise defeat at Bray Wanderers on Friday night killing off their lingering aspirations while for Drogheda United the recent wins over Derry and UCD have come too late to prevent Shelbourne opening an unbridgeable gap.

In both instances the problems that have ultimately undermined their attempt to stay the pace with Shelbourne have been straightforward enough. Cork City, as many thought they would, have paid the price for attempting to get by with too small a squad and, in particular, for not having back up of the required quality for John O'Flynn.

Drogheda United, on the other hand, have come unstuck after a strong start to the season for precisely the reasons they did last year with their defence conceding too many goals while their forwards fail to score them in the required quantities.

Try as he might, manager Paul Doolin has been unable to adequately address either problem. A back four built around Jason Gavin was for some time the most solid defence in the league when the campaign got under way but they have consistently looked vulnerable over the past few months.

In attack, only Declan O'Brien has managed to find the net regularly while Shane Barrett, Glen Fitzpatrick, Eamon Zayed and Tony Grant have all failed to produce what would be expected of a striker in a team with serious title ambitions.

Gary Beckett's highly valued contribution for Derry does not generally include a huge haul of goals but the fact Mark Farren's and Kevin McHugh's combined tally for last season matched that of Jason Byrne and Glen Crowe must still have generated high expectations during the close season at the Brandywell.

Instead, both men have struggled and Ciarán Martyn has ended up as the club's top scorer to date. The result has been that while there was a gap of just six goals scored between Shelbourne and Derry last season, the difference this time around is already 16.

Byrne's 14 in 22 appearances is another remarkable achievement by the striker while Crowe and Gary O'Neill have managed just short of a goal every two games. When you have three strikers in that sort of form then you can afford, as Shelbourne have to concede a few more than your rivals.

In recent weeks their advantage over Derry has grown considerably. While the Dubliners have taken 14 points from their last six league outings, City, hampered by the demands of a schedule that also included additional FAI and Uefa Cup games, have managed just seven.

Shelbourne could yet be boosted by a successful appeal against the decision to award them nothing from the Bohemians game in which Jason McGuinness played illegally.

The hope remains, though, that with so much else this year being decided by committee the title race will be decided on the field and, ideally, run all the way to the season's final day.