League's oldest rivalry more than "just another game"

TWO north west derbies over the last couple of weekends, another couple of Dublin derbies this weekend. Some managers maintain that league titles aren't decided until January onwards, but you get the feeling that this passage of the season is having a major bearing on the Premier Division shake up.

Certainly, if rival managers Turlough O'Connor and Damien Richardson or anyone associated with Bohemians and Shelbourne says that the sides' meeting next Sunday at Dalymount Park is "just another game" then large dollops of salt should be applied. This is a big one.

Shelbourne, as only they can, have slipped effortlessly from one extreme of form to another. Their reputation for being a streaky side has been enhanced by a run of three successive defeats and four points out of 18 to their current sequence of 16 points out of 18. Ominously, they have moved into third place and have reduced Bohemians' lead over them from 10 points to four.

One senses that the players and the supporters have had one eye on this encounter for a few weeks. Obsession may be too strong a word, but now that all other games have been cleared out of the way, their thoughts will seldom wander from this latest installment in the league's oldest rivalry.

In some ways it is a pity that this fixture has been moved to Sunday afternoon to accommodate RTE television's demands. The attendance will surely be severely reduced as a result, not least because of the televised counter attraction between Liverpool and Newcastle.

But give me the real thing any day, especially a Bohemians Shelbourne game. None of the comforts and warmth of home or the pub admittedly, but no infuriating jingles, no smug presenters, no false hype, no Andy Gray cassette tapes, no "everything is wonderful and nothing is bad" analysis.

Most of all, you can see the whole picture and experience the real sense of being there, wind and rain if needs be, shouting and swearing, and then a deserved pint for the post mortems.

It's funny how Bohemians Shelbourne games stand out, even though Bohemians haven't won a league title for 19 years, while Shelbourne have won one title in the last 25 seasons, and none for the last five. What's more the last four games between them have ended 1-0, yet they nearly - all stand out in recent years, especially the memorable scoreless - draw in the winner takes all play off decider of 1993 in front of 9,000 fans at Tolka Park which ultimately let Cork City slip in the back door.

Earlier that season there was Bohemians' stunning 4-1 win at Tolka, perhaps the best counter attacking display of the 90s. The swift breaking style which Eamonn Gregg founded on Pat Fenlon's distribution and attacking forays along with Dave Tilson's blinding speed was then at its most fine tuned.

Bohemians' subsequent 2-1 win at Dalymount Park in the playoffs also stands out, for sheer drama if nothing else: Pat Byrne unexpectedly appealing Paul Doolin's suspension, the latter dominating the match as Shelbourne went ahead, Ken O'Doherty's sending off and ensuing spat with Eamonn Gregg when the latter ran on to the pitch, and then Bohemians' comeback.

Generally though, the Tolka contests appear to have been better, more atmospheric. Indeed, in the purest footballing sense, Bohemians' 1-0 win at Tolka Park on September 9th was the best game I has seen this season. The tension and quality of the football was sustained from first minute to last.

As Turlough O'Connor was the first to admit, it could have gone - either way, but the fall out of their win was surely a contributory factor in the events which followed. Bohemians extended their unbeaten start from two to seven games, dropping only two points in the process. Shelbourne, meantime, embarked on their run of four points out of 18.

The fall out could be even more significant this time, for it will leave Bohemians either seven, four or one point clear of their Tolka foes.

There's always a danger, of course, of expecting too much from a game. There also lurks the suspicion that it would be a better affair under lights and, perhaps, at Tolka. Yet games between Bohemians and Shelbourne rarely disappoint, and it's hard to see how this could be a bad game. Roll on Sunday then.