Load of balls: Paul Farrell’s sports column

Once again the League of Ireland is a laughing stock. This time though it has nothing to do with the financial meltdown or the standard of play but simply because Limerick 37 took their ball and went home from Wexford.

Limerick alleges they were refused access to the pitch at Ferrycarrig Park to warm up prior to their game. Instead they were instructed to warm up on a training area located parallel to the main pitch.
Limerick boss Mike Kerley said there was not adequate time for their preparations and so the Limerick players piled back on the bus and headed for home. Was this really the only option?

Every other club (bar Derry City for the League Cup Final in September) has to warm up on the training pitch at Ferrycarrig Park, including Limerick who did so without protest on the five other occasions they visited Wexford.

I found Limerick’s protest especially rich when you consider the derelict condition of their Jackman Park stadium compared to Ferrycarrig Park. Having been to both grounds, Ferrycarrig is one of the best in the first division. On the other hand, I have never felt more unsafe in a League of Ireland ground than I have in Jackman Park.

So on behalf of everyone who tries to promote the League I would like to thank Limerick 37 for giving more ammunition to the already loaded guns of the detractors of the League of Ireland.

So Bohs have finally crossed the finish line and are 2008 Eircom League Champions with an astonishing 22-point lead. The new strategy adopted by Bohs’ manager Pat Fenlon seems to be a more defensive style as opposed to the undoubtedly more attractive style he used with Shels.

It was his attacking philosophy that won Shelboune the league in 2006. While runners-up in 2006 Derry City won games 1-0, Shels’ won them 5-0. So when the league went down to goal difference Derry had no chance against the mammoth amount of goals Shels’ had scored.

This season if St. Pats (who play the more attractive football) had been able to maintain any sort of consistency Bohs would have been in trouble. Bohs’ current style won’t fly in Europe either; Bohs’ have showed how good they can be when they attack as they thrashed Rhyl FC 5-1 (a scoreline they failed to replicate domestically) in the Intertoto Cup in June.

After that though they went back to their defensive style and were eliminated from the competition in the next round. Fenlon should look to his past exploits in Europe with Shels in 2004, which was based on attacking football - so was St Pats run in the UEFA Cup this year. Bohemians need to have a serious look at their style of football before the 2009 Champions League.