Saint Patrick's Athletic v Dundalk FC
Football: Republic of Ireland, Premier League
Sunday 2nd August 2009 - Kickoff 19:00

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ST PATRICKS (7th - Home Rec : W3 D2 L5 )

St Pats recorded one of their best European victories in their history on Thursday night as they beat Sovetov of Russia 1-0. Its typical of the side this season as you just dont know what to expect from them. They only scraped through against much lesser Maltese opposition in the round before.

Its been the same unpredictable St Pats in the league. They won 3 from 4 early in the season but since then its been mostly downhill with a few very surprising wins in between. They have had some crushing home defeats but still managed to win twice away at Cork City and beat Champions and leaders Bohs 3-1 at home.

But whats interesting each time they get a good result they follow it up with defeats. When they beat Bohs 3-1, they then lost 3 in a row including a 1-0 loss to fellow strugglers Drogheda. When they beat Cork City away 3 weeks ago, they then lost 2-1 at home to Galway, and after winning in Malta in the Europa league, they lost 2-0 in Sligo last Saturday. Their league form of late has been terrible, suffering 4 defeats in 5.

Boss Jeff Kenna finally welcomed back Striker Mark Leech and midfielder Gary Dempsey to action on Thursday after long term injuries. But he will be without another Striker in Mark Quigley and even more significantly without Declan O Brien who is on loan from Dundalk. O Brien has been excellent since joining on loan last month and will be a big loss.

St Patricks last 5 games
Drogheda 1-0 St Patrikcs
Cork 0-1 St Patricks
St Patricks 1-2 Shamrock Rovers
St Patricks 1-2 Galway
Sligo 2-0 St Patricks

DUNDALK (5th - Away Rec : W4 D2 L4)

Along with the top 2 sides Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk are the form side in the League at the moment. They have won 5 out of 6 in the league including wins away to title challengers Cork City and Derry City.

Boss Sean Connor has done a terrific job in the sides first season back in the top flight.

The club had a very poor start to the season and looked one of the favourites for relegation but look like they will get a comfortable mid table finish at least.

Interestingly, Its almost exactly a year since they failed to score a goal in a game. They have been finding the net very well of late too, scoring 7 in their last 2 games. New signing Alex Williams has been superb since signing from Ayr United, scoring 4 goals in 4 games and Striker Chris Turner has also brought his tally up to 7 goals for the season.

Sean Connor will have Defender Michael Daly and Midfielder Shaun Kelly suspended but will have a full strength squad to choose from the rest.

Dundalk Last 5 Games
Cork 1-2 Dundalk
Dundalk 1-0 Derry
Dundalk 0-2 Bohemians
Dundalk 4-2 Drogheda
Galway 0-3 Dundalk

THE BETTING VERDICT

I'm going for a DUNDALK WIN. Great value at 13/8 as they are on great form.

Also consider OVER 2.5 GOALS as another bet at 6/5.

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take the DUNDALK WIN.

Also consider OVER 2.5 GOALS as another bet at 6/5.