[caption id="attachment_67658" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="It's been a dreadful season for Galway United FC, but one silver lining has been election of club president Michael D. Higgins as president of Ireland. The new head of state was pictured on the campaign trail outside Aviva Stadium, where he met Lizzie Buckley from Kilkenny before Ireland's game against Slovakia. "]
No change at the top of the English Premier League with leaders Manchester City and Manchester United both winning at the weekend. City beat Wolves 3-1 at home, while United recovered from their 6-1 thrashing by City, to beat Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park. Third placed Chelsea lost for the second week in-a-row, going down 5-3 to Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
From an Irish point of view the bad news was the sight of John O'Shea limping off injured at the end of the first half in Sunderland's 2-2 draw with Aston Villa. The Waterford-born defender suffered a recurrence of the hamstring injury that has troubled him since he joined Sunderland from Manchester United in the summer. Sunderland manager Steve Bruce said that it's the same hamstring that John pulled in their pre-season tour of Germany. We should know more later this week when O'Shea undergoes scans to ascertain the damage.
Shane Long, who was injured the previous week playing for West Brom, has been included in the Irish squad for the play-off games against Estonia on Nov. 11 and 15. Manager Giovanni Trapattoni is hopeful that Long might still be fit to travel. But it looks like the end of the line for that great servant Kevin Kilbane. The 34-year-old, who made a record 66 consecutive competitive appearances, was injured for the games against Andorra and Armenia last month, but was available for selection this time round and didn't make the squad.
Rovers retain title
At home Shamrock Rovers retained their Airtricity Premier division title when beating UCD 2-1 at Belfield in their penultimate League game last Tuesday. The Hoops were then presented with the League trophy after beating Galway United 4-0 at Tallaght Stadium on Friday night. Now Rovers' thoughts turn back to Europe and they will pick up a cheque for €70,000 if they can draw with Greek club PAOK in the Europa League in Tallaght tomorrow (Thurs) night. Rovers lost the away leg in Greece 2-1.
It was a dreadful season for Galway, who lost most of their experienced players during the summer after financial problems at the club. Galway won only one of their 36 League games and conceded a record 115 League goals. Their only consolation was that club president Michael D. Higgins was elected president of the Irish Republic last week.
The League of Ireland premier division will be increased from 10 to 12 clubs next year so there was no automatic relegation and Galway will now play Monaghan United, who finished third in the first division, in a two-leg play off this week to decide the promotion/relegation issue. Cork City, who won the first division and Shelbourne, the runners-up in the first division, were both promoted to the premier division.
