Eircom League of Ireland - Week 1

Bohemians v Drogheda Utd - LIVE on RTE2 and IN PLAY on several sites
Bohs have a completely new team and could take a while for Connors to find out his best XI. Heary, Crowe and Fenn have strengthened them considerably but I'm not convinced about the players Connors brought with him from Sligo (although Burns does look a good player). Drogheda will look to start the way they did last year and for Doolin the result is all that matters. Expect a dour game with one goal settling it. I'll wait to see a decent price before backing unders

Derry City v Bray Wanderers
Derry''s price is far too short. Although they'd be favourites you couldn't recommend anyone backing a team at 2/5 on the first day of the season. I also think Bray will bemuch better than last year. No betGalway v SligoI get the feeling too many pundits are overhyping Galway. They haven't added significantly enough to last yers squad for me to confidently predict they'll win here against a Sligo team in turmoil. Mind you if you can get 6/4 on Galway it might be worth a play

UCD v Shamrock Rovers
Similar to above, I think people may be rating Rovers too highly. UCD are a solid premier team and consistently underrated. Usually solid at the back, they've retained the same unit as last year (only losing occasional left back Daragh Ryan to Cork). With 2 excellent keepers on show, unders looks an obvious bet. I'd consider small stakes on UCD to win 1-0 as I think they'll be just too strong for a developing Rovers team. 0-0 is a live possibilty though

Waterford Utd v Cork City
Anybody who read my thoughts on the Setanta Cup games knows my feelings on Cork. With Healy and Farrelly still ineligible, I can't see them scoring too many goals. They still should be too strong for a poor Waterford side though. Cork at 8/11 looks OK to me but I won't be backing at odds on in the first week

Longford Town v St Patrick's Athletic
Longford are another side in crisis. paisley has had his tribunal head and although the result isn't known yet, he's unlikely to perform well for Longford if forced to play (Professional pride aside). Longford missing Gary Deegan and Dessie Baker through injury and with last years main playmaker now with Pats, its hard to see where Goals will come from. Pats are likely to play with only gary O'Neill up front but with Ndo, Fahey, Murphy and Foley in midfield look to have more of a threat. Wth the setanta cup preparations already behind them, I'd recommend 4 points on Pats at 7/5 (Ladbrokes) or better f you can find it elsewhere (I got €160 matched at 2.56 at Betfair).

First division
I'm staying away from the first division as only Dundalk look to have any kind of continuaty with their squad.

Ante-post
I've only done one ante post bet this year. Georgescu (Bray) to finish top scorer ew @ 50/1 with PP. He scored 7 last year and was injured for parts of it. A full season with an improved Bray team could see him double that tally, and 14 should be enough to get into the top 4 for PP's e/w terms