October 6th - Shamrock Rovers took another giant stride towards four in a row without even playing this week. Derry City's nil-all draw in Drogheda was another nail in their title aspirations. The Candystripes failure to win means they are now four points behind the leaders having played a game more. If Rovers win two of their remaining four games Derry won't be able to catch them. St Patricks Athletic could catch them but would need to overturn a goal difference of twelve in favour of the Hoops. For their part, Drogheda are now safe from relegation and will play top division football again next season.

Shelbourne beat Dundalk one-nil in the only other game in the top division this weekend - Damien Duff's side are now fourth in the table. If they can stay ahead of Bohemians and St Patricks Athletic win the FAI Cup then there'll be European football in Tolka Park next season. Will Jarvis scored the only goal as Stephen O'Donnell's European aspirations were dealt a big blow.

There's still one playoff place up for grabs in the first division. Wexford secured their spot by winning two-one in Kerry. Tomas Oluwa scored the winner at Mounthawk Park for the playoff bound Slaneysiders. Athlone Town's defeat at home to Bray Wanderers means the Wicklow side still have a very slim chance of extending their season.

Treaty United's late season revival continued with a two-nil win at home to Finn Harps. The Limerick side are just two points behind Athlone now with two games to go. Cobh Ramblers beat Longford Town two-nil in the final game in the first division on Friday night.

The first leaderboard of October sees top spot shared by Gavin Doherty and myself (it won't last...). Three people share third spot - Joseph Kavanagh, Niall Carroll and Shane McCormack are just five points off the lead. Full details below:

  

October 14th and 15th - The battle for the final playoff place in the first division will go to Friday's final games. Athlone continue to do their best to throw away fifth spot. A four-one defeat at Finn Harps was their fourth loss on the bounce. In that sequence they've conceded fifteen goals and scored just twice - hardly ideal preparation for a potential playoff against second placed Waterford.

Treaty United could still catch Athlone despite a four-one defeat at home to champions Galway. It will all be decided on Friday night when Athlone host Longford and Treaty United travel to Waterford. The gap is two points with Athlone having a better goal difference by four goals too.

Bray Wanderers missed a great chance to keep their playoff hopes alive too. They surrendered a two goal lead at Longford with a 96th minute equaliser by the home side. If the Wicklow side had held on for victory they would have been just a point off the final playoff spot. Instead, they're three points behind Athlone with a goal disadvantage of eight.

Cobh Ramblers and Wexford will meet in one of the playoffs. In their dress rehearsal on Sunday, Wexford came from three-one down to earn a point in a three-all draw. The weekend's other game saw Kerry and Waterford draw one-all in the Kingdom.

Gavin Doherty tops the October standings for a second week. He holds a five point lead over yours truly after the weekend's games. There's a ten point gap then to three people in joint third place - Caroline Carroll, Kevin Nolan and Niall Carroll - full details below:

October 20th to 23rd - A draw for Shamrock Rovers at St Patricks Athletic on Friday next should pretty much confirm a fourth title in a row for Stephen Bradley's side. The Hoops' Drogheda bogey was dismissed in an emphatic way on Sunday night - Rovers scored five without reply to move six points clear at the top. Pats picked up two good wins over the weather-disrupted weekend. A two-nil win in the cup final rehearsal against Bohemians was followed up with a one-nil at home to Sligo on Monday night. If the Inchicore side don't beat Rovers on Friday night then they'll only be able to finish level on points but with the Hoops having a 14 goal advantage in goal difference that won't be enough to snatch the title.

Derry City's title challenge was finally put out of its misery on Friday night. Shelbourne picked up a point in a goalless draw at the Brandywell to keep their European hopes alive. They're only a point behind Bohemians now with two games to go. Elsewhere in the top division, two defeats for Sligo Rovers means Cork are still in within a slim chance of avoiding the playoffs. The Leesiders won two-nil at UCD on Sunday afternoon.

Athlone stumbled over the line to earn a playoff place in the first division. A nil-all draw at home to Longford saw them finish fifth. They'll play Waterford who rounded off their regular season with a two-nil win over Treay United. Wexford will play Cobh Ramblers in the second playoff. Wexford lost two-nil at champions Galway who finished the season on 94 points with 98 goals scored. Cobh Ramblers drew one-all with Kerry. It was the same scoreline at the Carlisle Grounds where Bray drew with Finn Harps - both sides will be happy to see the back of this campaign.

Gavin Doherty holds a ten point lead heading into the final weekend of the October competition. Two players share second place ten points off the lead - Niall Carroll and Tony McNamee. Darragh Kenny has climbed to fourth with Caroline Carroll completing the top five - full details below:

  

October 27th to 30th - History was made at Richmond Park on Friday when Shamrock Rovers completed the four-in-a-row. Goals inside the final five minutes from Aaron Greene and Graham Burke gave the Hoops a two-nil victory to officially confirm another title for Stephen Bradley's side. At the age of 38, Bradley became the first manager to win four in a row. The 1984 to 1987 vintage was managed by Jim McLaughlin and Dermot Keely.

Derry City won one-nil in Cork to confirm their qualification for Europe too. Ronan Boyce scored the only goal at Turner's Cross in the final quarter. Cork City will be in the relegation playoff - they'll face either Waterford or Cobh Ramblers to see who'll be playing in the top division next season along with promoted Galway.

Three teams could still finish in fourth spot. Bohemians, fresh from winning the league in April, lost two-nil at Dundalk. That allowed Shelbourne to move into fourth spot - Jack Moylan fired home a hat-trick as they beat UCD three-two. Not a bad way to sign off before his move to Lincoln. If Dundalk or Shelbourne finish fourth then they'll be hoping for a favour from St Patricks Athletic in the cup final.

The other game at the weekend finished scoreless between Sligo Rovers and Drogheda. Both teams will have top division football to look forward to next season.

A couple of well-timed ten pointers saw yours truly win the monthly prize for October. I had two points to spare over Gavin Doherty who shared second spot with Shane Coughlan. The top five for the month was completed by Caroline Carroll and Conor Claxton. Full details below:

  

The Greatest League - October 2023 Leaderboard
No.
 Lst Chg
Name
Team Name
Pts
Lst
Chg
Support the Site:
1
 10 9 Joe Turner McLaughlin's Aces 126 91 35


2
 1 -1 Gavin Doherty D12 Shels 124 114 10
3
 12 9 Shane Coughlan Shane Lad Rovers 1.0 124 89 35
4
 5 1 Caroline Carroll Seagulls 119 99 20
5
 6 1 Conor Claxton Everyone Hates A Bohs Hipster 119 94 25
6
 2 -4 Niall Carroll Yellow Bellies 114 104 10
7
 3 -4 Tony McNamee Swilly Rovers 114 104 10
8
 11 3 Shane McCormack Forty Four In A Row 113 91 22
9
 7 -2 Daniel Dorrian Donegallad97 111 94 17
10
 4 -6 Darragh Kenny Four In A Row 111 101 10
11
 9 -2 Paul Moore JD Sports A Wig 106 94 12
12
 8 -4 Kevin Nolan Team Gilzean 104 94 10
13
 16 3 James Connolly FC Igghh 101 84 17
14
 14 0 Keith Ryan He's Gone, Yup Ian Ryan 101 86 15
15
 15 0 Francis Gilligan Yes, I Think To Myself 99 84 15
16
 17 1 Gary Fitzpatrick Devolution 96 81 15
17
 13 -4 Joseph Kavanagh Cherry Orchard Thieves 96 86 10
18
 24 6 Neil Walsh Bradley's Babes 96 74 22
19
 18 -1 David Doyle Dublin Is Green and Whitechurch 94 79 15
20
 21 1 Tommy Hamill Omeath All-Stars 91 76 15
21
 22 1 Brian Boyle Komodo Reds 89 74 15
22
 19 -3 Gerry Moore Sligobourne Reds 87 77 10
23
 27 4 Jake Murphy 4 In A Row 86 71 15
24
 20 -4 Rob Gaffney Fiorentina Turner 86 76 10
25
 23 -2 Brian Cunningham Dermot Keely Cannae Count 84 74 10
26
 25 -1 Tommy Tormey The Four Fs 84 74 10
27
 31 4 Eoghan Brophy Little Ol Shels 83 63 20
28
 30 2 Andy Dunne Phoenix Park Rangers 81 66 15
29
 28 -1 Craig Whelan Saints 1929 79 69 10
30
 29 -1 John Brophy Never Going To Beat Eoghan 79 69 10
31
 32 1 Gary Parsons TFTES 77 62 15
32
 26 -6 Gerry Draper Everton10 76 71 5
33
 34 1 Derek McDonald The Auld Reds 74 54 20
34
 33 -1 Christopher Uzell Heavey's Heroes 69 59 10
35
 36 1 Kevin McQuaide The Longford Langers 65 50 15
36
 35 -1 Fiachra O'Brolachain Borough Hoops 54 54 0
37
 37 0 Stan Tormey Inter Stan 54 44 10
38
 38 0 Gary Donnelly One Bray Or Another 31 31 0
39
 39 0 Darragh Moriarty Moriparty FC 21 21 0
40
 40 0 Danielle McGarry Shamrock Rovers 19 19 0
41
 41 0 Shane Langan Asbohs 9 9 0
42
 43 1 Gary McGurk Goose Green Mafia 8 6 2
43
 42 -1 Richard Johnston Turnip Heads 7 7 0
44
 44 0 Jack Duffy Bohs Massive 6 6 0
45 45 0 Michael De Verdier Pelletstown Rovers FC 6 6 0
46 46 0 Sean McLean Watts Happening 6 6 0
47 47 0 Philip Rankin Stevo's Stars 5 5 0
48 48 0 Conor King Yurt City 4 4 0
49 49 0 Daniel Murphy 4 In A Row 4 4 0
50 50 0 Gary Keating Say It With Flores 4 4 0
51 51 0 Gearoid McIntyre 3 Little Martletts 4 4 0
52 52 0 James Keville Inchicore Draw 4 4 0
53 53 0 Trevor Rankin I'm Not Finn-ished 4 4 0
54 54 0 Senan Slattery Clooney-Quin On Top 3 3 0