September 2nd and 3rd - A glimmer of hope in the title race as Shamrock Rovers lost by a goal to nil at Bohemians. Liam Burt scored the only goal in the second half as Dylan Watts saw red for two yellow cards. Derry City cut the gap at the top to four points (having played a game more) with a straightforward three-nil win at home to UCD on Friday night. Derry could cut the gap to one point if they beat Bohemians on Friday - Rovers don't play until Sunday evening when Finn Harps make the long trip to Tallaght.

The game between Dundalk and Shelbourne finished goalless at Casey's Field. That allowed St Patricks Athletic to move to within two points of third place with a game in hand. They beat Finn Harps two-one in Inchicore to close the gap on a European place. The top division's final game of the weekend took place on Saturday night when Sligo Rovers beat Drogheda United two-nil at the Showgrounds.

In the first division, an entertaining game ended two-all between Cork City and Longford Town at Turners Cross. Longford were ahead twice but had to settle for a point after two Barry Coffey equalisers. Cork's lead at the top is now eight points over second placed Galway who have a game in hand. Waterford let a two goal lead slip as they drew two-all in Wexford. They're six points behind Treaty United in the battle for the final playoff place with just five games to go. The Limerick side beat Cobh Ramblers by a goal to nil.

Gerry Moore is our early leader for September after picking up 45 points over the weekend. He's five points clear of Derek McDonald in second place. Five people then follow on 35 points - Anto Procter, Connor Edwards, Gavin Doherty, myself and Trevor Rankin. Full details below:

What a strike! ????#LOI | @LongfordTownFC pic.twitter.com/90iKmIZmg6

— SSE Airtricity League (@SSEAirtricityLg) September 3, 2022

September 9th to 11th - The gap at the top of the table remains four points as the top two both won at the weekend. Micheal Duffy scored the only goal on Friday night as Derry beat Bohemians by a goal to nil. With Shamrock Rovers not playing until Sunday night, that reduced the gap to just one point. The Hoops responded in fine style though beating Finn Harps by five-goals to one. Neil Farrugia scored twice, his first goals for the champions. Further good news for the Tallaght side was Jack Byrne getting among the goals too ahead of a trip to Gent on Thursday.

Worse news for Ollie Horgan's side came on Friday night when UCD scored a dramatic victory over Dundalk in D4. The Students scored twice in the last eleven minutes to climb off the bottom of the table with seven games to go. St Patricks Athletic are closing in on third spot - they made it five wins in a row with a two-nil win at Drogheda despite being reduced to ten men. Goals from Mark Doyle and Chris Forrester saw the Inchicore side keep up their recent good run. Sligo Rovers also won two-nil on the road - they consolidated fifth place with a win at Shelbourne.

Cork City's return to the top division could be confirmed with a win at Galway on Friday next. A dramatic two-one win at Waterford came courtesy of Ruairi Keating's 95th minute penalty at the RSC. Galway scored even later to earn a draw at Cobh Ramblers but their title challenge looks to have faltered with a play-off place a more realistic ambition at this stage. Wexford's two-nil defeat at Athlone looks to have ended their playoff challenge. They're nine points behind treaty United with just five games to play.

An excellent score of 52 points saw Francis Gilligan climb to first place in the monthly competition. He has a seven point lead over both Andy Dunne and Gerry Moore who share second place. Joseph Kavanagh is in fourth place, a further three points behind - full details below:

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The best of the action from last night's win at Tallaght Stadium ?? pic.twitter.com/pnzAZTfvgA

— Shamrock Rovers FC ?? (@ShamrockRovers) September 12, 2022

September 16th to 26th - Shamrock Rovers picked up four points from their two games since the last update to inch closer to a third title in three seasons. A nil-all draw across the Liffey at Shelbourne was followed up by a nervy one-nil win at home to UCD. Neil Farrugia opened the scoring early on in Tallaght but the Hoops couldn't find a second goal despite dominating the game. They were never really in any danger of conceding an equaliser but a couple of misplaced passes increased the tension in the stadium until the final whistle. A big three points ahead of a trip to Sligo on Saturday night - Derry face a trip to Inchicore on Friday night to meet St Patricks Athletic. It could be a decisive weekend in the title race.

The relegation picture remains unchanged. Finn Harps slipped to a two-nil defeat at home to Bohemians on Saturday. Coupled with UCD's defeat, the Donegal side remain a point behind the Students with six games to go. They meet in a few weeks in Ballybofey.

Cork's promotion party was delayed when they slipped to a two-one defeat in Galway. Wilson Waweru's late winner leaves the champagne on ice for another couple of weeks as the Leesiders have a week off this week. All that's left in the first division is a jostle for the play-off positions. Wexford can still mathematically catch Treaty United but it looks fairly certain the Limerick side will have a play-off place to go with their cup semi-final place too.

There's plenty of life left in the September competition - with just Friday night's games to go, Andy Dunne and Joseph Kavanagh share the lead on 97 points. Caroline Carroll is in third place, just two points behind. The top five is completed by Francis Gilligan and Niall Carroll - full details below:

September 30th - The month ended with Derry City cutting the gap at the top to two points. They picked up a very big three points with a one-nil win at St Patricks Athletic. Cian Kavanagh scored the only goal in Inchicore with twenty minutes to go. Both sides finished with ten men when Chris Forrester and Ryan Graydon were sent off in injury time. Derry were hoping Shamrock Rovers would go on to drop points in their visit to Sligo on Saturday night (spoiler alert - they didn't!).

There was a little bit of movement in the relegation battle too. Finn Harps picked up a point at home to Shelbourne to move level on points with UCD who lost one-nil at Bohemians. Dundalk beat Drogheda United two-nil in the Louth Derby - Dane Massey scored an own goal on his return to his former club.

In the first division, Wexford beat Bray 4-2 to keep their very slim play off hopes alive. With Cork not playing, Waterford moved into second place in the table with a three-one win over Cobh Ramblers. Galway's draw at Treaty United saw them slip to third place on goal difference. El Classico finished in a two-all draw between Athlone and Longford.

Not content with winning the overall prize, Joseph Kavanagh won the monthly prize for September. His score of 127 points was just two points better than Caroline Carroll. Niall Carroll finished third a further five points back. Fourth place was shared by three people - Andy Dunne, Francis Gilligan and Kevin McQuaide - full details below:

Cian Kavanagh scoring the winner last night for his first Derry City goal ??#LOI | @derrycityfc pic.twitter.com/ge2QJxBsmJ

— SSE Airtricity League (@SSEAirtricityLg) October 1, 2022

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