League of Ireland U19 early season round-up

We all hate that four month spell where our Friday nights are remarkably vacant. Why not take up following your team's under-19 side? All three divisions of the under-19 Airticity League set-up are in full swing.

U-19 Elite Division:

In a fairly tightly bunched division, with just thirteen points separating top from bottom, Shamrock Rovers lead the way. Fortress Tallaght has come into play once again for the Hoops as their nineteens have won three from three at home. Dublin occupies the top three spots with UCD and Shelboune filling the blanks. The Students are firing on all cylinders – scoring nineteen goals in just ten games. Like the Hoops, Shels are the only other unbeaten side at home in the Elite division, but the Reds' away form is hindering their title charge slightly; winning just once in five outings.

In what is a bright light for clubs who are not represented at senior level in the Airtricity League, Cobh Ramblers are just five points from the summit. The Rams are showing determination to defy the odds and make people realise the Cork outfit have not gone away just yet. The Munster pairing of Cork and Waterford occupy fifth and sixth respectively. The trio of St. Patrick's, Bray Wanderers and Drogheda United follow them, but the Inchicore outfit have a game in hand; a fixture against Salthill Devon in which a win could see them jump to third spot and leapfrog Dublin rivals Shelbourne, despite having the worst defensive record in the league.

Salthill, Bohemians and Finn Harps all battle it out at the foot of the table to avoid the wooden spoon. Bohs and Harps are joint bottom as it stands; the Gypsies claiming the edge courtesy of goals scored – a total that stands at eleven compared the Harps' nine.

U-19 Northern Division:

The five-team Northern Division boasts two standout sides thus far. Both Sligo Rovers and Dundalk seem to be in a two-sided race to the title. Just a point separates the sides, with unbeaten Sligo claiming top spot. Sligo have the best defensive record in the league while Dundalk are the top scorers with fourteen goals in just six games. In the game between the sides at Oriel Park, it ended in a one-all draw.

Derry City are sandwiched in between Donegal duo Letterkenny Rovers and Fanad United in the remaining spots. Letterkenny lead the way of that triple threat match by a single point while Fanad sit bottom, having conceded eighteen goals in just eight games. Any sort of title challenge from either of these sides would probably take a serious slip-up from both sides above them.

U-19 Southern Division:

Athlone Town sit top of the six-team Southern Division, just a solitary point ahead of Limerick in second. Athlone have a game in hand on the Shannonsiders and hold the best defensive record in the division; conceding just six times in seven games as well as claiming an unbeaten record so far. Limerick are the chasers in second who play their home games in Annacotty. Despite scoring a massive twenty-eight times in just eight games, the Shannonsiders defensive frailties have cost them. Funnily, the only points dropped by Limerick, have come against league leaders, Athlone. In somewhat of an ironic twist, Limerick FC boss Pat Scully's son Alex plays for Athlone Town's under-19s side.

Mervue United and Wexford Youths make up the middle pairing of the six-team league. Both sides are not too far off the top of the table, but Mervue's weakness has been turning home draws into wins. Wexford have been poor on their travels having lost three of their five fixtures and conceding eighteen goals in the process.

GUST and Longford Town make up the bottom two with the latter having yet to pick up a single point this campaign. Both sides have obvious flaws too – GUST have the division's biggest concession haul; a total which stands at twenty-eight while goals have been hard to come by for Longford who have scored six times all year.

All details of U-19 fixtures can be found on Extratime.ie. Go out and support your club, it might just make March come that bit quicker.