Saint Patrick get the League off to a good start

Ian Daly of Saint Patrick celebrates a goal at home against Iceland representative

            Saint Patrick Athletic FC is the first Irish team to get a win in the 2011-12 international competitions. Saint Patrick defeated IBV Vestmannaeyar (Iceland) in the opening rounds of the Europa League. There are 3 clubs that the League of Ireland place in the Europa League. St Patrick, Boheminas and Sligo Rovers.  St Patrick had to play in the first round because of their 5^th  place finish.

            The Irish league(26) is better than Iceland’s (40)and also has a better co-efficient. The Saints have a very good team this year and I was expecting a win here. There are currently in second place in the League and are in fine form.                   

This is great for the Saints to get an international win. This helps the image of the club and the league overall. The Saints will now travel to Kazakhstan to play Shaktyor Karagandy in the second round. This Kazakhstan club placed 2^nd in their league last year. The Kazakhstan league also placed 3 clubs in the Europa League. Kazakhstan co-efficient (42) only trails Icelands(40) by 2 points but this club will be tougher competition for the Saints.

            The Bohemians were the League of Ireland 2^nd place team last year.  They will also be playing in the second round of the Europa League. Bohemians are currently in 5^th place but only 7 points shy of the top club. Bohemians will look for Anto Flood and Chris Fagan for their offense. The Bohemians will go up against Olimpija Ljubljana from Slovenia. The Slovenia co-efficient is 27 which is much better than the league of Ireland. This club is currently in 4^th place in the Slovenia top league. This will be a great test for Bohemians and the League of Ireland to test their skills against Slovenia.