 So, Antony, it's good to see you again and it's good to talk to you as we look ahead to the action in the League of Ireland Premier Division this weekend in particular involving fun Harps. The feet last week to UCD, Harps will be looking to right that wrong because it turned out to be a hugely disappointing. That was a game that maybe you thought Harps might have picked up a third one of the season on Antony. It was very disappointing because going into that game you are expecting them that all along we've been saying that Harps are lucky this year that UCD are in the Premier Division and they're so much an experience and they've taken a lot of big defeats this season UCD. So that was a real kick in the teeth then. By all accounts as well UCD played quite well in the first half and were they victors on the night and Harps put a bit of pressure on them in the second half but very disappointing and it closes the gap to two points which we're almost halfway through the season. It gives UCD a wee bit of hope so the next couple of weeks are going to be very important for fun Harps and the challenge ahead of them to try and stay in the Premier Division. Yeah and what about the challenge next, draw to United, Keith Cowan and Cole there, just of course sitting above them in the table. What sort of test will fun Harps face when they go to United Park on Friday Antony? Well the one thing about draw to and draw to the good experience in the squad and they're very well organised. You know their style of play sort of varies from three at the back to you know to back four and Keith Cowan has been integral to their good performance this season. He's been unfortunate with the few injuries he's picked up and that has coincided with draw to drop in points. If we look back to the draw to performance against Dundalk where they won one now, very well organised, very disciplined, Keith Cowan at the heart of the defence organised and using all his experience. You know draw to, they've been very unfortunate I think and the injuries that they've picked up, you know notably Keith obviously but you know talking off-bearer Colin Whelan, you know picked up a serious cruciate ligament injury last weekend. So it's an opportunity for Finn Harps who again like Finn Harps traditionally are well organised and you know try and stay in games. So it's one of them games where Harps have to go into the game away but I hope try and close the gap in UCD or on draw to but certainly don't let draw to widen the gap with a victory. Yeah, Connolly's return a bit of a boost for Ollie given the amount of injuries that he had and McWoods is coming back as well. Yeah, Ryan Connolly's is key to Finn Harps you know this season with the experience he brings and his quality like he's a real talented player and he didn't play for Shamrock Rovers for nothing. It's important that Ollie can keep Connolly and Barry McNamee fit especially as two of the most experienced but also two of the most creative players that they have. You know Connolly he rarely has a poor game like he leads by example. He pops up with occasional goal and he's quite creative at a time as well which Harps certainly lack from play. You know Harps are good from set plays have scored goals from set plays this year and really if you take Connolly and Barry McNamee certainly out of the middle of the park you know they do lack that creativity. Yeah, going to draw to now with just two ones setting two points off the bottom and the table obviously Ollie would have like more points from home matches that's not the case. Is this the game now that it has to have a real cut at it from the very start given that they're away from home and there's a huge intense battle at the bottom. Yeah, I think like Ollie, Connolly and Watson from Harps over the years with Ollie in charge like they're never going to go out and try to win a game in the first half like Ollie will be looking at the 90 minutes to score a goal to you know to pick up points. They've also 90 minutes and watch to work hard and be organized and keep a clean sheet. So, in terms of Ollie's outlook towards the game I don't see it changing much, but he certainly sees this as an opportunity where he can go and get something from the game. And it's imperative that if Harps are going to, if they're going to stay in the league this year, given what happened last week against UCD they're going to have to go down with a positive mindset against Trajada and you know they certainly don't want to get beat. But you know certainly they'll be want to pick up some points and try and extend the gap between them and UCD. Yeah, because three points could be very key this weekend given the Trajada on Monday night are ticking on the defending champions, Shamrock Rovers as well. So you could find yourself come next week maybe sitting tied with Trajada United. So it could turn out to be a very, very important three points. You could be actually you could be come Monday night you could be you could be you could be level with Trajada and then going forward then it gives you confidence. You know, the last thing you don't draw the from a fun harps point view don't draw to extend their their caution to six points, because that's, you know, in league of Ireland terms for a team especially the fun harps room to victories all season like, you know, it's very difficult to pick up three points in the league of Ireland, especially it's more difficult now given the fact you know the top teams there is there's that big a gap between the top teams and the bottom. So going on to draw that certainly a game where they'll be thinking that they can get something from but it's vital that they don't lose the game either. Yeah, we're talking here obviously on the presumption that tonight Thursday. UCD don't beat Shamrock Rovers at the Belfed that's a game that you would expect the defending champions to one and. Is there a chance that maybe UCD could overtake harps ahead of the game on Friday. I don't I don't say that you know it was a massive one for UCD last week against fan harps. But to be honest, you know usually they've shipped quite a few goals this year and we seem to be seven one by Dairy area on the season. So, Shamrock Rovers, you know the quality they have gone into play usually relatively an experience quality football and the way that usually approach the game but you know you can't see anything other than a game that Shamrock Rovers won there. Yeah, in relation to harps again. I know I spoke to Declan Boyle last week and we were talking about the two games against UCD and draw United, and he said four points would be a very, very outcome a very, very good outcome out of those two games. What would be a very good outcome in your mind at night on Friday night draw and then hosting done dock at fan park on Monday night. So given the fact, you know draw that are ahead of them in the league. Obviously, you know state and obviously it would be great to go to draw it and get three points, but I think, you know, given the situation draw don't darker come back into a better form as well as you know, they'll be looking at this weekend's fixtures. They play dairy on Friday night. You know they can close the gap on dairy and push. You know, if they beat dairy, they'd go four points behind them, and then going into the game at the weekend and sleigh go home to dairy harps blend on dock. You know, don't be looking at the next couple of games where they can close the gap to maybe one or two points on on dairy silly but harps like after last week's game, you'll be looking at saying. If they can avoid defeating the two games, it'll be a positive outcome for them because they need to start building the week by the need to put both points start putting points on the board actually but they also need to start start getting confidence from the games that they're playing. It's not nice as a footballer if you're losing games every week and especially losing a game that people from the outside looking in there expecting you to one. So I think this the state around the minute, the position they're in, it's one very much one game at a time. If they go to draw it tomorrow night, don't get beat, pick up a point. That's a very good point on the road and then home game against on dock and I think it can happen on a given night. Yeah, so a couple of draws would be would be good enough, but what about the goals harps have been shy of the goals this year and so they haven't. When you're when you're alluding to mentioning confidence there and trying to get a wee bit of momentum about a conference obviously scoring goals is a huge part of that. Yeah, well, if you look back to the the Shelburne game where they went to talk and they won three nothing, you know, they defended really well that night. Kept a clean sheet, but the set plays, you know, they remember Conor Torres got his first goal of season that night. Conor Torres had a massive threat from set plays. Ethan Boyd, big threat from set plays, you know, so the delivery harps have been very reliant and set plays the last couple of years. Going back to when Tony McNamee was playing with his long throws, which were very effective, you know, so harps have to go back to basics and what fun harps are good at. Fun harps have been good at the last couple of years, been very well organized, been very disciplined and been reliant on set plays. Obviously, you've got that wee bit of creativity of Barry McNamee telling if he plays Ryan Connelly, but set plays are such a massive part in the game. That's where fun harps are probably their best chance of scoring goals, because at the end of the day, you look at the goal scores I've had, Mikhailovich, McWoods and Turish, both have all three have two goals each. And then, you know, anybody else has scored this one goal, they've only scored 12 league goals this season, which is a worry, and they've conceded 25, which is very unlike them. So there's certainly not an awful lot of work to do. I think they will score goals, they'll continue to get the odd goal from set plays, but it's very important that they start keeping clean sheet session. Yeah, just moving on to Deri Sidi, how would you sum up their farm recently? Obviously, they were top of the table, they've lost that spot now to Shamrock Grovers. Shamrock Grovers tonight, if they beat UCD, will go seven points clear at the top. A couple of draws in there for Deri, a defeat as well. Maybe the more experienced side of Shamrock Grovers coming through more in recent weeks than that of Deri. Yeah, I think Deri probably, you know, they go off to a brilliant start this season, and then, you know, it's sort of come back to the game where they lost to Shelburne at home. You know, that sort of started a wee bit of a, maybe cast a wee bit of doubt in the minds of the players, and then the last seven games they've only picked up two victories, and both them victories were one against UCD, one against Pats. You know, so Deri need to sort of push the reset button-ashing. They have, they've had a really good season so far, but at the end of the day, they're competing against Shamrock Grovers, and if they want to continue to challenge Shamrock Grovers to the league title, they've got to turn the draws, which is the three draws the last couple of weeks, they've got to turn them draws in the victories, because you can't see, it's very difficult for teams to take points of Shamrock Grovers, and if you're looking throughout the league, Deri's still going to be looking to say, who can challenge Grovers, who can take points off them, if they're going to close the gap on them. And they've got to look after themselves. They've got to start picking up victories again, start picking up three points, and hoping that other teams will take points of Grovers. But I'm sure Rory Higgins in his first full season, he'll be quite happy with the way things have gone. He won't be disappointed that he dropped so many points the last couple of weeks, but he'll be looking at his first full season in a job where he's probably looking at two, three years where we can develop a squad and build on it, because they have the resources now to challenge Shamrock Grovers. So quite a positive start for Deri, but obviously the last few weeks have been disappointing for them. And just moving away from the Premier Division of the League of Ireland, we're going to look at intermediate level. Bonnegee United have another big match this weekend. They're playing a maiden city in new buildings in Deri. Friday Night Antony, it's the inaugural Northwest of Ulster Intermediate Cup, which the two leagues formed. It's been very, very competitive. There's been some excellent football on it. But Bonnegee, very much still on the hunt for the treble on the cup front this season. What will it be like on Friday Night, do you think? It'll be a good game of football. Maiden City have had a good season. They've obviously got plans of pushing into the Irish League scene, be it championship or Premier Division level. They have ambitions. They're a well-organised club. I remember a couple of years ago playing against them with Leather County Rovers and good people about the club as well, and they're ambitious. Bonnegee have had a really good season. They've challenged the Pushcock Hill all the way for the League, but obviously they just missed out in the end up. But the competition itself, we had been crying out for something like that for more competition, also seeing your league over the last number of years, because it was becoming a wee bit stale in the fact that it's only five, six teams. We're relying on Derry City and Finharp's reserves to keep the league going, so we needed something to freshen it up. We've had Monning United come into the league, which has been good. And this added competition of the teams from the North coming in has been excellent. And it creates more interest and it gives clubs something more forward to look forward to, because you do get fed up seeing the same faces every week, be it the same players or the same officials, because that's what it is at such a small compact league. So the extra competition has been great. Obviously from a Leather County point of view, it's been disappointing from the point of view having challenged this season or having pushed for the Cups, but certainly it's a big challenge for them and it's good for a local team to go into the North and pick up a piece of silverware for all the hard work that's gone into the season for them. And maybe at a competition like this as well, can it be a factor in encouraging more teams at me to come to the Ulster Senior League? Because obviously you said that they were relying very much on Barry Siddein, Van Harpsen and Monaghan are in there over the next couple of years. Is it imperative for the league to have more teams to become part of it in your view? I think this has been a progressive step-washing having this competition with the teams from Northern Ireland. It gives them something more to look forward to, but I think for the future of the league, I don't think it's going to happen with the Ulster Senior League or the Donegal League, but I think it has to come from a higher power and that being the FAA where over the last number of years I was looking at and trying to do better homework and how we could develop the league. And you look at, say, for example, the Munster Senior League where you've got seven divisions that's run by the one organisation, but the top three divisions are intermediate. The bottom four divisions are junior. So I think the way forward for Donegal, for Leather County Rovers, Bonagie, Kalkill is that they come under one umbrella with more teams, get faned back in, Swally Rovers, traditionally Ulster Senior League clubs, but under the umbrella that, you know, you can have promotion relegation, a top team of, a top division of 10 clubs, it might encourage the Anishoan teams again, Bunkrana, Cairndonna, who were stalwarts of the league for years. But I think people with a genuine affection and love for football in Ireland and our governing body, the FAA, have to take more of an interest in what's going on here. The Donegal league's been fantastic. An unbelievable amount of clubs in the league. It caters for all types of football, you know, from senior teams to reserve teams. It's a good breeding ground for young players coming through Leather County Rovers about for this year with a progressive step for the youth players and the reserve team, which has been fantastic. But I think for the future of football in Donegal, ideally the two committees could get together and work on something, but I think ultimately it has to come from the top table lashing. It has to come from the FAA, where they've got to be strong to say, for the betterment of football in Donegal, we need a top division which is intermediate. And if it's a Donegal league that's run it, or Austin senior league, whatever, but I think it has to happen. But we've been talking about it for quite a long time now, and nobody seems to want to grab the ball by the horns. And it's been left to Leather County, Bonagie, Cacow, supported by Finharps and Dairy City Reserves. This season obviously my name to increase the numbers, but I just think that long term for the benefit of football in Donegal, we need an intermediate league in Donegal. And whatever format it is, but I think we need definitely need more teams. I think the introduction of the competition this year with the Northern Ireland teams as a step in the right direction, but I think for the long term survival of intermediate football in Donegal, I think that we need one division and everything under one umbrella. And I'd like to see something happen in the next season or two, I should. Yeah, well listen, we'll chat more on that topic I'm sure down the line again and we'll see what lies ahead for football in Donegal. But in the meantime, as always, thanks for joining us to talk to League of Ireland this week and we'll speak again soon. Thank you very much, Arsene, thank you.