October 4th to 6th - A two-nil win at home to Shelbourne on Sunday evening saw Shamrock Rovers move to within two points of the leaders. A goal in each half from Jack Byrne and Neil Farrugia piled on the misery for Damien Duff's misfiring side. Somehow, despite just one win in ten, Shelbourne remain top of the pile. Derry City have the opportunity to change all that over the next week. They have two home games - Bohemians on Friday night in a repeat of their FAI Cup semi final followed on Monday night by the visit of Sligo Rovers. Two wins there will leave Derry two points clear with three to play. The weekend's other game saw Eoin Kenny score an injury time equaliser to deny Galway United a win which would have put them second in the table for a short while - the Kenny versus Caulfield rivalry renewed there.

Three of the four games in the first division ended in one-all draws. Finn Harps are left with no room for error, five points off the playoff spots with three games to play. UCD look good for their spot after a one-all draw with Bray Wanderers on Friday night. Athlone Town should be ok too despite a one-all draw at Longford on Saturday night. It also finished one-all between Cork City and Treaty United. Cobh Ramblers were the only team to win in the division, beating Kerry two-one. The big game in the division over the next week will be Wexford's trip to Finn Harps on Monday night.

Fantasy mirrors reality with a Shelbourne / Shamrock Rovers one-two after the opening weekend of the October competition. Derek McDonald and Jimmy Maguire share the lead with 31 points each. After that we have ten people just five points behind - full details below:

October 11th to 14th - Derry City blew the chance to go top of the table over the weekend. Two home draws leave Ruaidhri Higgins' side second in the table alongside Shamrock Rovers. They drew one-all at home to Bohemians on Friday night and suffered a similar setback on Monday night at home to Sligo Rovers. The loss of Pat Hoban to a hamstring injury compounded two results which could have sent them four points clear with three to play - instead they're two points behind Shelbourne. Derry's last win was away to Waterford on August 23rd. Shelbourne's last win was in Dundalk on August 30th.

A three-one win in Dalymount on Monday sent St Patricks Athletic fourth in the table, just four points off the lead. Pats scored three after Dawson Devoy was sent off early in the second half. Stephen Kenny's side have now won six in a row since that draw in Galway following their trip to Turkey in August. They play the same opponents on Friday night. The weekend's other game saw Waterford and Drogheda draw nil-all. That leaves Kevin Doherty's side four points behind Bohemians as both teams look to avoid the relegation playoffs.

The playoff places in the first division are also set. Two excellent wins over the weekend saw Wexford climb to second in the table. Their win in Ballybofey on Monday night ended Finn Harps' interest in the season. As it stands, Wexford will play Bray Wanderers in the playoff semi-finals. The Wicklow side will finish fifth in the table no matter what happens in their final game on Friday. UCD are third in the table after a two-all draw with Treaty United on Friday night. Athlone are level on points with the Students after a four-one win at home to Cork City on Friday night.

Jimmy Maguire leads the way in the October competition - a score of 48 points over the weekend saw him open up a ten point lead over Kevin Nolan in second place. John Brophy remains in contention a further four points back. Three people share fourth place - Carl Toner, Christopher Uzell and myself - full details below:

October 18th and 19th - It's a case of "as you were" at the top of the Premier Division as the top four all won. Shelbourne came from behind to beat Waterford three-one at Tolka Park. Damien Duff must haved feared the worst as Padraig Amond put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot. However, two goals from Sean Boyd and a late clincher from Liam Burt maintained the leaders' two point lead at the top. Derry City won two-nil at Dundalk to confirm relegation of the former champions. Colm Whelan and Will Patching's penalty sent the Oriel Park side down. Derry are two points off the lead ahead of next week's visit to Inchicore.

Shamrock Rovers scored a late winner at Drogheda to keep their hopes alive. A nervy match was decided by Dylan Watts' strike with just six minutes to go. It was a goal out of keeping with what had gone before but Rovers will take the win with two games to go. Two Aidan Keena goals kept St Patricks Athletic's winning run going. They beat Galway United two-one at Richmond Park. Stephen Kenny's side are four points off the lead with Derry and Sligo to play. Saturday night's only game saw Bohemians confirm their Premier Division for another season. Goals from Devoy and Meekison win two-nil in Sligo. Alan Reynolds' side are now seven points clear of Drogheda with just two games to play.

The first division concluded with just the play offs order to be decided. Cork signed off with a six-nil win at home to Wexford ahead of lifting the trophy. UCD came from two down to earn a point at home to Longford. That point was enough to see the Students finish second ahead of Wexford on goal difference. UCD will now play Bray - the Wicklow side, who could only finish fifth, lost three-nil in Cobh.

Athlone will play Wexford in the other semi-final. They lost two-nil in Kerry as the Munster side won for a fifth time this season. The final game in the first division saw Treaty United win two-one at Finn Harps.

Jimmy Maguire and Kevin Nolan share first place in the monthly competition heading into next weekend's games. They both have 105 points and are five points clear of myself in third place. Overall champion-elect Carl Toner and Christopher Uzell share fourth spot a point further back - full details below:

October 25th to 27th - After the closest run season in a long time we're down to two potential title winners. In the red corner are Shelbourne who went five points clear on Friday night with a hard fought two-one win at home to Drogheda United. Rayhaan Tulloch's goal early in the second half proved to be the winner which left Damien Duff's side with one hand on the trophy. If Shamrock Rovers didn't win in Dundalk on Sunday evening then the title race would have been over. At half-time in Oriel Park it remained nil-all. However, just before the hour, Dylan Watts fired home the winner on the bouncy castle as Rovers made it three wins from three trips up the M1 in just nine days. If Shelbourne win in the Brandywell on Friday night they will be crowned champions. Any other result and a win for Shamrock Rovers at home to Waterford will see Stephen Bradley's side eclipse the great side of the 1980's by winning a fifth title in a row.

Elsewhere on Friday night, Derry City's title challenge fizzled out after a one-nil defeat away to St Patricks Athletic. Brandon Kavanagh scored the only goal in Richmond Park as Stephen Kenny's side overtook their opponents to claim third place. A win in Sligo on Friday night will crown a remarkable run-in for the Inchicore side and guarantee European football for next season. Derry will need to win the cup final against Drogheda on November 9th to earn a European place if they finish outside the top three.

The other two games this weekend ended in draws - Galway United and Sligo Rovers shared four goals but saw their slim European hopes end. Waterford guaranteed a seventh place finish (take it easy next Friday lads...) when they came from behind to earn a point at home to Bohemians.

A 35-point haul from the weekend's games saw Jimmy Maguire win the October prize with 140 points. Carl Toner recorded a similar scoreline but had to settle for second place in the month. Kevin Nolan finished in third place. Fourth place was shared by myself (a season highlight!) and Robert Gaffney. You can see the final standings for October below: