LIMERICK VRS FINN HARPS, SSE AIRTRICITY LEAGUE PROMOTION / RELEGATION PLAYOFF FINAL

02|11|15 - 2015 PROGRAMME COLLECTION ISSUE 18

Limerick O�ce: 4 Catherine Place, Limerick.Tel: 061 490055 | Fax: 061 490056 | Mob: 086 8079913 | Email: info@skpq.ie

SKPQ BUSINESS SERVICES LTD.

Bookkeeping | Legal Accounts | PayrollCompany Secretarial Management and Annual Accounts

Limerick O�ce: 4 Catherine Place, Limerick.Tel: 061 490055 | Fax: 061 490056 | Mob: 086 8079913 | Email: info@skpq.ie

SKPQ BUSINESS SERVICES LTD.

Bookkeeping | Legal Accounts | PayrollCompany Secretarial Management and Annual Accounts

MATCH SPONSOR & MATCHBALL SPONSOR2

A1 ACCESS EQUIPMENT YOUR HEIGHT HIRE SPECIALISTS IN LIMERICK

ROSMADDA BUSINESS PARK, BALLYSIMON ROAD, LIMERICKinfo@a1accessequipment.com

2

Unistar Cabs0 6 1 - 4 1 4 4 4 4 | 0 6 1 - 4 5 4 5 4 5

Best Taxi Service In Town! 365 Days A Year! 24/7!

Con Brouder ManufacturingPhone (068) 34566

Glin, Co. Limerickwww.cbmfittedfurniture.com

Designs you can love....and use

Find us on FacebookCon Brouder Manufacturing

match sponsor & Match ball sponsor 3LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

GROUND REGULATIONS

All persons entering this stadium are admitted only subject to the following

ground rules and regulations of Limerick FC. Entry to the stadium shall be

deemed to constitute unqualified acceptance of these rules and regulations.

Fireworks, smoke canisters, bottles, glasses, cans, flags, banners, poles, laser

pens, flares or any similar articles or containers including anything that could

be used as a weapon are not permitted in the stadium. Any person in posses-

sion of such items may be refused entry or ejected from the stadium.

Regulations

• Persons are not permitted to bring alcohol into the stadium.

• The unauthorised climbing of floodlight pylons, stands or other buildings in

the stadium is forbidden.

• Under no circumstances is it permitted to throw any object onto the field

of play.

• Unnecessary noise such as that from the use of radio sets and behaviour

likely to cause confusion or nuisance of any kind, including foul and abusive

language or racist remarks, is not permitted in the stadium.

• Unauthorised persons are not permitted to enter the field of play at any

time.

• Any persons who fail to comply with the instructions from the stewards may

be ejected from the stadium.

• In general, the right of admission is reserved to the Ground Management.

• The Ground Management reserves the right to refuse admission to or eject

any person who refuses to be searched by a member of An Garda Síochána.

• Any person who remains in an unauthorised area may be ejected from the

stadium.

• Racist abuse of any form will not be tolerated.

• The Ground Management reserves the right to remove from the ground any

person who does not comply with the ground regulations or whose presence

in the ground could be reasonably construed as constituting a source of dan-

ger, nuisance or annoyance to other spectators.

• The moving of one area of the stadium to another without the permission

of a steward, the Gardaí or other authorised agent of the club is forbidden.

• Any person attempting to gain admission to, or being found within, a section

of the ground designated for members only without the appropriate authori-

sation may be ejected from the ground.

• Only persons authorised in writing by the club’s management are permitted

to offer sale or distribute any newspaper, periodical or any other article.

• Any person found damaging or defacing property will be prosecuted.

• Persons are admitted to this ground subject to their acceptance of these

rules and the rules of the FAI and SSE Airtricity League. Entry to the ground

should be unqualified acceptance.

• In the event of the match being postponed or abandoned, any refund of the

admission charge will be at the sole discretion of the club management. This

is subject to a time limitation, the details of which are available from the club’s

office. Persons entering the ground are advised to retain their ticket stub as

this may be required to be produced at a later date.

Young Blood

Lucky 13!

Manager's Office

Hometown Thoughts

Fun Fifteen

Young defender Tony Whitehead looks back on last weekend's Munster Senior Cup final success and speaks about the impact of Paudie O'Connor.

We look back on last Sunday's Munster Senior Cup final against Avondale United as Limerick won the trophy for the 13th time!

Manager Martin Russell reflects on recent away performances and looks ahead to tonight's Munster Derby

Hometown midfielder Jason Hughes

looks back on our last three games and

ahead to our return to the Markets

Field.

Striker Dean Clarke gives us a light-hearted insight into his life - from wrestling to sleeping powers and coconuts!

Contents:

04

06

10

16

22

A5 v Rovers.indd 3 15/05/2015 19:04:42

4: MANAGER’S OFFICE

“It is rare what we are trying to do”. Manager Martin Russell reflects on the dramatic events of Friday night and looks ahead to this week’s challenge.

6: CAPTAIN’S CALL “I honestly didn’t expect it to be the way it is now”. Captain Shane Duggan has praised the club’s support which has played a huge part in the ‘Great Escape’.

14: 15 FAVOURITES

Defender Shaun Kelly gives us an insight into some of his favourite things - from The Wolfe Tones to cheesecake!

22: THE BIG INTERVIEW!

Hometown defender Shane Tracy speaks about the change in fortunes for Limerick since he first signed, back in 2008, and recalls his time at English giants Arsenal.

30: CLASSIC MATCH We dig into the archives and go back to the league-winning season of 1979/80, to a five-goal thriller away to Finn Harps with seven games remaining.

Anthem - football creatives

Contents

LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS 3

4

ood evening and welcome back to Jackman Park for this evening’s SSE Airtricity

League Premier Division match and Munster Derby against Cork City. We extend a warm welcome to John Caul-field, his players, backroom team, the officials and supporters of Cork City FC who have made the relatively short trip here today for what I am sure will be another competitive encounter.

We come into this weekend on the back of two away league games. We firstly went to Sligo Rovers and showed some character in not lying down in searching for the equaliser, which we got at the death. On the balance of the game, I think a point was well de-served. We created chances in the first half; we had a couple of near-misses where they got a couple of very vi-tal tackles in. Ian Turner missed one where the ‘keeper came out into no-man’s land and Dean Clarke also had the ‘keeper in no-man’s land. We de-served at least a draw.

Against Bohemians at Dalymount Park last Friday was very frustrating. They are a team that is going very well in the league but we had good periods of domination and we just could not turn that into goals. We got a sucker-punch right at the end to deny us a draw. I’ve

asked the lads to give everything, which they did. I told them that that would be re-warded, and unfortunately it wasn’t because it didn’t go for us. But again, you couldn’t fault the effort and some of the football we played on a decent surface was pleasing. What I would also say about the match was the officials that came over from Wales let the game flow and were very, very competent and I think it also helped the game to be an enter-taining one.

After Bohs scored their first goal, I think the s h a c k l e s came off us again. I thought we were a little bit nervy for the first ten minutes. They took the lead but from thereon in we were always trying to get back into the

G

MA

NA

GE

R’S

OFF

ICE

“I FULLY BELIEVE WE SHOULD HAVE MORE POINTS. SOMETIMES YOU DON’T GET THE RE-WARDS WHEN YOU EXPECT TO GET THEM BUT YOU’VE JUST GOT TO KEEP DOING THE RIGHT THING AND BELIEVE IT WILL COME RIGHT”

MANAGER'S OFFICE4 5LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

game. When we did equalise we looked like the team that could possibly win it. There was a lot of good stuff, a lot of positive play and we were hurt by not achieving at least a draw. Every forward loves their goals and Dean is no differ-ent. It was good for him to get off the mark in the league last week. His work-rate has been first-class and it was only a matter of time before that got rewarded. I’m glad for him and he deserves it, because he has worked as hard as anybody.

Looking back at last Sunday’s Munster Senior Cup final against Avondale United, we dominated the game and played well up to the final third. Their ‘keeper got Man of the Match. We were doing a lot of good stuff but without getting the goals that our play deserved. We kept at it and ultimately won it with a penalty late on. Because the game came so close to Friday’s one at Bohemians, it was always the plan to give the lads an opportunity who haven’t had that and also to rest some players. They were the two principles that I was work-ing on in terms of team selection. The game itself, we were well on top throughout without getting the goals. It’s a con-cern that when you work so hard for goals that you don’t put them away, but nobody misses chances on purpose. It’s just a little bit of quality at the right time that gets you those goals. We’ll keep working at it. If we weren’t playing or attacking as well as we are then there would be bigger problems.

It was nice to get the trophy at the end of it. I noticed that there are not a lot of times that Limerick have won

it. Cork have dominated many of the seasons gone by, so it’s nice to get some silverware for that reason too. It gives that winning mentality that is also im-portant. The lads that came in all did okay. We say

to all the young players not to just settle but to come in and make a real impact and keep on

challenging yourselves. If you can challenge yourself at the highest level then go for

that, rather than easy street. We keep on asking them and encouraging them to

get better. We’re seeing some of that as well.

We go into tonight’s game hoping to get our first win of the season. We lost 5-0 in Cork earlier in the campaign but if you look back at that, there was a dubious penalty and a red card that

was never a sending-off. Those deci-sions turned the game, so it was a bit of a false game in some ways. Having said that, you only have to look at the Cork squad – they could put out two teams and be competitive. They’re up there challenging. It won’t be an easy game. We’ll have to be as good as we were against Dundalk, Shamrock Rov-ers and even Saint Patrick’s Athletic. We just want the first win and then take it from there. I fully believe we should have more points. Sometimes you don’t get the rewards when you expect to get them but you’ve just got to keep doing the right thing and be-lieve it will come right.

Thanks for your support and enjoy the match, Martin Russell.

“I NOTICED THAT THERE ARE NOT A LOT OF TIMES THAT LIMERICK HAVE WON THE

MUNSTER SENIOR CUP, SO IT’S NICE

TO GET SOME SILVERWARE FOR

THAT REASON TOO. IT GIVES THAT WINNING

MENTALITY THAT IS ALSO

IMPORTANT”

5LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

A5 v Rovers.indd 4 15/05/2015 19:04:51

4

ood evening and welcome back to Jackman Park for this evening’s SSE Airtricity

League Premier Division match and Munster Derby against Cork City. We extend a warm welcome to John Caul-field, his players, backroom team, the officials and supporters of Cork City FC who have made the relatively short trip here today for what I am sure will be another competitive encounter.

We come into this weekend on the back of two away league games. We firstly went to Sligo Rovers and showed some character in not lying down in searching for the equaliser, which we got at the death. On the balance of the game, I think a point was well de-served. We created chances in the first half; we had a couple of near-misses where they got a couple of very vi-tal tackles in. Ian Turner missed one where the ‘keeper came out into no-man’s land and Dean Clarke also had the ‘keeper in no-man’s land. We de-served at least a draw.

Against Bohemians at Dalymount Park last Friday was very frustrating. They are a team that is going very well in the league but we had good periods of domination and we just could not turn that into goals. We got a sucker-punch right at the end to deny us a draw. I’ve

asked the lads to give everything, which they did. I told them that that would be re-warded, and unfortunately it wasn’t because it didn’t go for us. But again, you couldn’t fault the effort and some of the football we played on a decent surface was pleasing. What I would also say about the match was the officials that came over from Wales let the game flow and were very, very competent and I think it also helped the game to be an enter-taining one.

After Bohs scored their first goal, I think the s h a c k l e s came off us again. I thought we were a little bit nervy for the first ten minutes. They took the lead but from thereon in we were always trying to get back into the

G

MA

NA

GE

R’S

OFF

ICE

“I FULLY BELIEVE WE SHOULD HAVE MORE POINTS. SOMETIMES YOU DON’T GET THE RE-WARDS WHEN YOU EXPECT TO GET THEM BUT YOU’VE JUST GOT TO KEEP DOING THE RIGHT THING AND BELIEVE IT WILL COME RIGHT”

MANAGER'S OFFICE4 5LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

game. When we did equalise we looked like the team that could possibly win it. There was a lot of good stuff, a lot of positive play and we were hurt by not achieving at least a draw. Every forward loves their goals and Dean is no differ-ent. It was good for him to get off the mark in the league last week. His work-rate has been first-class and it was only a matter of time before that got rewarded. I’m glad for him and he deserves it, because he has worked as hard as anybody.

Looking back at last Sunday’s Munster Senior Cup final against Avondale United, we dominated the game and played well up to the final third. Their ‘keeper got Man of the Match. We were doing a lot of good stuff but without getting the goals that our play deserved. We kept at it and ultimately won it with a penalty late on. Because the game came so close to Friday’s one at Bohemians, it was always the plan to give the lads an opportunity who haven’t had that and also to rest some players. They were the two principles that I was work-ing on in terms of team selection. The game itself, we were well on top throughout without getting the goals. It’s a con-cern that when you work so hard for goals that you don’t put them away, but nobody misses chances on purpose. It’s just a little bit of quality at the right time that gets you those goals. We’ll keep working at it. If we weren’t playing or attacking as well as we are then there would be bigger problems.

It was nice to get the trophy at the end of it. I noticed that there are not a lot of times that Limerick have won

it. Cork have dominated many of the seasons gone by, so it’s nice to get some silverware for that reason too. It gives that winning mentality that is also im-portant. The lads that came in all did okay. We say

to all the young players not to just settle but to come in and make a real impact and keep on

challenging yourselves. If you can challenge yourself at the highest level then go for

that, rather than easy street. We keep on asking them and encouraging them to

get better. We’re seeing some of that as well.

We go into tonight’s game hoping to get our first win of the season. We lost 5-0 in Cork earlier in the campaign but if you look back at that, there was a dubious penalty and a red card that

was never a sending-off. Those deci-sions turned the game, so it was a bit of a false game in some ways. Having said that, you only have to look at the Cork squad – they could put out two teams and be competitive. They’re up there challenging. It won’t be an easy game. We’ll have to be as good as we were against Dundalk, Shamrock Rov-ers and even Saint Patrick’s Athletic. We just want the first win and then take it from there. I fully believe we should have more points. Sometimes you don’t get the rewards when you expect to get them but you’ve just got to keep doing the right thing and be-lieve it will come right.

Thanks for your support and enjoy the match, Martin Russell.

“I NOTICED THAT THERE ARE NOT A LOT OF TIMES THAT LIMERICK HAVE WON THE

MUNSTER SENIOR CUP, SO IT’S NICE

TO GET SOME SILVERWARE FOR

THAT REASON TOO. IT GIVES THAT WINNING

MENTALITY THAT IS ALSO

IMPORTANT”

5LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

A5 v Rovers.indd 5 15/05/2015 19:05:00

“WE DUG IN AND WE WERE RESILIENT IN THE END. IT WAS A MASSIVE EFFORT AND THE HEIGHT OF RESPECT TO THE PLAYERS WHO GAVE EVERYTHING AGAIN. ONE THING THEY HAVE BEEN IS HONEST. ONCE AGAIN, THE SUPPORTERS THAT TRAVELLED TO SLIGO WERE FANTASTIC”

ood evening and welcome back to the Markets Field for our SSE Airtricity League Pro-motion / Relegation Playoff

Final against Finn Harps. We extend a warm welcome to Ollie Horgan, his players, backroom staff, the officials and supporters of Finn Harps FC who have made the long trip to Limerick today. Finn Harps have had a good season, fin-ishing second to Wexford Youths in the First Division where they had the best defence and least number of losses. We know it is going to be a difficult as-signment to overcome them across this week’s two legs.

It is very hard to put into words what we witnessed on Friday night in our fi-nal league game at Sligo Rovers, our win there ultimately setting up this match tonight. From the get-go to the final whistle there were so many things that happened between The Show-grounds and Tallaght Stadium, and it turned out to be a night to remember for everybody. But after it was digested, we knew we had work to do in getting bodies right for today and the focus quickly turned to this. From our point of view in Sligo, we could only look after ourselves, and having been 2-0 up then suddenly you’re walking in at half-time with just a one-goal lead having con-ceded with the last kick. We were go-ing into the second half against a fierce

wind; we knew they were going to pile balls on top of us and every set-piece was going to come right in on goal. We tried to put pressure on them in the first half with in-swingers with that wind. When you only have a one-goal lead going against that, it was going to take a big effort to see it through. For us to get anoth-er buffer with the third goal was good, and it showed at the end that we needed it.

It was a hectic game. It was one where we were positive in our play at the start and got the rewards. We went there and created a number of chances on top of the goals that we scored. From an at-tacking point of view, we know there are goals in us, but from a de-fensive point of view we prob-ably gave up one or two chances that we need to

look at and keep on working on. When the game is dis-sected and we look at it and analyse it we can say where we can improve. There are always things to work on. We dug in and we were resilient in the end. It was a massive ef-fort and the height of respect to the players who gave eve-rything again. One thing they have been is honest. Once again, the supporters that travelled to Sligo were fantastic and it was great that they cheered on the lads the way they did. It’s such a quick turnaround, playing again today. The lads were here at the Markets Field for a training session yesterday afternoon and we will be as well prepared as possible for this game.

We are delighted to have this opportunity this week to preserve our Premier Division status. We go to Finn Park on Friday night – every away fixture in the country can be demanding, and it would be nice to take a lead there. But we will just deal with tonight’s game first and try to put in another performance that can get us the result that we want to put us on the front foot going to Donegal. It’s two 90 minutes – you don’t know what is going to happen in the games but we’ll try to play as we did last Friday, in a positive fashion, and may the best team win. We have be-lief in ourselves. We had belief going to Sligo and it will be the same this week. But we will give Finn Harps the respect that they duly deserve because they have had a good sea-son under Ollie and they’re in the playoff on merit as well.

We have come a long way together and everybody has played their part over the last three months, not least

the supporters who have been magnificent. It is over three hours to Sligo and they again showed up in their

numbers. It’s a testament to them that so many made the trip on a Friday evening, and a testament

also to the efforts that they have seen the play-ers produce. Between the supporters and the

players, they have done the club proud in this run that we have gone on. It is difficult to

remember a comeback like it. It is rare, probably, what we are trying to do. But

we haven’t done it yet. Let’s see the job through.

Thanks for your support and enjoy the game,Martin Russell.

“BETWEEN THE SUPPORTERS AND THE PLAYERS, THEY HAVE DONE THE CLUB PROUD IN THIS RUN THAT WE HAVE GONE ON. IT IS DIFFICULT TO REMEMBER A COME-BACK LIKE IT. IT IS RARE, PROBABLY, WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO. BUT WE HAVEN’T DONE IT YET. LET’S SEE THE JOB THROUGH”

G

MA

NA

GER

’S O

FFIC

E M

AR

TIN

RU

SSEL

LMANAGER’S OFFICE

POST-MATCH PUB SPONSOR

JERRY O'DEA'S BARMulgrave Street, Limerick

Across from the Markets FieldCall in to see Martin and the players

after the match!

LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS4 5

ello and welcome back to the Markets Field for our SSE Airtricity League Promo-tion / Relegation Playoff Final

against Finn Harps. It was disappoint-ing losing at home to Shamrock Rovers in our last home game but we knew we would have one final chance going up to Sligo with the way the Drogheda game had gone that night.

We knew if we could get the three points in The Showgrounds that we would have a very good chance because with Drogheda going away to Shamrock Rovers it was obviously a tough task for them. Sligo is always a tough place to go and it proved no different for us. We had a very strong wind in the first half. I talked to a couple of the lads and we said if we won the toss we would play with it, try to pin them in and get one or two goals, and it might break them a bit. It was hard conditions for them in the first half. We got the two goals and I thought we could have had one or two more. That might have killed them off, but the goal they got just before half-time got them back into it and we knew going into the second half it was going to be tough playing against that gale-force wind. But credit to the lads, we managed to get another goal to make it 3-1. The last few minutes were dodgy enough when they got their second but we held out well.

At half-time, we had heard the scoreline from Tallaght but there was no point in us worrying about Drogheda when we still had a job to do. We could hear the roar from our supporters so I knew things were probably going well. Every time they roared gave us a bit of a lift; we knew we could kick on and try to get the result in our own game. When Sligo scored in the first minute of injury-time at the end, I was just thinking ‘defend,

“THE SUPPORT HAS BEEN BRILLIANT. THE NUMBERS THAT HAVE BEEN COMING OUT IS FANTASTIC. I KNOW PEOPLE WERE SAYING BEFORE WE WENT INTO THE MARKETS FIELD THAT THE CROWDS WERE GOING TO COME BACK BUT I HONESTLY DIDN’T EXPECT IT TO BE THE WAY IT IS NOW”

H

defend’. When they had that last chance I was thinking ‘oh no!’. When I saw it going wide I was delighted. It was a very nervy last few minutes. They were throwing everybody up front and putting high balls in on top of us. We just had to keep our concentration, stay focussed and have a good shape about us. Thankfully, that chance didn’t go in at the end and we managed to see it out. Overall, I thought we were the better team.

The way we play, we want to play football and we have to spread out and everybody has to look for the ball. But at times if we lose the ball or give it away cheaply it can cause us problems. But that’s the way we play. We’ve scored a lot of goals this season. We’re entertaining. Some of the

goals we give away are just individual errors. We don’t really get carved open that much; it’s just sloppy mistakes that could be cut out. I’m sure everybody is enjoying the way we’re playing at the moment. We probably gave a few people heart-attacks again on Friday night when Sligo brought it back to 3-2! It was a little bit edgy in the last couple of minutes. The turnaround since 1 Au-gust is unbelievable with the run of games we went on. But even then, we had opportunities to get off the bottom two or three times and we didn’t take them. I was starting to think in my head ‘are we running out of chances?’. We left it to the last game and managed to get off it. We still have two massive games coming up now. Hopefully, we can win these and everything will be rosy!

The support has been brilliant. The numbers that have been com-ing out is fantastic. I know people were saying before we went into the Markets Field that the crowds were going to come back but I honestly didn’t expect it to be the way it is now. Everywhere

I go around the City people seem to be talking about it and asking about the next game. Again in Sligo, a big crowd travelled up, a long journey on a bad night. With it being on TV, a lot of people could have easily stayed at home. But the numbers came out again and sup-ported us. They really did give us a lift. They didn’t stop singing for the whole night. I think as well the way we’re play-ing, the style of football is really enter-taining and I think that’s encouraging people to come out and watch us.

It will mean very little if we don’t go and finish the job. It would be very disap-pointing if there is a Premier Division next season and Limerick are not in it, because what the club are doing off-the-pitch as well is massive. It would be very upsetting if we can’t stay in the Premier Division. But it’s up to us now in the next two games to make sure that we do. We’ll be giving it everything we can because, as I said, Limerick and the league would be much better if we are in it.

Thanks for your support and enjoy the match,Shane Duggan.

“IT WILL MEAN VERY LITTLE IF WE DON’T GO AND FINISH THE JOB. IT WOULD BE VERY DISAPPOINTING IF THERE IS A PREMIER DIVISION NEXT SEA-SON AND LIMERICK ARE NOT IN IT, BECAUSE WHAT THE CLUB ARE DOING OFF-THE-PITCH AS WELL IS MASSIVE”

CA

PTA

IN’S

CA

LL

SHA

NE

DU

GG

AN

INSIDE THE DRESSING-ROOM

WITH OURHOMETOWN

CAPTAIN

CAPTAIN’S CALL LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS6 7

THE

BO

AR

DR

OO

M

PAT

O’S

ULL

IVA

N ood evening and welcome back to the Markets Field for our SSE Airtricity League Pro-motion / Relegation Playoff

Final against Finn Harps. We extend a warm welcome to our visitors from Ballybofey who have made the long trip to our city tonight. We hope they enjoy their visit to Limerick and the Markets Field.

Last Friday was an occasion that will live forever with those who witnessed it, either at the match or on television. It was one of those nights you live for and what makes sport so special. What this team has done is miraculous and their courage in turning this season around must be applauded by every-body. When all seemed lost, they re-fused to lie down and have entertained not just Limerick people but the whole league. Now, we have given ourselves a real opportunity of retaining our Premier Division status this week. We know that there is still a huge job to do against a very good Finn Harps side. They have our utmost respect and we know that it will be an extremely dif-ficult tie.

This club has come a long way. We are on a solid path and we have got to look positively at the future. We have Bruff, which has been acknowledged by the Government and the National Associa-tion by giving us a capital grant to help us to develop it as a Regional Centre of Excellence. We hope to have our plan-ning for it before the end of December. We have a terrific underage structure and a good Academy. We know we have to develop that on a long-term basis. With that in mind, we have done a review of the Academy over the past couple of months. We will soon announce a very well-known former footballer – born, bred and reared in

G

Limerick – who will take over administration and de-velopment of our Academy in collaboration with our first-team manager, from the ground up. We have to do that because we are starved here of natural talent coming through. That’s a real positive for the club.

Another is that this season has seen us return to the Markets Field after an absence of 31 years. I want to thank the McManus Family and all the staff at Mar-tinstown for their support in ensuring that you as sup-porters and we as a club have a state-of-the-art facility which is second-to-none and I want you to really ap-preciate that. These people have done terrific things for Limerick and I hope that nobody ever takes them and their efforts for granted. What has been happen-ing here in this Stadium with this team for the past number of months is something special. We have ter-rific crowds coming here, with a lot of families, giving us fantastic support and everybody is enjoying them-selves. You’re bonding with the team, you’re seeing what we’re doing and you’re inspiring us and people in the background in Limerick to drive it on harder. I want to thank you all for your support and hopefully come 10pm on Friday night we will be looking forward to Premier Division football again in 2016.Enjoy the match, Pat O’Sullivan.

8 the boardroom

e extend a warm welcome to you all to tonight’s league match against Cork City. We particularly welcome

all our visitors from Cork – John Caulfield, his players, backroom team, the officials and supporters who have made the trip to our city this evening. This is always an important fixture for everybody involved with both clubs, it is a Munster Derby and for us there would certainly be no better place to kick-start our league season than here.

I would like to begin by congratulat-ing Martin and the players on winning the Munster Senior Cup last Sunday. Many will view the competition as the least important of those on offer but we were delighted to get our hands on some silverware, which adds to the Southern Elite Division title which we won at Under-19 level in March. It was a well-contested final in Clounreask last weekend. The Avondale United goalkeeper, Daniel O’Leary, was in fan-tastic form but in the end we got what I felt we deserved with a late winner. The game presented Martin with an opportunity to look at some of the players that have not featured much this season and they gave it their all to secure the trophy. We beat this eve-ning’s opponents Cork in the semi-fi-nal and we will try to take belief from last week’s success into our coming league games and indeed the FAI Cup which gets underway in a fortnight’s time.

It was a weekend of double cele-bration as our Under-16s were also crowned Premier League champions having gone through the season with a 100 percent record. They have been one of our standout teams at Acad-emy level since the campaign got un-

derway and also enjoyed a run through three rounds of the National Cup. Unfortunately, as was the case, their final two games were awarded as walkovers, meaning they had yet to receive the league trophy. Thankfully they will be presented with the U16 title at half-time today and we can acknowledge a fantastic achievement. I send congratulations on this success to Leon Casey-Ryan, all the players and all the coaches who have played a part in their development. We hope those that remain with us for the Under-17 National League will grow further and form part of the future here at Limerick FC.

I also take this opportunity to wish Ger Costelloe, Gary Manning and all the players in our Under-15 squad the best of luck as they prepare for tomorrow’s Under-16 Division One Cup final against Aisling Anna-cotty at the University of Limerick. Kick-off is 11am on their fantastic all-weather facility – we hope to see you there to get behind the boys! When I pen my next notes, they will be for our return to the Markets Field. Roll on Friday 5 June!

Thanks for your support and enjoy the game,Pat O’Sullivan.

W

TH

E B

OA

RD

RO

OM

: PA

T O

'SU

LLIV

AN

9LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

A5 v Rovers.indd 9 15/05/2015 19:05:03

THE BOARDROOM LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS8 9

LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPSIN PHOTOS : LIMERICK FC VRS SLIGO ROVERS

Photography: Conor Wyse

10 11

hate individual awards. I ab-solutely can’t stand them. It’s a team sport and every single player has a role in a given sys-

tem that makes them either flourish, do dirty work, or in some cases – if they’re doing their job really well – appear to be doing nothing whatsoever. Yet here I am listing my three contenders for Player of the Year.

Paul O’Conor: This season wasn’t just 11 games long. You might wish it was – Lim-erick would be in Europe – but alas, we’ll take the playoff with open arms. Paul O’Conor has played at right-back, centre-half, holding midfield, central midfield and operated at number ten. Limerick were often down to bare bones and it was O’Conor that filled the gaps. He’s not missed many games at all and has been a constant feature in a side that still offered attacking threat. His best position is when he’s partnered with either Lynch or Rus-sell in central areas – often providing runs from deep where he pounces on scraps to find important goals. In case you’ve for-gotten – Dundalk in the last minute, Sligo in the last minute and the insurance goal last Friday. His job isn’t always glamorous, but he rarely gives the ball away, he’s al-

Iways in a position to receive the ball when teammates are being pressed high and his attitude has been top class all year.

Robbie Williams: It seems bizarre to include a centre-half in this discussion considering Limerick conceded 73 goals across 33 league games, but bear with me. The early-season defensive setup was catastrophic. Between Conor O’Donnell’s frequent lapses in concentration, Seán Hard-ing’s indifferent performances, an unfit Shane Tracy (signed after a few games with no pre-season) and partnering a 17 year-old centre-half for a lot of the season, Williams has been a prime example of how professionalism and expe-rience can benefit a football team. He’s been the anchor in the defence through spells where they could have been blown out of games, but managed to hold on to sneak a point. A lot of this is down to the Yorkshireman and he’s one of the better centre-halves in the country – even if he doesn’t get the credit for it.

Dean Clarke: Despite being played up top for most of the first half of the year, Clarke has caught the eye of many clubs in the league. That in itself speaks volumes as the league isn’t short on wingers – but Clarke, even at 21/22, has shown determination and mental strength to plough through situations where it may have been easier to give in and crumble. He got a few goals while playing a lone strike role, but his switch to left wing ensured he’s beating every full-back in the country on a week-to-week basis. The Dub-lin native was always the attacking spark – well before the wheels of the great escape were in motion.

LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPSPLAYER OF THE YEAR12

PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD: WHO WILL IT BE?

Andrew Cunneen reveals his shortlist for Limerick’s best man

10

efender Tony Whitehead says the squad’s spirit remains “very high” and he is confi-dent that their positive atti-

tude will help them turn water into wine as they look to rise up the Premier Divi-sion table in the coming weeks.

Limerick find themselves at the foot of the standings after 12 games prior to this evening’s visit of Cork City, without a win. But last weekend they collected silverware in the form of the Munster Senior Cup and Whitehead wants them to build on that and bring it into their league campaign. “I think everyone will be surprised to hear that our spirit is very high,” Tony told Into The Blue. “All the boys come into training in a good mood. Obviously, it hurts us when we lose but we’re trying to stay positive because we know things are going to change for us.

“It’s just rub of the green at the moment and once we get a bit of luck that will be it I think. A few wins, we’re up the table and people will stop talking. It’s not that we listen to people – we know it’s going to change eventually. It’s a big game tonight. It’s a big Munster Derby. I think we owe Cork one as well. It would be nice to get something from it. I think the boys will have a bit of confidence af-ter the win against Avondale. Hopefully, we can go and get something. Last Sun-day, I thought we did alright. But for a lot of us it was 90 minutes. I think a lot of us could do with it. I don’t think our performance was where it should have been, but to win and it’s a trophy – it’s

something to build on for Cork. It’s the first senior medal that I’ve won so hopefully I’ll have a few more in a few years’ time.”

The rise of 17-year-old Paudie O’Connor has meant Whitehead has been limited to just four league ap-pearances this term. And he admits it has been diffi-cult to stay match-fit, but he praised the contribution of his fellow centre-half. “It’s tough,” he said. “To be honest, I’d love an Under-21 League where if I didn’t play on a Friday or Saturday that maybe I could get some game-time on a Sunday and stay as fit as the boys. With Derek (McCarthy) on a Monday and Tues-day, I do an extra bit. All the boys that don’t play do an extra bit, but nothing compares to match fitness, as everyone knows. Paudie has been brilliant. He has been a rock at the back. I think some people when they don’t play can get a bit frustrated, but I know Paudie is playing very well. I’m just going to have to keep working hard. Eventually I know I’ll get my chance and I’m just going to have to take it.”

PLAYER VIEW: “OUR SPIRIT IS VERY HIGH” – TONY

Young defender also praises “rock” in Paudie

D

10 PLAYER VIEW 11LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

7 Upper William Street, Limerick.

• Keys cut to code and pattern• Car Keys cut to Car Locks• Transponder Car Keys cut

• Car Keys programmed on site – no towing involved

• Car Remotes• Yale type locks for Munster Joinery Doors

• All types of locks supplied and �tted• Aluminium door locks

• 24 Hour Call Out Service – Domestic, Commercial & Automotive

Tel 061-414173Fax 061-313231

email : sales@ryanslocksmiths.com

For all your design & print needsWe design and print everythingfrom one-o� booklets to

100,000 menus!

PERSONALISED SERVICE & NATIONWIDE DELIVERY“If we don’t print it.... you don’t need it”!

Contact Michael t: 061 498031e: michael@justprint.ie w: www.justprint.ie

B5 CORCANREE BUSINESS PARK, DOCK ROAD, LIMERICK

• STATIONERY• BUSINESS CARDS• CALENDARS• FLYERS • FOLDERS• ROLL-UP STANDS • BOOKLETS & MUCH MORE

justprint.ie

Then just read theLimerick Post

Can’t watch?

061-413322

A5 v Rovers.indd 11 15/05/2015 19:05:17

13

12

illy Hamilton claimed his first piece of silverware at Limerick thanks to this

narrowest of wins over Cork City in the Munster Senior Cup final at Rath-bane on a Wednesday evening in Sep-tember 1988. Just like last weekend, this trophy was sealed from the penal-ty spot, although it came much earlier in this game. Also in contrast, this fix-ture 27 years ago saw Limerick riding high at the top of the Premier Division table. The breakthrough came when Cork’s Norman Kelly inexplicably punched a Marcus Tuite cross away under pressure from Hamilton. Refer-ee Noel Bennett, as the match report notes, had “no hesitation in awarding the spot-kick”, and Johnny Walsh con-verted.

Cork reorganised themselves but as the game progressed it became obvi-ous that they had their limitations. “A tough, uncompromising type of team, they were bereft of ideas, especially up front, and were more destroyers than creators”. It took them 35 min-utes to fire their first shot of note, with Barriscale brilliantly denying Freyne. Freyne, always in the thick of the action, struck the crossbar with a powerful drive and then Walsh had a goal disallowed for offside. Hamilton, a tireless worker, was back in defence to prevent an awkward situation, and then Coyle put in a great run to set up Hanrahan, but the big striker headed off target.

The second half saw Cork apply pres-sure and there were periods when the home side were lucky to survive. The

half started promisingly enough for Limerick, though, with Harrington pushing a Hamilton header over the bar. Then came a spell when the Leesiders threatened to take control. They won the midfield battle and player/manager Eamonn O’Keefe made life a bit awkward for those at the back. Mid-way through the half, Barriscale was forced into making a fine save from O’Keefe. Just when the game looked all over, there were incidents at both ends. Hanrahan was clean through but Harrington advanced to avert the danger and there was a moment of panic at the far end as an O’Keefe free from just outside the area took a deflection and cleared the bar for a corner. Limerick were relieved to hear the final whistle.

Former Limerick player Ger Duggan said afterwards: “Cork are always difficult to beat; they play a type of football that is not easy to combat”. It was Limerick’s ninth success in the competition and bridged a four-year gap to their previous one in 1984/85. In the next 16 renewals, they would win it just once, in 1994/95, in a period where Cork dominated with 14 triumphs.

Limerick City: Barriscale, Mullane, O’Halloran, Daly, Cowpar, Tuite (Man-nion 25), Coyle, Hyde, Walsh, Hamilton, Hanrahan.Cork City: Harrington, Murphy, Long, Healy, Kelly, Freyne, Windridge, Conroy, Duggan, O’Keeffe, Caulfield. Referee: Noel Bennett (Clare).

CLASSIC MATCH: WALSH WINS ITLimerick regain Champions of Munster title

CLASSIC MATCH

B

Munster Senior Cup FinalRathbane, Wednesday 28 September 1988

Limerick 1-0 Cork City

13LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

Paddy Mc AuliffeB O O K M A K E R S

BEST PRICES FOR ALL SPORTING EVENTSSOCCER / DOGS / HORSERACING

WE QUOTE ALL SENIOR, PREMIER & INTERMEDIATE HURLING & FOOTBALL COUNTY MATCHES

TEL - BRUFF (061) 389670HOSPITAL (061) 383966

Paddy Mc AuliffeB O O K M A K E R S

BEST PRICES FOR ALL SPORTING EVENTSSOCCER / DOGS / HORSERACING

WE QUOTE ALL SENIOR, PREMIER & INTERMEDIATE HURLING & FOOTBALL COUNTY MATCHES

TEL - BRUFF (061) 389670HOSPITAL (061) 383966Digital & IP CCTV. Intruder Alarm Systems. Gate Automation & Barriers.

Access Control & Intercoms. Radio Communications Systems.Sales. Rentals. Leasing. Service

ph. 061 35 35 33 www.q3.ie

Digital & IP CCTV. Intruder Alarm Systems. Gate Automation & Barriers.Access Control & Intercoms. Radio Communications Systems.

Sales. Rentals. Leasing. Service

ph. 061 35 35 33 www.q3.ie

CLASSIC MATCH: WALSH WINS IT

A5 v Rovers.indd 13 15/05/2015 19:05:19

151514 LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPSP

LAY

ER Q

&A

: FIF

TEEN

FA

VO

UR

ITES

S

HA

UN

KEL

LY S hort Bio: Shaun Kelly (born: 9 March 1989) is a right-back from Killybegs, County Donegal who started out at

his local club Saint Catherine’s, alongside cur-rent Republic of Ireland International defender Séamus Coleman. Kelly moved to Scottish gi-ants Heart of Midlothian in June 2005, spend-ing three years there before returning home. He signed for Dundalk in 2009, staying for two seasons during which time he played UEFA Eu-ropa League football. He joined Galway United in 2011 but midway through that season ar-rived at Limerick, where he remained until July 2014. After a 12-month absence spent at Der-ry City he returned to Shannonside this sum-mer. Shaun was a member of our 2012 First Division title-winning squad.

1) Favourite car?Range Rover.

2) Favourite sports person (outside football)?Brian O’Driscoll.

3) Favourite football analyst / commentator?Gary Neville.

4) Favourite personal football memory?As good as it was winning the First Division I think getting off bottom on Friday night was my favourite because of the position we were in!

5) Favourite movie?Shawshank Redemption.

6) Favourite band?The Wolfe Tones.

7) Favourite actor / actress?Denzel Washington.

8) Favourite goal (all-time)?Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s winner in the Cham-pions League final for Manchester United in 1999.

9) Favourite TV programme?

Suits, because I’m watching it at the minute!

10) Favourite cheat meal?Chinese.

11) Favourite sport (outside football)?Gaelic Football.

12) Favourite footballer?Messi.

13) Favourite opposition League of Ireland player?There are a few but I’ll go for my fellow Donegal man Barry McNamee!!

14) Favourite holiday destination?New York.

15) Favourite dessert?Cheesecake.

FIFTEEN FAVOURITES

1716 LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS

hen your weekly wage de-pends on what you write about football, you typically become cold to it. It’s just a

job – a bit of business. I take football very seriously of course, I just don’t get as emotionally involved as I once did. When Shamrock Rovers had a penalty to make it 2-2, Mike Aherne and Keith Wallace told me I’d gone so pale that they thought I was going to collapse.

It had been a fairly hectic week. I’d been in Cork, Dublin and made the commute to Sligo full of expectation. I felt the situ-ation worked out well for Limerick. Due to this, I didn’t anticipate too much of a scare because Drogheda had been the

Wpoorest side in the league for a number of months.

The implosion of the Premier League – a money-led dy-namic that saw the ‘best league in the world’ collapse into nothing more than a game of billionaires had me slightly disillusioned with top-level football. I’m a Birmingham fan of course, so there’s not much fear of that interfering with my own football club any time soon – but the point re-mains.

We, as a nation, pump millions into that league, when all it is, is 38 weeks of sides that cost hundreds of millions of pounds, sitting in shape and passing the ball around with no forward momentum in the hope that someone slips up for a split second so they can pounce. Now, for a football purist, that’s fine. If you’re really connected to your Pre-mier League club, then I’m delighted for you – but your passion for that or the associated entertainment value will never match what you were/could have been a part of on Friday night.

After we had set up in the Sligo press box, sidestepping some technical issues, it all became quite real. I went to Sligo with Mike Aherne. As animated as I am, I don’t think anyone that’s ever spoken to Mike or listened to his com-mentary could say they’re more passionate about Limer-ick soccer than he is. As we drove in the shadow of the Dartry Mountains, a chilling cold came over us. I’d written thousands of words about this whole ‘great escape’ ef-fort. We’d revelled in being able to take pride in the effort. But to the point where we passed through ‘Yeats Coun-try’, that’s all it had been – effort. I didn’t feel the claim made about the lack of pressure on Limerick was valid. If you didn’t think there was pressure on Limerick to win in Galway, you’re sadly mistaken. It wasn’t in their hands on Friday night though. Sometimes that air of uncertainty calms you, and sometimes it eats away at you from inside.

The cold winds of the west scarred. There was notable tension in the Showgrounds. The icy chill of an occasion can often make you taste the air. Sampling the environ-ment only adds to the reality of the whole situation.

Martin Russell cleverly worked on set-pieces in training – he knew Sligo’s concentration levels would probably not be at their peak. He knew. Shane Duggan knew. Shane Duggan scored. The icy chill had temporarily been diluted by the glowing warmth of hope in the away end as the pyrotechnics illuminated the dark Sligo sky.

As news broke through of Drogheda’s early lead, then the immediate response from Rovers before Mulvenna netted again for the Boynesiders – it was only ever going to be a night of raw emotion. Paul Caddis scored a 94th-minute equaliser two years ago for Birmingham to help them es-cape relegation on the final day of the Championship sea-son. That nearly broke me. I think Friday night broke me several times over. Just as you felt you could concentrate on the one game – bang. When Paul O’Conor headed home, I was confident – especially after Freddy had saved Corcoran’s tame effort from the spot. When Sander Puri pulled one back, I was not. Between then and just shy of the hour mark, I began to fear the worst for Limerick. Apart from the eternal opti-mism of Aherne and O’Donnell, there was an eerie silence in that press box. We were watching scores on an automat-

ed betting service. There were extended minutes where my eyes wouldn’t leave the screen to see if Rovers had moved towards the Drogheda goal. The equal-iser came. The floodgates opened. Eyes back on Limerick.

Faherty’s strike coincided well with the Drogheda collapse. That eased the nerves. Two goal swings in both games was fine. Sit back and relax. Enter Ruairí Keating. The last 120 seconds of that match will live with me forever. This football club was one Danny Ledwith strike away from undoing all the positivity they’d built up over the last few months after decades of failed attempts to reconnect a club to its city. Tomás Connolly blew his whistle. I wasn’t to feel the cold again that night, as the colour returned to my face.

CUNNEEN COLUMN

CUNNEEN COLUMN: THE COLD WINDS OF THE WEST

Andrew Cunneen reflects on a dramatic night in Limerick’s survival bid

THIS FOOTBALL CLUB WAS ONE DANNY LEDWITH STRIKE AWAY FROM UNDOING ALL THE POSITIVITY THEY’D BUILT UP OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS AFTER DECADES OF FAILED ATTEMPTS TO RECONNECT A CLUB TO ITS CITY.

1918 LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS16

hort Bio: Dean Clarke (born: 29 March 1993) is a forward who played his

schoolboy football with Greystones, Park Celtic and Saint Joseph’s Boys before moving to UCD. Having played with the successful Oatlands College team that dominated the Leinster and All-Ireland Schools Cups, Dean was handed his Premier Division debut aged 18, coming off the bench in a 3-0 home win over Dundalk in September 2011. He remained there until this season when he rejoined forces with Martin Russell

1) If you could have a room full of one any-thing what would it be (keep it clean)?All my ex-girl-friends. Imagine that – be a great atmosphere.

2) When you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up (apart from a footballer!)A WWE wrestler, like all kinds from that generation!

3) What is in your fridge right now?About 20 eggs, milk and some gone-off vegetables. A trip to Lidl is in order. 4) If you won the lotto what's the first thing you would buy?I’d sort Seán Harding out with a new set of legs; he passed his best before date a few years back.

5) What is your favourite holiday des-tination?Ibiza.

6) Your first footballing memory?Just because I watched a home video of it re-cently, my brother and I playing an intense game of 1v1 when I was about 5. I lost!

7) Your dream car?Aidan Price’s car.

8) Do you have any pre-match superstitions or rituals?I just relax as much as possible – not one to get too hyped or waste energy in the warm-up.

9) What is your favourite goal of all-time?The first one that comes to mind is Robbie

Keane’s equaliser against Germany in the 2002 World Cup.

10) If you were a superhero what would your name be?Sleeperman. Excellent ability of sleeping for long durations of time. Already have that power!

11) Ronaldo or Messi?Messi.

12) What was the last film you watched?

Endless Love. 13) Your favourite ice-cream flavour?Cookie dough.

14) If you were stranded on a desert island what three things would you want with you (apart from a boat!)?A mirror, factor 2 carrot oil and electric razor – might as well go out looking well :)

15) Tell us the worst joke you know?What’s hard and hairy on the outside, soft and wet on the inside, starts with a C and ends in a T and has a U and N in it? A C, C, COCONUT!

PLA

YER

Q&

A: F

UN

FIF

TEEN

DEA

N C

LAR

KE

S

PLAYER Q&A 17LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

Deep Clean SpecialistsBallyneety, Co Limerick. PH: 0872481840www.premier-icm.ie

A5 v Rovers.indd 17 15/05/2015 19:07:12

18

istoryFinn Harps was formed in 1954 as a junior club. The club’s name derives

from the river that runs through Ballybofey – the River Finn – and the traditional Irish symbol of the harp. They first came to national prominence by winning the 1968 FAI Junior Cup, which enabled them to compete in the FAI Intermediate Cup the following season. After they were knocked out of that competition, club directors Fran Fields and Patsy McGowan decided to apply to the League of Ireland for membership. The club was admit-ted into the senior ranks in May 1969 and played their first senior game against Shamrock Rovers on 17 August that year. Harps lost the game 10-2. After initial worries, they became a considerable force during the 70s. They won their first trophy with the Dublin City in 1971/72, then finishing as runners-up in the league the following season. In 1974, they captured the FAI Cup as they defeated Saint Patrick’s Athletic 3-1. After fourth and third-placed league finishes, they were again runners-up in 1975/76 as well as 1977/78. They also fell just short in successive League Cup finals in the mid-70s.

The 1980s saw a gradual decline of the club in terms of competing with the best in Ireland. An FAI Cup semi-final in 1981 and a League Cup final defeat by Waterford United in 1984/85 were the highlights of the decade. By 1985, they had been relegated to the newly-formed First Division. A se-ries of managerial changes were made over the following few years in an attempt to raise the club, but it was not until the early 90s that there were signs of improvement. Patsy McGowan took over as manager for the third time at the start of the 1992/93 season. Within the following three sea-sons they twice made it to the playoffs but were beaten, by Cobh Ramblers and then Athlone Town.

FOCUS ON FINN HARPS

H

Eventually, they won promotion in 1996. Under Char-lie McGeever, they immediately retained their Premier Division status, which they held onto until 2000/01. In 1998/99, they had finished fourth in the top flight, miss-ing out on Europe by one point. They also made it to the FAI Cup final but in a marathon decider they eventually fell to Bray Wanderers. They lost three successive play-offs before earning promotion under Felix Healy through the First Division title in 2004 – the club’s golden jubilee – finishing a point ahead of UCD. They were relegated in 2005 and have been down since, bar the 2008 season.

Club Legend: Brendan BradleyBrendan Bradley (born: 7 June 1950) is the all-time record goalscorer in the League of Ireland with 235 goals, 181 of which were scored for Finn Harps. Bradley signed for his hometown club Derry City at 16 but only made a handful of first-team appearances during his three seasons there, his route to senior football blocked by the form of Danny Hale. Bradley moved to Harps for their debut League of Ireland season in 1968/69 and he finished as top scorer on 18. In 1972 – after 58 goals at Harps – he moved to Lincoln City, returning to Harps less than a year later. 82 more goals followed by 1978, with a brief loan spell at Toronto Metros-Croatia in between. He then played for Athlone Town and Sligo Rovers, Harps again (41 goals) and finally Derry once more, retiring in 1986.

Founded: 1954 | Home Stadium: Finn Park | Honours: FAI Cup: 1 (1974)

OPPOSITION LOOK

minutes, but luckily for Limerick he stumbled over the ball at the key moment. Jim McLoughlin’s skill opened up a further opportunity but Kevin Fitzpatrick denied him with a smart save. Shortly afterwards, Fitzpatrick then came to Limerick’s rescue when he deflected a close-range shot by Logan out for a corner. All of those opportunities for Harps came in the first ten minutes before Limerick start-ed to come into the game slowly and in the 17th minute Tony Morris’ glancing header struck the upright.

While conditions in the first half were already terrible with the rain intensifying as the game progressed, the conditions got even worse at the start of the second half when a savage hailstorm did much to dampen the en-thusiasm of both the players and the large crowd. Hand’s team responded in a more positive manner to the con-ditions and created the bulk of the opportunities. Hand himself was very unlucky not to open the scoring after 50 minutes when he volleyed a Harps clearance into the cor-ner of the net only for his celebrations to be cut short by a linesman flagging for offside against Des Kennedy. Later, Hand missed a great opportunity to make it 1-0 when he headed Kennedy’s cross tamely into the hands of McDer-mott in the Harps goal.

Finally, the deadlock was broken in the 87th minute. Lim-erick right-back Mick Ryan, who had another impressive game, floated over a cross which was mis-kicked out of defence into the path of Johnny Walsh. His effort seemed to be blocked by Logan’s hand but, amid the penalty ap-peals, the ball broke loose to Morris who stepped in to hit home a goal that was to prove very important by the end of the season.

Limerick United: Fitzpatrick, Ryan, Mullaly, Storan, O’Mahony, Nolan, Hand, Walsh, Morris, Kennedy, Dug-gan.

Finn Harps: McDermott, Ferry, McDowell, Sheridan, Monagle, Duffy, Logan, C. McLoughlin, J. McLoughlin, Minnock, McGroarty.

ith closest rivals Dundalk dropping points at home to Waterford United, Limerick extended their lead at the

top of the table when they secured a late win against Finn Harps at the Mar-kets Field. This result reinforced the be-lief that Eoin Hand’s team had all the qualities to bring the league title back to Limerick after a gap of 20 years, even if on this occasion the quality required was the ability to grind out a fortu-nate late victory. Limerick had already defeated Bohemians 1-0 with a late goal at the Markets Field and this time Harps thought they had done enough to secure a hard-fought point, before a late rally finally broke the deadlock.

Limerick supporters attending the match were disappointed beforehand to learn that former Ireland interna-tional Jimmy Dunne was not going to make an expected debut having trained all week. He departed Ireland before the match. The supporters were also confused when both teams entered the pitch for the expected 2.45pm kick-off time but referee John Carpenter stayed inside for a further ten minutes to allow late-coming supporters more time to see the action – a decision that almost backfired badly as weather con-ditions deteriorated badly and the light faded rapidly.

The first half was dominated by Harps who were unlucky not to lead at the break. Eddie McGroarty had the first opportunity for the visitors when he was sent clear by Joe Logan after five

W

CLASSIC MATCH: MORRIS BREAKS HEARTS OF HARPS

4 November 1979: Shannonsiders conjure up crucial late winner

CLASSIC MATCH14

Founded: 1984Home Stadium: Turner’s Cross

Honours: League of Ireland Champions: 2 (1992/93, 2005), First Division: 1 (2011), FAI Cup: 2 (1998, 2007), League Cup: 3 (1987/88, 1994/95, 1998/99), Setanta Sports Cup: 1 (2008)

ster Senior League side Wembley. His bow came in the League Cup against Kilkenny City, and from there he never looked back. Over the next 15 seasons, he made a club record number of appearances (455) and scored a joint-record 129 goals. In November 2013 he was ap-pointed first-team manager and led the Leesiders to an impressive second-placed finish in his debut season.

Key Player: Gavan HolohanKilkenny-born midfielder Gavan Holohan (born: 15 December 1991) played with local club Evergreen and then Dublin side Cherry Orchard where he showed ex-ceptional promise. Holohan got his break with Hull City in 2008. He was named their Youth Player of the Year in 2008/09 and was awarded the captaincy for the fol-lowing season. He went on to skipper the squad to the Youth League title in May 2010. He signed a profession-al contract shortly after. He remained with the Tigers until 2012, during which time he featured on the bench for the first team. Following trials with Carlisle United and Hibernian, he switched to Alfreton Town. The for-mer Republic of Ireland underage international joined Drogheda United in August 2013. In his first full sea-son last year his impressive performances earned him a move to Cork City and again he has caught the eye despite starting just four league games so far this term.

H

FOCUS ON CORK CITY

CORK CITY focus

istory: Cork City were elected to the League of Ireland in 1984, ending a two-year gap of senior football on Leeside.

Their second season saw them avoid relegation only on goal difference. In1986, they moved from Flower Lodge to Turner’s Cross and they eventually ended a 19-month wait for a home win when beat-ing Sligo Rovers 3-2 – John Caulfield hit a first hat-trick that day. In October 1987 they won the League Cup under former Ireland striker Eamon O’Keefe as they collected their first piece of national silver-ware. In 1989, they lost their first FAI Cup final to treble-winning Derry City. They lost the 1990/91 League Championship on the final day at home to Dundalk but they did claim the title in 1993 after an extended playoff series was forced to decide its destination, Cork seeing off Shelbourne and Bohe-mians. In 1998, they won the FAI Cup for the first time, with further League Cups coming either side. The mid-2000s saw them enjoy more success as they collected another league (2005) and FAI Cup (2007) as well as the Setanta Sports Cup (2008). Off-field difficulties led to the birth of Cork City FORAS Co-op in 2010. Having found themselves in the First Division, they won that title in 2011 to return to the top flight. After two steady seasons back up, last season they took Dundalk all the way but again fell short on the final day.

Manager: John CaulfieldNew York-born Caulfield (born: 11 October 1964) grew up in Roscommon and played Gaelic football for the county’s minor team. He attended school in Summerhill, Sligo and went on to third-level edu-cation in Athlone. While there, he joined Athlone Town in the mid-1980s. He made his League of Ire-land debut from the bench against Home Farm in October 1985. He soon moved to Cork for work and the following year he joined Cork City from Mun-

14 15LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

A5 v Rovers.indd 15 15/05/2015 19:05:20

2120 LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS

ocal lad Shane Tracy admits that he could not have fore-seen the rise of Limerick un-til the arrival of Chairman

Pat O’Sullivan, with the hometown de-fender recalling the dark days, just six short years ago, when it appeared that the end of senior football in the city was nigh.

Fast forward to now and the club is dreaming of living the glory years again, the era of Hand, O’Mahony and Fitzpat-rick that Tracy and those of his genera-tion grew up on stories of. Now, having lost much of that generation of support, the good days appear to be back, with Tracy finding it hard to believe the lift that the return to the Markets Field has given the Shannonsiders. ‘The spiritual home of Limerick football’ promised everything, with the folk of old vowing to return should the famous stadium ever reopen. In June, it finally did, after 31 years. And just five months later, the Blues are the talk of not just the city but the country, and beyond. The first three games back in Garryowen all ended in defeat, the last of that sequence against Galway United in early July seemingly putting the final nail in Limerick’s cof-fin. There was no way back. The win-less start to the season extended to 21 games, into August, before the ghost of Harry Houdini breezed in and brought us on a journey which has provided un-forgettable memories. From derailing Cork City’s title challenge at Turner’s Cross – the moment Tracy says it all be-came real – to the unimaginable drama that unfolded in Sligo last Friday night, the past 13 weeks have captured the imagination of all ages.

Rewind almost eight years to when Tra-cy first arrived at the club and this rise, too, was only a distant dream. “Not at that time, no,” Shane tells Into The Blue,

L

THE BIG INTERVIEW

asked if he could have predicted such a journey. “It was only when Pat came in, really. You could see the differ-ence, with the players that were coming in basically every transfer window. The calibre of players rose. As the years

went on we could see it building and building and building. But when I first signed, there was no sign of that. I remember we were told going away on holiday that the club could be gone when we come back because they were in debt. I remember getting a text

saying that the club had gone – they had a week to get the money in. We had been away for the midseason break. They were holding a last-ditch meeting and then Pat ended up turning up at the meeting. All of a sudden, the club takes off, he wipes the debt clean and the rest is history. That’s kind of how funny it went. You could see the money he kept putting in; he put more and more every year. It took off then once we got up.

“The Markets Field is extremely impor-tant to it all. To be honest, I didn’t be-lieve there could be such a big support. I remember speaking to people and say-ing ‘what is the difference going to be in the Markets Field; why all of a sud-den is that going to attract people, why can’t they just come and support us al-ready?’. But for some reason it has. You see the difference in the crowds – there are 2,000 or 2,500 people and every-body is behind you. I think it has been absolutely enormous in the change of support for the club. I had heard the old stories that every Sunday you basically had your dinner and then it was down to the Markets Field, where there would be 10-15,000 people there. There were some incredible games that you would hear about. Even now, we’re still hear-ing stories from people coming in. You can see that it does mean a lot to peo-

“I REMEMBER WE WERE TOLD GOING AWAY ON HOLI-DAY THAT THE CLUB COULD BE GONE WHEN WE COME BACK. THEY WERE HOLD-ING A LAST-DITCH MEETING AND THEN PAT ENDED UP TURNING UP. ALL OF A SUD-DEN, THE CLUB TAKES OFF, HE WIPES THE DEBT CLEAN AND THE REST IS HISTORY”

THE

BIG

INTE

RV

IEW

SH

AN

E T

RA

CY

2322 LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS

24 THE BIG INTERVIEW

ple and people can relate to it. It’s great that it’s taking off.”

This season had been a nightmare, af-ter Limerick earned just six points from a possible 66. They stared down the barrel of relegation. And Tracy did not see any way out. “No, definitely not. 100 percent not,” he admits. “I didn’t think it would happen, being honest. It has been incredible, from being com-pletely out of it with nobody giving us a chance and then all of a sudden we started winning a couple of games. I re-member going down to Turner’s Cross and people didn’t give us a hope down there. I think that was the turning point; when we beat them there we thought ‘hold on a second, we can actually beat the bigger teams and we can go on a bit of a run here’. But then losing at home to Derry and Rovers when we had a chance to get off the bottom gave us a bit of a setback. But the performance against Sligo was excellent again. Realis-tically, you don’t expect any team down the bottom to go to Rovers or any of the big teams and win – it’s going to be a shock. When we went down to Cork and beat them, it was a shock – it’s similar to Drogheda going to Rovers where ob-viously Rovers are expected to win. You can never take it for granted; anything can happen on the day in football. But when you come in at half-time, you’re obviously hoping and wishing that Rov-ers are winning. That wasn’t the case. But we were 2-1 up and we had to con-centrate on ourselves and hope that Rovers could get the job done. When we played them last week, you could see the difference; they brought on a couple of players, they had that qual-ity to bring on, and we knew they were a good side. It was a case of worrying about ourselves and that’s what we did. We showed that by getting the next goal in the game to make it 3-1 and then ob-

viously you could hear our supporters getting excited and cheering so you were hoping Rovers were after getting a goal back. Thankfully, it all worked out.”

Tracy has been stunned by the level of support which the team has received in recent months and is delighted to see a unity there. “The supporters have been unbelieva-ble,” Shane says. “I didn’t think we could have that kind of support, just from the years gone by in Limerick. I’ve been saying to people, I’ve never experienced anything like it since I’ve been here, nearly eight seasons, even winning the First Division. It gave you Goosebumps walking off that pitch after we won against Bohs and Sligo, and games like that. It’s some turnaround. It was great to see, the first thing for me, was that all the supporters were together,

whereas before it was all sections here and there. Now, I think everybody is binding together. It’s a real support now.” But the 27-year-old knows Limerick must build on this opportunity and ensure they overcome Finn Harps in this week’s playoff final. “We’ve spoken about it our-selves,” he says. “Obviously, you’re going to enjoy last Fri-day night. It was more a relief for players than a celebra-tion, having been bottom of the table all season and on the brink of being relegated to getting a chance of getting out of it. I think the celebrations and the scenes after the game in Sligo were more of a relief and happiness that we actually have a chance of staying up now. We know that there is another job to do. Anything can happen in these two games. If we can approach this game the way

we approached the Sligo game and the second half of the season, I think we’ll give ourselves a very good chance.”

Tracy started out his career as “a speedy winger”, playing school-boy football for Wembley Rovers before making the big switch to Arsenal as a 15-year-old. “I was playing in the Under-17 Na-tional Cup and it was the quarter-finals against Cherry Orchard,” he recalls. “Arsenal had been watching me since the Kennedy Cup anyway but it went a bit quiet then. I scored a hat-trick in that match so they sent a few more scouts over then and my name went around Ireland a small bit. They watched me in a few games and invited me over for a trial. I went on trial to Leicester and Manchester City as well. But the thing was that I couldn’t go over there because I needed to wait another year due to my age. Once I

went to Arsenal on the trial, I was blown away, seeing everyone there – it was an easy decision. My sister was there so I was living with her; she had been there about seven years already. She was my guardian. It was a three-year YTS. They asked me to go over a year early so I said I would, with my sister being there. It was some experience. I was a big Arsenal fan growing up as a child. I re-member when I was on trial, walking in and you’re training at the same training ground – the first team train on one side of the building and the youth team are on the other side. There’s only one gym so the first team is beside you basically. I had watched them growing up. You’re seeing players there that you’re watch-ing every week. I never officially got in-vited to go over and train with the first team. There might be occasions where the team might be away on Champions League duty; there was one time where Van Persie was suspended, Fábregas and Ashley Cole were coming back from injury and Bergkamp didn’t travel, so there was a whole load of them. We did have a couple of sessions with players like that, but it wasn’t a case of Wenger saying to come over to train with us – it was just that we would all join together because there was only about 20 peo-ple in.

“It was incredible at the start and it was like that basically the whole time

“THE FIRST THING FOR ME WAS THAT ALL THE SUPPORTERS WERE TO-GETHER, WHEREAS BEFORE IT WAS ALL SECTIONS HERE AND THERE. NOW, I THINK EVERYBODY IS BINDING TOGETHER. IT’S A REAL SUPPORT NOW”

“I HAD HEARD THE OLD STORIES

THAT EVERY SUNDAY YOU BASICAL-

LY HAD YOUR DINNER AND THEN IT

WAS DOWN TO THE MARKETS FIELD,

WHERE THERE WOULD BE 10-15,000

PEOPLE THERE. EVEN NOW, WE’RE

STILL HEARING STORIES FROM

PEOPLE COMING IN. YOU CAN SEE

THAT IT DOES MEAN A LOT TO PEO-

PLE AND PEOPLE CAN RELATE TO IT”

THE

BIG

INTE

RV

IEW

SH

AN

E T

RA

CY

2524 LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS

through. It was a great place to learn football; they constantly want you to play ball all the time and it was a great set-up. On the other side of it then, it was always going to be tough to make it there. I just felt coming towards the end of it that they put a lot of money into bringing in a lot of foreign players, and it just felt like it was a case that it wasn’t going to go any further for me there so I thought it might be best to quit while I was ahead. I came home. When you’re that young as well it’s kind of hard – you don’t really know what the right deci-sion is but at that time I felt it was to come home. Looking back now, in hind-sight, what I felt I could have done was maybe stay there and try to go for an-other club. Coming back, you might get the chance of getting over again, but it’s hard when you get back – you kind of fall off the radar a small bit. That was the only kind of thing I would say about it, staying over there with it. But the ex-perience in around Arsenal was incred-ible. I wouldn’t have changed it for any-thing, even though it was such a big club to go over to.”

But, would ‘Trace’ advise kids to go over at the age he did or wait and gain experi-ence in the League of Ireland first? “For me, it’s a difficult thing to say,” he ad-mits. “It’s easy for me, because it didn’t work out for me, to turn around and go players should stay here and shouldn’t go over until they get their Leaving Cert – that they shouldn’t go until they’re 18 or 19. But you see other lads that go over at 15 and 16 that do go on and make Premiership or Championship ca-reers. In my situation I came home. With the Academies over there you’re getting a better opportunity to progress. Then you look at other players, like McClean and Coleman, who don’t go over until their 20s and they make it. I think it’s a grey area. What I do feel is more could

be done for players at 15 and 16 going over there. But it has to come from back here. I was going over there and it’s a totally different world. I wouldn’t necessarily say play-ers shouldn’t go but I think they should be prepared more for going over, more than anything, because it’s a totally different environment. Back here you’re playing with your mates having a laugh and then all of a sudden you’re go-ing over there and there are boys willing to stab you in the back. It’s a business. That’s the harsh reality of it. Clubs will get rid of you in a heartbeat and you’re thinking ‘what’s going on’. I wouldn’t say players shouldn’t go, because you get the best development there. But players should be more aware of what it is like and got ready for it. Stephen Bradley did a piece on it recently saying the same thing. He was one who would have had a big contract. He went over

and didn’t know what way to take it.”

Tracy returned to Ireland and after rediscovering his love for the game signed for Galway in the summer of 2007. “At the time, my head was set on coming home; I was kind of homesick,” he says. “It was a decision I thought was right at the time. I’d say within two weeks of being home, I re-member getting up one morning thinking nothing has re-ally changed in the last nearly three years. For me, it was just a case of coming back home and trying to enjoy foot-ball again because I hadn’t really enjoyed it for the previ-ous six months. I signed back for Wembley and tried to enjoy it again. After the first couple of months I could see I wanted more than that and luckily enough I got an offer off Galway and got into League of Ireland.” Limerick are certainly glad he did.

“BACK HERE YOU’RE PLAYING WITH YOUR MATES HAVING A LAUGH AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU’RE GOING OVER THERE AND THERE ARE BOYS WILLING TO STAB YOU IN THE BACK. IT’S A BUSINESS. THAT’S THE HARSH REALITY OF IT”

THE

BIG

INTE

RV

IEW

SH

AN

E T

RA

CY

THE BIG INTERVIEW 2726 LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS

#FanPoweredFootball

#FanPoweredFootball

In association with

Play on a weekly basis:Pick a game - Pick your best 5 playersWinners EVERY week, with One Grand Prize!

Download Now!

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Who scored Limerick’s opening goal in Sligo on Friday night?

In the 2011/12 English Premier League, who finished bottom?

In what year did Lionel Messi make his debut for Argentina?

True or false; Messi was sent-off within two minutes of coming on for that debut against Hungary?

What player was sent-off for Southampton in yesterday’s English Premier League clash with Bournemouth?

Also at the weekend, who scored Barcelona’s second goal against Getafe?

Where in the world would you find Zimbru Stadium?

Shamrock Rovers midfielder Brandon Miele was on the books of what English Premier League club?

Joe Kinnear played with Tottenham Hotspur and which other English club during his senior career?

In what city was the 1989/90 UEFA European Cup final held?

Where was Republic of Ireland ‘keeper Darren Randolph born?

Who is Portugal’s most-capped player?

Who scored Dundalk’s opening goal in their 4-0 win over Bray Wanderers last Friday?

In what year did Finn Harps win the FAI Cup?

How many Premier Division goals did Vinny Faherty score for Limerick this season?

HALF TIME QUIZ - TAKE 15Test Your Football Knowledge

Answers: 1) Shane Duggan. 2) Wolverhampton Wanderers. 3) 2005. 4) True. 5) Victor Wanyama. 6) Neymar. 7) Moldova. 8) Newcastle United. 9) Brighton & Hove Albion. 10) Vienna. 11) Bray. 12) Luís Figo. 13) Ciarán Kilduff. 14) 1974. 15) 12.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

QUIZ20

P L AY E R S P O N S O R S

1

Conor O’Donnell (Gk)

Aidan Price Paul O’Conor

Seán Harding

Ian Turner

Robbie Williams

5 6

2

7

3

Shane Duggan (C) Dean Clarke Vinny Faherty

8 9 10

Darragh Rainsford Seán Russell Tony Whitehead

12 14 15

Shane Costelloe Val Feeney Ross Mann

17 18 19

Gavin Dillon Kieran Hanlon Colm Murphy

21 22 23

Paudie O’Connor Seán McSweeney Conor Maguire

24 25 26

Killian Brouder Jason Hughes Tommy Holland (GK)

27 29 30

SHANE DUGGAN:

Nagle’s Eurospar, Main

Street, Bruff.

SEÁN MCSWEENEY:

Foynes Pharmacy,

Main Street, Foynes,

Limerick, (069) 65572.

PAUDIE O’CONNOR:

O'Sullivan's Centra

Clarina / Caherconlish.

JASON HUGHES

The William Street

Barbershop

No2 Upper William Street

Tel: 061-468663

LIMERICK FC PLAYER PROFILES 21LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

GLASS - WINDOWS - DOORSSALES - REPAIR - SERVICE

Energy Rated Windows & DoorsConservatories & Sunrooms

Single - Double - Triple GlazingToughened & Laminated Glass

Stove GlassResin & Leaded GlassInternal Door Glass

Mirrors

GLASSTECH, ROSMADDA BUSINESS PARK,BALLYSIMON ROAD, LIMERICK

TEL: 061-439949 BRIAN: 087-1218947FAX: 061-437956 MIKE: 087-2496011

Email: glasstechlk@gmail.com

A5 v Rovers.indd 21 15/05/2015 19:07:21

2928 LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS

CLASSIC MATCH22 in photos: limerick vrs galway utd22

ason Byrne struck an 84th-minute winner as Lim-erick were edged out 2-1 by Bohemians at Dalymount

Park last Friday night, where Dean Clarke finally broke his league duck.

Bohemians could have been ahead in the opening seconds as Roberto Lopes flashed a header just over, but they did not have to wait long for the opener as Derek Prendergast found the net before the quarter-hour. Lim-erick were level early in the second half when Shane Tracy’s corner was not dealt with and the ball fell kind-ly to Clarke in the six-yard box and he pounced for his first Premier Division goal of the season. Having come alive late on, Bohs eventually found a way through when substitute Byrne turned smartly in the box and fired low below Conor O’Donnell, as the Gypsies con-tinued their impressive start to the season.

Manager Martin Russell made one change to the team that lined out in Sligo the previous weekend and it was enforced as versatile midfielder Seán Russell missed out through illness and was replaced by Darragh Rainsford. Bohemians, for their part, showed three changes from their draw at home to Cork City on Bank Holiday Monday, as Adam Evans, Dean Kelly and Dave Mulcahy came in to replace Keith Buckley, Mark Griffin and Anto

Murphy. And it was the home side that went close inside the opening minute when Paddy Kavanagh’s right-wing cross found the head of Lopes and his ef-fort just cleared the crossbar. But, just as they were on the opening day of the season, Limerick were undone by a Bohs corner as the deadlock was broken on 12 minutes. Lorcan Fitzgerald’s out-swinging corner was met by Prendergast and the centre-half sent an un-stoppable header to the net.

Into the second half, Kelly’s pressure on O’Donnell almost paid off but luckily for Russell’s side the ball came back off the upright and was gathered. Then Limerick were level when Tracy’s corner was flicked goalwards by Paul O’Conor and cleared off the line by Fitzgerald. However, Prendergast could not complete the clearance and Clarke was on hand to finally open his league account from close range. Limerick were lifted by that but after Bohs introduced Byrne for the final quarter-hour they began to create real chances. Having seen his header denied by Darragh Rainsford’s clearance, it was again Evans that threatened as he broke in on the left of the box but he was denied well by O’Donnell. Then Griffin was left clear on goal but the former Dundalk man fired over, under pressure from Robbie Williams.

But Bohs did grab a winner six minutes from time when an Evans cross fell to Byrne and he remained cool to turn and strike a low shot beyond O’Donnell. Bohs could have extended their winning margin but Kavanagh fired wide and the ‘keeper denied Fitzgerald late on, but by then the Dubliners had done enough.

Limerick: Conor O’Donnell, Seán Harding (Jason Hughes 44), Pau-die O’Connor, Robbie Williams, Shane Tracy, Ian Turner, Shane Duggan ©, Paul O’Conor, Darragh Rainsford, Vinny Faherty (Kier-an Hanlon 80), Dean Clarke.

J

LEAGUE: GYPSIES SNATCH LATE WINNER IN DUBLIN

Limerick come undone after Byrne introduction

22 LEAGUE REVIEW 23LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

GENERAL MOTORFACTORS, NCT CAR PARTS, ACCESSORIES, SKF

INDUSTRIAL BALL BEARINGS, BELTS, CHAINS, RE-CONDITIONED ENGINE

PARTS, PLANT MACHINERY FILTERS, TURBOS, AGRI PARTS, TOOLS

AESCar partsGENERAL MOTORFACTORS, NCT CAR PARTS, ACCESSORIES

Monaclino Ind. Est., Ballysimon Road | 061-316988

O’NEILL & COSOLICITORS

+353 (0) 61 416469 | nfo@oneillsolicitors |25 Glentworth Street Limerick

A5 v Rovers.indd 23 15/05/2015 19:07:24

31LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS30

uch like the earlier match during the 1979/80 season, this proved to be a major turning point for Limerick United as they took another giant

step towards the title. This incredible come-back at Ballybofey, coupled with Dundalk’s 2-0 defeat by Waterford United at Kilcohan Park, left Eoin Hand’s side three points clear. Limerick had already produced some dramat-ic late shows during this campaign, but noth-ing as dramatic as this. Limerick were dead and buried in this match when Hand made a brave tactical decision with just 20 minutes left to move to three at the back – replacing full-back Mick Ryan with striker Des Kennedy – and go for all-out attack to get back into the match.

Only a couple of minutes later, Limerick’s fightback began. Captain Joe O’Mahony, one of the defensive trio, played a great ball into the Harps box that was dummied by Kennedy allowing the ball to fall kindly into the path of Ger Duggan who shot to the net. After 79 min-utes, Kennedy was the creator when he played a deft through-ball for John Delamere who went through on goal. His run was brought to an abrupt end by Harps ‘keeper Charlie McDermott but after they collided the ball squirmed free for Tony Morris who squared it for Kennedy who had time and space to pick his spot and make it 2-2.

By now, Limerick were rampant. They came close to snatching the lead after 85 minutes when Tony Meaney’s cross was nodded down by Kennedy to Morris who forced McDermott into a fantastic save. However, Limerick were not to be denied. Johnny Walsh put Hand clear on the right wing. Hand cut into the box and aimed his shot at the far post but his ef-fort was going wide until the unfortunate Mick Ferry deflected the ball into his own net for a dramatic last-gasp winner for Limerick.

M

It should have been all so different. The home side didn’t have to do much to go into a fourth-minute lead when Kevin Fitzpatrick untypically dropped a John Duffy free-kick and Declan McDowell was on the spot to accept the gift and make it 1-0. This shook Limerick and Harps could have been further ahead before they extended their lead in the 15th minute. Ferry’s corner was not properly cleared and Joe Logan smashed home a great right-footed effort from the edge of the box.

Limerick showed signs of their eventual comeback when Morris brilliantly hooked a pass from Walsh over McDermott’s head only to the see the ball come back off the bar. The in-rushing Delamere somehow misjudged the rebound and found himself in the back of the net making forlorn appeals that the ball had crossed the line when, in fact, the backspin on the ball had taken it away from the goal. In the sec-ond half, before Hand’s tactical change, Harps had further chances from McGroarty and McElwaine but Fitzpatrick made up for his early error with some fine saves.

Finn Harps: McDermott, Ferry, McDowell, Sheridan, Monagle, Logan, McElwaine, Duffy, McCool, Mc-Groarty, Minnock.

Limerick United: Fitzpatrick, Nolan, Storan, O’Mahony, Ryan, Hand, Meaney, Walsh, Morris, De-lamere, Duggan. Subs: Kennedy for Ryan.

CLASSIC MATCH: DUGGAN BEGINS MEMORABLE FIGHT-BACK

24 February 1980: Limerick stun Harps with late, late show in Donegal

self, but think about the concept of a home and how it encapsulates all the emotions, feelings and good times you had there. The nomadic nature of this club cost itself. That’s not their fault. Now, they’re settled. They’re ready to build new memories as well as honouring the old ones.

The Football Club is being spoken about in the same breath as the GAA, the rugby and the Premiership. The transformation on the pitch has been incredible, but it goes hand-in-hand with the levels of enthusiasm that come from the stands. This 12th man notion is accurate, but goodwill lasts forever once it’s treated fairly. At the moment, Martin Russell and his players are showing com-mitment and flair. This city responds to that.

As a Sporting Limerick flag hangs to the right of the North Stand, the events unfolding in front of it are becoming a part of exactly what the logo says – sporting Limerick. No longer do we have a city that supports a rugby team, a GAA team and a small niche that follow senior soccer. Now the club has cemented itself in the hearts of the pub-lic once again. It’s not an uphill battle anymore, nor is it a mammoth struggle to entice people in the gate. It’s a staple in Limerick society. Three decades of pain. I’m not sure that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it does make the heart grow stronger.

n my daily commute to town, I’d always stop by Mulgrave Street to peek in the gate to catch a glimpse

at the venue my father spoke so well of for so many years. I couldn’t possible comprehend what exactly he meant when he went into detail about the at-mosphere. The second I walked into the ground on opening day, I could feel it. I think the whole city now feels it too. The green and white of Limerick GAA often colours in O’Connell Street during the summer. The red of Munster Rugby has nearly become a secondary city colour at this rate. But for years, the disconnect between Limerick and its senior soccer representative has been notable. So many meetings and discus-sions have taken place to try and deci-pher just why the club couldn’t reach the heights all the PowerPoint pres-entations and focus groups suggested it could. The average age of a sup-porter attending games around 2007 was probably in the mid-twenties. The launch of the ‘37’ brand was well promoted and it was fashionable for a while. But given the nature of people in their late teens/early twenties, they’re busy and their interests change by the day. The club needed to connect to its history – to the people that saw Lim-erick FC during its peak years so they could share memories and relate to the modern setup. Then it clicked it with me.

My father is 67 years of age. When he speaks about Limerick, he speaks about the Markets Field. Forget the venue it-

O

MARKETS FIELD: LIMERICK WINNING HEARTS AGAIN

Club “a staple in Limerick society”, says Andrew Cunneen

24 in photos: MSC FINAL 201524 25LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

CHAMPION

PARK’S YARDST. PATRICK’S ROAD

LIMERICK

Telephone: 061 313 977Mobile: 087 241 4596

A5 v Rovers.indd 25 15/05/2015 19:07:40

MARKETS FIELD: LIMERICK WINNING HEARTS AGAIN 3332 LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS

BEST (TEAM) PERFORMANCE: I think this will probably go to the St. Pat’s performance at home. Their form since hasn’t covered them in glory, but they’re a group of very talented players. Lim-erick only conceded to a wonder goal that night – they broke with pace and won the midfield battle for 90 minutes against a PFAI Team of the Year member in James Chambers.

BEST (PLAYER) PERFORMANCE: Shane Duggan in Sligo on Friday. I’ve watched the game back about ten times trying to dis-sect it and he’s eve-rywhere. This could have easily gone to Paul O’Conor for his performance against Bohs in the 4-3 win, but on a night where Limerick really needed a leader, their captain shone through with a great strike and a work-rate like none I’ve ever seen be-fore.

WORST TEAM PERFORMANCE: I actu-ally missed the season opener at home to Bohs and most tell me that’s a shoo-in for this award. Since I can’t com-ment, I’ll go with the 4-2 loss at home to Galway. Granted they had a stronger side out that day than they had for the remainder of the season, but Limer-ick were never at the races. To make it worse, the hurlers lost in Thurles too. Dark weekend.

BEST GOAL: Seán Russell’s against Bohs.

MEMORIES: ROLLERCOASTER 2015

I’m not even humouring other contenders.

BEST MOMENT: I’m hoping it’s yet to come, but seeing the players and the fans together at the end of the Sligo game was quite something. The players had been slated (by me a few times) throughout the season and the core support in Sligo had stuck with them throughout the season. To see them both come out the other end like that is the rea-son people love sport.

WORST MOMENT: I think the loss to Derry was up there. This wasn’t because it was particularly poor on the

pitch, but probably due to the fact it was the biggest crowd of the year with a chance to

get off the bottom. Now, because of oth-er results that night, I’m not sure it was completely over for Limerick in people’s minds – but a lot of people expected them to win that game.

BEST OPPOSITION (TEAM) PERFOR-MANCE: Dundalk a few weeks ago. Lim-

erick put in a defensive performance for the ages for 76 minutes and still couldn’t

deal with the relentless pressure that the best team I’ve ever seen play in this league put them un-

der.

BEST OPPOSITION (PLAYER) PERFORMANCE: Conor Mc-Cormack (Derry City). I’ve given players higher grades in the Sun, but thinking back, McCormack could not have done his job any better than he did. He dictated tempo and won the game in front of a partisan home crowd. Nerves of steel.

TURNING POINT: Turner’s Cross. You don’t go there and win. You just don’t. Only Dundalk had won there at that point in the last two years.

FUNNIEST MOMENT: Pat walking into the dressing-room post-Sligo. We can’t print what he said for obvious rea-sons.

MEMORIES: THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF ROLLERCOASTER 2015

Andrew Cunneen looks back on a season that will live forever

3534 LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS

Limerick FC wish to thank all of our sponsors during the 2015 season.Your continued support is greatly appreciated by all and we look forward to building on our relationship in the coming months and years.

We are now inviting sponsorship for the 2016 season. If interested, call Eddie on 085-2792373.

Limerick FC - Your Players, Your City, Your Home

e’re all well used to life in Limer-ick. If you’re not in your local for a few pints craving a Chicken Hut or a Donkey Ford’s, you’re probably

not breathing. But Limerick have a number of players that had to grow used to life on Shannonside. One of those is midfielder Paul O’Conor. O’Conor spent seasons at the Bit O’ Red and at United Park before joining the Shannonsiders, and took time to compare the lifestyles of playing for all three.

Sligo players live in Riverstown – a grouped accommodation setup in a small village about 20 kilometres from Sligo town centre. O’Conor enjoyed life there – making 28 league appear-ances for Rovers; scoring five goals in the process. They finished fifth. It wasn’t all rosy, though.

He explained: “Sligo would have been very intense probably because the whole town is based around the football club. Everybody is either talking about it, knows about it or knows you, so it’s very intense. They love their football. It’s a place where, if you’re winning, they treat you brilliantly. Sometimes, when you’re losing, it can be a tough place to be. I found that last year, and I think the lads found it this year too.

“You’re more involved in the town here. At Riverstown, you’re about half-an-hour away. You’re isolated and there’s nothing around you. When things don’t go well, you get in-side your own head and you have too much time to think. It’s just you on your own. It’s hard to deal with sometimes but here there’s so much more around you. You’re so close to town so you can get out and clear your head.”

The year before signing for Sligo, O’Conor was

W

at Drogheda. Living in Dublin, the trip to Drogheda wasn’t a trek nor was it somewhere he was unfamil-iar with. That was convenient, but didn’t allow for as much interaction with the surroundings given the ease of a return trip home before and after games and training. The 28-year-old had a bizarre year at United, where, despite scoring a goal in an FAI Cup final - ironically against Sligo - he lost all three Cup fi-nals he played in that year. O’Conor played 30 league games for Mick Cooke in the 2013 season.

He said: “Drogheda would have been a bit different. There are a lot of players travelling from Dublin. That was the case when I was there. You wouldn’t get that kind of community vibe about it, but that year was a mixed year. We got to three Cup finals, but obviously didn’t win any. Even still, it was a year I re-ally enjoyed.” Nobody knows what the future holds, but O’Conor knows what he’d like for next season. He said: “I’d love to stay. It took a little while getting used to it, as it does – but it’s a place I’ve come to enjoy a lot. It’s a very good dressing-room, but so much rides on if we stay up.”

INTERVIEW: “IT’S A PLACE I’VE COME TO ENJOY” – O’CONOR

Andrew Cunneen speaks to Paul O’Conor about life by the Shannon

27LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY26

hane Tracy’s 90th-minute penalty secured Limerick their 13th Munster Senior Cup as they deservedly over-

came Avondale United 1-0 at Cloun-reask, Askeaton last Sunday afternoon.

The first shot in anger came inside five minutes when Tracy found space and from 25-yards he drove narrowly over the bar. Then a fine right-wing cross from Shane Costelloe found the head of Kier-an Hanlon but he could not get enough power on it to direct it goalwards. Mo-ments later, the striker did get power behind a shot but Daniel O’Leary did well to push it away. Then the Avondale No1 produced heroics to get down and palm clear another Tracy effort from dis-tance. At the other end, the visitors had their first shot on 14 minutes when Karl Caulfield fired wildly over from a prom-ising position on the edge of the box. On 18 minutes, Costelloe provided an-other superb cross, this time for Seán McSweeney who saw his header find the side-netting. Midway through the half, Hanlon got in behind for the hosts but he delayed his shot which allowed Avondale to clear. Then a McSweeney cross eventually fell to Jason Hughes in the box, the midfielder taking a touch before firing a low effort that O’Leary somehow got down to turn away. Then Tracy again shot over, as Limerick made all of the running. On 25 minutes, McSweeney and Ross Mann combined to set up Hanlon but his strike was saved

by the feet of the ‘keeper.

Before the break, there were further chances as Hughes saw a shot gathered following a corner and Costelloe’s ambitious effort from range just missed the top corner. Then Robbie Williams saw a shot blocked in the box after an Ian Turner corner. It was Turner who then had the next effort at beating O’Leary as he stood up to strike a free-kick from the left angle of the area but the ‘keeper again proved equal to the task, getting down brilliantly to push it behind. Either side of the hour, Avondale went close. First, Simon Holland had a shot blocked just wide and then from a corner they had a header cleared off the line by Hughes.

On 68 minutes, Avondale created another big chance as Holland found Caulfield in space in the box but as he pulled the trigger Tony Whitehead produced a brilliant block to deny him. On 78 minutes, McSwee-ney’s perfect pass was into the path of Mann and he burst in on the right of the box only to be denied by O’Leary. From Tracy’s corner, Mann headed wide. Then a pinpoint cross from Costelloe was onto the head of Paul O’Conor but from close in he put it off target. That looked to be the last chance of normal time, until right on the 90 when Mann was taken down in the box and up stood Tracy to coolly convert as Limerick finally found a way past O’Leary.

Limerick: Conor O’Donnell, Shane Costelloe, Tony Whitehead, Robbie Williams ©, Shane Tracy, Ross Mann, Jason Hughes, Val Feeney (Paul O’Conor 63), Ian Turner (Darragh Rainsford 63), Seán McSweeney, Kieran Hanlon. Goal: S Tracy (90 pen). Unused Subs: Tommy Holland (GK), Paudie O’Connor, Shane Dug-gan, Vinny Faherty, Colm Murphy.

MSC FINAL: TRACY’S LATE PENALTY SEALS TROPHY

O’Leary finally beaten after brave display

S

26 MSC FINAL REPORT

A5 v Rovers.indd 27 15/05/2015 19:08:03

3736 LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPSPAUL O’CONOR INTERVIEW

MATCH REPORT: SLIGO ROVERS 2-3 LIMERICK18

would have sent Limerick down. On 39 minutes, Hall pro-duced wonders to turn Sander Puri’s strike around the post. But with the very last kick of the half, just into the sole minute of injury-time, Puri did score after the ball fell kindly to him at the back and from 12-yards he placed the ball in the bottom corner. Early in the second half, Keith Ward curled a 25-yard free-kick just past the upright, be-fore word filtered through that Rovers had equalised for a second time, from the spot. Two minutes later, it got better for Limerick when Faherty restored their two-goal cushion with a superb close-range finish. The tension never left the air as eyes remained focussed on Tallaght, and eventually Rovers hit the front for the first time on 75 minutes, extending that advantage to 4-2 eight minutes later.

In between those goals, Limerick survived a huge scare as they cleared off the line following a dangerous corner, and with four minutes remaining Hall produced another crucial save to deny David Cawley. Still, there was time for late, late drama as Sligo reduced the score to 3-2 through substitute Ruairí Keating in the first minute of the three added, and right at the death they almost equalised but Danny Ledwith’s strike after a deep ball into the box flew wide. Limerick saw out the remaining minute comfortably and there were unforgettable scenes of joy at the final whistle with players and supporters.

Sligo Rovers: Richard Brush, Raffaele Cretaro, Alan Keane, Gavin Peers ©, Danny Ledwith, David Cawley, Keith Ward (Gary Armstrong 68), Jennison Myrie-Williams, Sander Puri, Morten Nielsen (Anthony Elding 68), Dinny Corcoran (Ruairí Keating 68). Unused Subs: Ryan Coulter (GK), Jake Dykes, Ross Taheny.

Limerick: Freddy Hall, Shaun Kelly, Patrick Kanyuka, Robbie Williams, Shane Tracy, Shane Duggan ©, Ian Turner, Paul O’Conor, Seán Rus-sell, Dean Clarke (Cyril Guedjé 88), Vinny Faherty (Ross Mann 83). Un-used Subs: Tommy Holland (GK), Darragh Rainsford, Tony Whitehead, Prince Agyemang, Paudie O’Connor.

Referee: Tom Connolly. Attendance: 1,652 (Official).

inny Faherty’s 12th league goal of the season was the moment that fired Limerick into this week’s SSE Airtricity

League Promotion / Relegation playoff final as they defeated Sligo Rovers 3-2 at The Showgrounds on a night of Fri-day frights.

The Superblues made a lightning start when Seán Russell’s short corner was played to Ian Turner who laid it into the path of captain Shane Duggan and his beautiful strike from just outside the ‘D’ found the bottom corner. On the quarter-hour, Limerick went close to a second when Turner’s free-kick from the left angle of the box went past Faherty and ‘keeper Richard Brush did well to get down and push it away. Within seconds, Sligo were awarded a penalty when Patrick Kanyuka clumsily challenged Dinny Corcoran in the box, but the former Bohemians man stood up and saw his low spot-kick stopped and held by Freddy Hall.

At the same time, there were two goals in two minutes at Tallaght Stadium as Shamrock Rovers and Drogheda United exchanged goals, heightening tension among the Limerick support. Then Rus-sell’s strike from 20-yards was pushed behind by Brush. On 27 minutes, Lim-erick doubled their advantage when Shane Tracy’s dipping strike came back off the bar but following in was Paul O’Conor who had two attempts and he made no mistake with the second from close in. Drogheda then took the lead once again in Dublin, a result which

V

LEAGUE: LIMERICK NET PLAYOFF PLACE AFTER FRIDAY FRIGHTS

Blues sneak into this week’s playoff after crazy night in Sligo

28 in photos: limerick vrs BOHEMIAN FC28 29LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

A5 v Rovers.indd 29 15/05/2015 19:08:23

3938 LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS

LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS 4130

imerick were knocked out of the Under-11 Division One Cup following a 3-0 de-

feat by Shannon Town at Corrib Drive last Monday evening, as they exited at the semi-final stage.

On their two previous meetings, the first ended in a walkover in favour of Shannon in early September and the second was a score-less draw in late January that was dominated by Limerick who were kept at bay by a bril-liant showing from the Shannon ‘keeper. This last-four tie started in the same vein as the last encounter ended, with Limerick putting the home team under pressure from the kick-off and creating a number of chances.

Limerick were on top for most of the first half, playing some brilliant pass-ing football, but they went into the break a goal down when a defensive mix-up ended with the ball in the net after a goalmouth scramble. In the second half, Shannon and Limerick both created opportunities but it was the hosts that scored again after a great save from Eugene Hurley fell to their forward to finish from 12-yards.

Shannon claimed their third when

Limerick were chasing a goal to try to get back into the game and the home side counterattacked and scored to make certain of their progress to the decid-er. But manager Robert Hogan was not too downbeat after the result, having been delighted with the “hard work” displayed in training all season and the “prog-ress” made by his players.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed to be knocked out,” Hogan told Into The Blue. “I’m disappointed

for the kids, but they’ll learn from this and grow. I asked them after the game if they

played well and they all thought that they did. That’s progress; they under-stand growth from a footballing point of view and they’re a lot better now than they were at the start of the sea-son.

“They put in a lot of hard work in train-ing throughout the season and you can

see it in matches. They are putting little pat-terns of play together and when it comes off it’s

a joy to behold. This season might be over for us now but with three Under-9s and three Under-10s playing against Shannon there is definitely a lot of positives to take. They will take this experience into their re-maining games and draw from it. We’ll go again next season and keep on growing, progressing and getting better.”

Limerick ended the season in mid-table in Division One, accumulating 21 points through six wins and three draws in 14 outings. Their top scorer was Jake O’Riordan on 12, followed by Leon Rush (6, including one in the Cup), Jack Koyce (3), Scott Grant and Kyle Foley (both one).

L

U11s: LIMERICK’S SEASON ENDS WITH CUP EXIT

Hogan delighted with “hard work” & “progress”

30 UNDER-11 REport 31LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

A5 v Rovers.indd 31 15/05/2015 19:14:34

CLASSIC MATCH18

L I M E R I C K F C F I N N H A R P S

MANAGER:MARTIN RUSSELL

MANAGER:OLLIE HORGAN

34236789

10111214151617181920232425262728303233

Freddy Hall (GK)Shaun Kelly

Robbie WilliamsPaul O’Conor

Ian TurnerShane Duggan (C)

Dean ClarkeVinny Faherty

Shane TracyDarragh Rainsford

Seán RussellTony Whitehead

Prince AgyemangShane Costelloe

Val FeeneyRoss Mann

Ali Abass (GK)Colm Murphy

Paudie O’ConnorSeán McSweeney

Conor MaguireKillian Brouder

Lee-J LynchTommy Holland (GK)

Patrick KanyukaCyril Guedjé

Ciarán Gallagher (GK)Damien McNultyThomas McMonagleMatt CrossanKeith CowanPackie MaileyTony McNameeMichael FunstonRaymond FoyKieran McDaidBj BandaWilfried TagboCiarán CollKevin McHughGareth HarkinConor KeddyTommy Lee McCarron (GK)Josh MaileyGareth DohertyNathan BoyleRobert WatersAta OzbayOisín HassettOisín McMenamin

18

Conor O’Donnell (GK)Seán Harding

Robbie WilliamsAidan Price

Paul O’ConorIan Turner

Shane Duggan (C)Dean Clarke

Vinny FahertyShane Tracy

Darragh RainsfordSeán Russell

Tony WhiteheadShane Costelloe

Val FeeneyRoss Mann

Gavin DillonKieran HanlonColm Murphy

Paudie O’ConnorSeán McSweeney

Conor MaguireKillian Brouder

Jason HughesTommy Holland (GK)

Mark McNulty (GK)John KavanaghAlan BennettJohnny Dunleavy (Captain)Darren DennehyDan MurrayColin HealyGavan HolohanJohn O'FlynnKieran DjilaliRoss GaynorKevin O'Brien (GK)Kevin O'ConnorDanny MorrisseyAlan Smith (GK)Michael McSweeneyKarl SheppardBilly DennehyLiam MillerMark O'SullivanRob LehaneGarry BuckleyJosh O'SheaLiam Kearney

12356789

1011121415171819212223242526272930

123456789

101114151617181920212225273037

L I M E R I C K F C C O R K C I T Y F C

MANAGER:JOHN CAULFIELD

MANAGER:MARTIN RUSSELL

OFFICIALS: Referee: Neil Doyle | Assistant 1: Mark Gavin Assistant 2: Ralph Pieper | Fourth Official: Rob Hennessey

MATCHDAY SQUADS

29 1205 2623MAY, FRIDAY

Bray Wanderers, Carlisle Grounds, 7.45pm

FAI CUPSECOND ROUNDTIE

JUNE, FRIDAY

St. Patrick's AthRichmond Park, 7.45pm

SSE AIRTRICITY LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION

JUNE, FRIDAY

Drogheda Utd, Markets Field 6.30pm

SSE AIRTRICITY LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION

JUNE, FRIDAY

Dundalk, Oriel Park6.30pm

SSE AIRTRICITY LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION

MAY, SATURDAY

Longford Town, Strokestown, 7.30pm

SSE AIRTRICITY LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION

18 19LIMERICK FC vrs CORK CITY

#FanPoweredFootball

Without the fans,who are they playing for?

OFFICIALS: Referee: Neil Doyle | Assistant 1: Mark Gavin Assistant 2: Ralph Pieper | Fourth Official: Rob Hennessey

A5 v Rovers.indd 18 15/05/2015 19:07:15

MATCHDAY SQUADS40

Referee: Rob Rogers | Assistant 1: Dermot BroughtonAssistant 2: Wayne McDonnell | Fourth Official: Neil Doyle

26SEPT, SAT

Limerick vDundalk1-3

09OCT, FRI

Galway vLimerick1-3

17OCT, SAT

Limerick vDerry City0-2

SSEAIRTRICITYLEAGUE

SSEAIRTRICITYLEAGUE

SSEAIRTRICITYLEAGUE

SSEAIRTRICITYLEAGUE

SSEAIRTRICITYLEAGUE

23OCT, FRI

Limerick vShamrock R0-2

30OCT, FRI

Sligo R v Limerick2-3

4040

3434

Photography: Conor Wyse (www.conorwyse.ie)

in Photos: under-19S 35LIMERICK FC vrs shamrock rovers

LIMERICK FC SUPPORTER?

JOIN THE CLUBThe Official Supporters Club

Membership: Adults €10, OAPs/Students/U16s €5, Family €20

Membership Packs Available Now

Find us on Facebook: Limerick FC Official Supporters Club

Visit: www.limerickfc.ie/supportersclub

Email: supportersclub@limerickfc.ie | Phone: 087 1862678

A5 v Rovers.indd 35 24/04/2015 09:07:52

47LIMERICK FC VRS BRAY WANDERERS

1 2

Seán HardingConor O’Donnell (GK)

3 5

Aidan PriceRobbie Williams

7 8

Shane Duggan (c)Ian Turner

9 10

Vinny FahertyDean Clarke

12 14

Seán RussellDarragh Rainsford

15 17

Shane CostelloeTony Whitehead

19 22

Kieran HanlonRoss Mann

23 24

Paudie O’ConnorColm Murphy

6

Paul O’Conor

11

Shane Tracy

18

Val Feeney

25

Seán McSweeney

26 27

Killian BrouderConor Maguire

29 30

Tommy HollandJason Hughes

M

Martin Russell

PLAYER PROFILES

SHANE DUGGAN:Sponsored by:

Nagle’s Eurospar,Mainstreet Bruff

SEÁN MCSWEENEY Sponsored by:

Foynes Pharmacy(069) 65572

PAUDIE O”CONNOR Sponsored by:

O’Sullican’s CentraClarina/Caherconlish

JASON HUGHESSponsored by:

The William Street Barbershop (061) 468663

46

a5.indd 47 7/3/15 12:42 PM

The Limerick FC Official Supporters’ Club, in association with Limerick FC, are running two busses to the second leg of this week’s SSE Airtricity League Promotion / Relegation Playoff Final, at Finn Park on Friday night.

One bus is for our members who can travel free to Donegal. The second bus is for non-members, the cost of which is €10 for adults and €5 for kids, who must be accompanied by an adult.

To book or for more information, please call Steve Taylor on 087-9396179. If interested, please book as soon as possible.

The Official Supporters’ Club wish to thank our members, the Blue Army Loyalty Club, the Independent Supporters’ Club and all of our supporters for their magnificent backing of the team this season through thick and thin. You really have been

the 12th man! Best of luck to Martin and the players as we look to complete a memorable season this week.

LIMERICK FC VRS FINN HARPS 43PLAYER PROFILES

34 2

Shaun KellyFreddy Hall (GK)

3 32

Patrick KanyukaRobbie Williams

7 8

Shane Duggan (C)Ian Turner

9 10

Vinny FahertyDean Clarke

12 14

Seán RussellDarragh Rainsford

15 17

Shane CostelloeTony Whitehead

19 33

Cyril GuedjéRoss Mann

23 24

Paudie O’ConnorColm Murphy

6

Paul O’Conor

11

Shane Tracy

18

Val Feeney

25

Seán McSweeney

26 27

Killian BrouderConor Maguire

28 30

Tommy Holland (GK)Lee-J Lynch

M

Martin Russell

SHANE DUGGAN:Sponsored by:

Nagle’s Eurospar,Mainstreet Bruff

SEÁN MCSWEENEY Sponsored by:

Foynes Pharmacy(069) 65572

PAUDIE O”CONNOR Sponsored by:

O’Sullican’s CentraClarina/Caherconlish

LEE-J LYNCHSponsored by:

The William Street Barbershop (061) 468663

42

36

A5 v Rovers.indd 36 15/05/2015 19:15:43