Taylor rues Limerick mistakes in Cup loss

Seeing your side lose four-nil at any level is tough, let alone a quarter-final in a cup competition. Stuart Taylor seemed rather deflated after Limerick fell to Sligo Rovers by four goals to nil; citing individual errors as the key to their demise.

"Unfortunately in this game, if you make mistakes you get punished. The first three goals were three mistakes. The first two were set pieces and the boys lost their markers. The third goal was a misplaced pass and the fourth was losing a runner. It's about how you recover from your mistakes - but when you make a mistake, then make it again, you've got a problem."

Fatigue may have understandably been an excuse for Stuart Taylor's men, but the man in question refused to take the easy way out.

"I'm not interested in that. You could say two games in three days against two top teams is tough, but I believe I've got a squad here that can deal with that and mistakes on the night cost us. They make mistakes - they're human beings. Tonight has been a massive lesson for the players."

On a night where youth was given the chance to shine in the latter stages, there was a suggestion that a cup game being dominated being the league champions wasn't the ideal scenario to introduce the younger players into. Stuart Taylor disagreed.

"There's no place for sympathy in football. If you feel sorry for yourself, then there's nowhere to go. Nobody in this life will feel sorry for you. You need to stand up and be counted. It's good experience for young players to go and have that display. It's not nice, but it's part and parcel of developing as a player. Hopefully it hurt them."

With his exit from the EA Sports Cup, Stuart Taylor emphasised the importance of the league campaign.

"The league is the most important. I'd love to stay in all the cups for as long as I can - I'd love to get to a final and I'd love to win a cup, but at the end of the day, the league is the most important thing. We had an eye on Friday night's game with the substitutions tonight."

Despite the scoreline, the Limerick support were largely vocal throughout the entire clash. Stuart Taylor hailed the support his side received on the night.

"They [the fans] were great. They were brilliant. They kept going right until the final whistle. They got behind the boys and I made note of appreciating that after the game. After the first goal, there was nothing that should have given the fans any encouragement and that's what I'm most apologetic about."