"Learning" Limerick Prepare For 2,000th League Game

Limerick manager Stuart Taylor says his team will take on board the lesson that was dished out in last week’s derby as they prepare for the club’s 2,000th League game against Bohemians at Thomond Park on Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm).

The Superblues’ three-match winning streak in the Premier Division, which has helped them into the top half of the table, came to a crashing end with a 3-0 defeat by rivals Cork City at Turner’s Cross last weekend.

Garry Buckley’s header in between Mark O’Sullivan’s brace meant it was a first defeat on the road by more than one goal for Taylor’s side this term, as Cork closed in on leaders Dundalk.

Limerick – who joined the League in 1937 – had entered the game as the in-form team in the top flight alongside Cork, but the midseason break which they were returning from perhaps came at a bad time after they had rattled off wins against Saint Patrick’s Athletic, Drogheda United and UCD.

And Taylor is keen for them to return to that kind of form when they welcome Bohs, who knocked them out of the FAI Cup just four weeks ago as Owen Heary’s side recorded a 2-1 win at the iconic Munster venue.

“We all let ourselves down badly in Cork,” Taylor told LimerickFC.ie. “We take that from myself all the way down to the players, across the board. It was a disappointing night.

“I know how much winning derby games means to myself, my backroom team staff, the players and the supporters. It was a really disappointing night for us but we’ve got to learn from that, move on and make sure it doesn’t happen again. We’ll certainly go into Friday’s game a lot fresher.

“Maybe with the week off, we worked the boys too hard in the first week back. We’re all learning lessons and it’s something we always do, look back and see what we can improve on.

“We’re looking to come out with the right performance and the right result, and to get back on track at what we’re good at and at what has been getting us results and good performances of late. That’s what we have concentrated on in the lead-up to this game.”

Asked if the midseason break was a major factor in the defeat on Leeside, the boss added: “I definitely do. Although we gave the players a programme to go away and do, psychologically, switching off and switching back on again is a difficult thing to do for a lot of people.

“I don’t think Cork were particularly good that night – I just think that we were poorer. We know our performance wasn’t good enough; there are no excuses coming out. We’ll try to make amends for that.

“It was disappointing to lose by such a margin. It was the first time that I could turn around in the league – I know we didn’t do things right against Bohs in the Cup, where we had suspensions and injuries – and say that we didn’t turn up.

“I know the players are hurting from it. Training has been good all week and I know there is a lot of enthusiasm and desire to go and make up for it. Hopefully, we can get the right result on Friday.”

Bohs eliminated Limerick from the FAI Cup at the first hurdle just last month, with Taylor keen to put that firmly behind them.

“It’s something that we’ve spoken about – we’re not happy that we’re out of the Cup,” the 39-year-old said. “We’ve got a good chance to go and rectify things. That’s what we’re setting out to do, to come away with the three points.

“I felt Bohs were exactly the same in the league and the Cup. They were hard-working, they had a real fight about them and a desire about them to compete.

“In the Cup game, we knew they would come, sit in, be stuffy and try to hit us on the break. That’s exactly what they did. We must make sure that we set out our stall, we have that plan of how we’re going to break them down and also be aware that they don’t catch us on the break again.”

Limerick said goodbye to Scottish winger Danny Galbraith this week, with Taylor praising his countryman for the professional standards that he set at the club.

“It has been a great year-and-a-half with Danny,” Stuart said. “I know I can speak on behalf of the players and the backroom team staff that it was a pleasure working with him.

“He was a role model for every single player and young player that was at the club. In terms of how he went about his job, he was a professional, on the pitch and off the pitch.

“He looked after himself in the correct ways and his life was football and his life was in Limerick. That’s what you need – you need that sacrifice. You need to look after your body and certainly Danny did that.

“He’s a top professional and a top person. He’ll be sadly missed. A few of the boys were down about it during the week but Danny has been good, he has been sending text messages and wishing the boys the best forFriday night.

“I don’t expect anything different because that’s the type of person he is. We wish him well. I know he has a few interests back over in Scotland and he also had interest here in Ireland but he wouldn’t go to another club in Ireland.

“He’s without doubt one of the best players I’ve worked with. One of the reasons we brought him here was the attributes that he had.

“It’s unfortunate that he was out through injury for a spell but he managed to get over that. Credit to him and it shows the type of professional that he is where he didn’t do a pre-season. He played his first game with 20 minutes against Shamrock Rovers and then he started the following week and he has been in the team ever since.

“That shows the professional that he is and how he looks after himself. If a young player doesn’t learn off his mentality and professionalism then it’s been a sad loss for that individual.

“As a group, we’ve learned a lot from Danny and how he went about his work. It has been a pleasure. We wish him all the very best and there’s no question that we’ll all be in contact with him; he has left a very positive image and thought of him here.”

While Limerick come into the game in sixth, Bohs enter in eighth, three points behind the Shannonsiders, having taken four points from their last two games with a 5-0 crushing of Bray Wanderers and a 2-2 home draw with Athlone Town.
 

Last month’s Cup defeat was Taylor’s first inflicted by the Gypsies, with the Scot having so far enjoyed wins in all four league meetings since he became boss ahead of the 2013 season. This campaign, Rory Gaffney’s early second-half goal sealed a 1-0 victory at Dalymount Park in April.