Folan honoured to captain Limerick

Limerick defender Stephen Folan says it was “an absolute honour” to be handed the captaincy for the Munster Derby last weekend and he says it is “something I’d love to do again”.

The 22-year-old was handed the armband by manager Martin Russell, in the absence of captain Shane Duggan and vice captain Samuel Oji, for the visit of Cork City to Thomond Park last Sunday.

The young centre-back admitted that it was a “good shock” to receive the news and stated that it was a “privilege to captain this football club”.
 

The former Newcastle United youngster joined the Superblues at the start of last season and has made more than 60 competitive appearances.
 

He has also chipped in with two goals so far this term, including in their last clash with Bohemians at Thomond Park in July, with the teams set to go head-to-head again at Dalymount Park on Friday night.
 

“From a personal point of view, it was an absolute honour and a privilege to captain this football club, even if it was only for one game,” Folan told LimerickFC.ie.
 

“It’s something that I’ll always remember to the day that I retire, that someone wanted to put faith in me when there was obviously Barry Ryan and Shane Tracy, who are much more experienced players than me and have been captain before.
 

“For the manager to put the faith in me to give me the armband was a proud moment for me. I was very surprised. I just look to play the game and look forward to every game.
 

“Knowing going into the game that I was going to be captain was definitely a shock. It was a good shock. As I’ve said, it was an absolute honour and something in the future that I’d love to do again, but we’ll see what happens.”
 

Reflecting on the performance against Cork – who grabbed a 77th-minute winner through substitute Rob Lehane – Stevie added: “I have to go back to the times they beat us 4-0 and 3-0, we didn’t turn up and we got battered off the park by them, both physically and football wise.
 

“We had to go into the game with a performance and I think we gave a good performance. We didn’t get a lot of chances but in terms of moving the ball and trying to do the right thing, I think we went out with the right attitude and right purpose.
 

“The way the goal came was very disappointing. But we just have to dust ourselves down and go again on Friday. That’s the most important thing now.
 

“There are five games to go and this is a time when contracts are coming up, whether that be at this club or other clubs.
 

“If this club doesn’t want you, if you’re playing you have to play for the shirt and play as good as you can, because you never know who’s watching. That’s one predicament you could be in.
 

“If you play well from now until the end of the season you could get a good contract. Everyone is out to win contracts. I think the levels are going to be high in terms of everyone is going to be still pushing a gut until the end of the season because there is still a lot to play for, whether that be eighth or sixth.”
 

Bohs have proven difficult opponents for Limerick this term, knocking them out of the FAI Cup in June before winning in the league at Thomond Park in July, a game which proved to be Stuart Taylor’s last in charge.
 

“They have been difficult,” Folan agreed. “But if you look at our record against the top teams, we always seem to come out and play and get good results.
 

“If we can pick up points off the teams around us going into other games, it could be massive for us. It’s definitely something that we need to address and hopefully we can go on Friday and pick up the three points.”
 

Last Sunday, the Galway native lined out alongside Michael Leahy at centre-half. The former UCD captain’s season has been disrupted by injury, but Folan was impressed with his teammate’s display.
 

“I got on really well with Mick,” Stevie said. “Mick is a fantastic player. He has been very unfortunate with a couple of little injuries that he has got at crucial times.
 

“Me and Sami forged a brilliant partnership at the backend of last season and we carried it on this season. Whenever one of us had a knock or something, Mick happened to get injured at the wrong time.
 

“Hats off to him for coming in, because I thought he did very well. I don’t think he put a foot wrong all game. He’s a good player; he just needed a chance to show that he can play and everyone can see he can play.
 

“There’s good competition between us now for the rest of the season. Whatever the partnership is, we’re all trying to achieve the exact same thing, so that doesn’t change.”