Scully disappointed with Tolka draw

Limerick manager Pat Scully conceded he was “a bit disappointed” that his Limerick side couldn’t beat Shelbourne after their 1-1 draw on Friday night, but said he was still “delighted with the point” his side got thanks to a late Paudie Quinn equaliser. Lims played some effective pressing football in the first half, largely dominating Shels. “I thought in the first half we were superb. We had some decent chances, we could have been one up.”

But the home side came back into the match after the half-time break, which Scully says was testament to their strength. “To be fair to Shels, they came back into it in the second half. They are a physical team, they’re very experienced.” Scully, who played for Shels between 1996 and 2001, said before singling out the Shelbourne captain for praise. ”David McGill started getting on the ball a bit more, and physically it was a bit tougher. But I still thought we had some good chances. Stephen O’Flynn had a good chance [late in the second half] and it just whisked wide.”

Shels took the lead after 85 minutes through a Philip Hughes goal- the Shels striker shooting past Lims ‘keeper Barry Ryan from an awkward angle. Scully said he is “disappointed” with the goal, blaming slack defending from his side. “It was a really sloppy goal from a 40-yard punt. I don’t think it was even a pass, it was more of a clearance. For him to score from that angle was really disappointing.”

The visitors got the draw in the end though thanks to a 92nd minute Paudie Quinn equaliser after some frantic attacking. Scully lauded the goalscorer as “exceptional”. “Paudie Quinn has been exceptional for us since the start of the season, [he’s] a really talented lad. He was fantastic tonight, I thought he was the best player on the pitch. His finish for the goal- it was a great goal.”

But the goal still came as an equaliser and not a winner, as Scully would have hoped. “That’s something we need to improve on- we scored a good goal but we gave away a really poor one. Still, I’m delighted with the point but thought we maybe could have got all three.”

Limerick currently sit in fifth spot in the Airtricity First Division table and have lost just once in five league matches this season. Scully was hopeful for his team’s prospects for this season. “We’re a good team, we’ve got some really good players and we feel we can go anywhere, play anybody and win games- not just draw them. I think that’s going to be crucial as the season goes on. We will get stronger as we go on.”