Blarney United 1-4 Limerick

There’ll be tougher days at the office for Limerick when the Airtricity League First Division gets underway in three weeks time but they still got a decent workout under their belts in the last eight of the Munster Senior Cup at O’Shea Park last night.

With a big Cork flavour in the Shannonsiders’ ranks – Joe Gamble and Andrew Bhandarkar started along with former Cork City players Shane Guthrie and Denis Behan, while Dave O’Leary came off the bench – they eased past a Blarney side  that were a millisecond off the pace for much of the game.

Blarney had actually taken the lead in slightly fortunate circumstances, Cathal O’Neill dispatching an eighth minute penalty past Dave Ryan after he went down under what can only be considered very slight pressure inside the area.

However, once their League of Ireland opponents equalised, it was plain sailing for Pat Scully’s men. Bhandarkar, who grafted out his apprenticeship at Wilton United, was impressive at left-back, while on the right wing Shane Treacy caused nightmares for United defender John Lawlor.

Calls from the Blarney management before kick-off for them to go out and enjoy it summed up their attitude to the game.

The Munster Senior League, and before being knocked out by Avondale a couple of weeks back, the FAI Intermediate Cup, are the big priorities in any season with this competition a bit lower down the pecking order.

For Limerick, and indeed the other League of Ireland sides, Cork City and Waterford United, this is little more than a glorified friendly, a decent way to prepare for the start of the season.

It didn’t stop Scully from putting out a strong team from the start but the cutting edge when either of these sides are playing league games was evidently lacking.

The Blues replied to O’Neill’s opening effort within five minutes as a well-worked move which saw Gamble shimmy before passing to Treacy, the exciting wide-man steering high into the net.

Despite Eric Shinkwin working his socks off at the back, Limerick were always that bit quicker with the ball at their feet, enabling them to create that extra bit of space to get a shot away, and Treacy gave the away team a deserved lead after Behan turned provider seven minutes before the break.

While the opening period didn’t exactly set the world alight, the second half was an incredibly dull affair. Blarney did have one good chance early in the second half when the game was still 2-1. Richard O’Brien hesitated  after the angle for a shot was closed down and he played to the very advanced O’Connor only for the defender’s lack of composure inside the area get the better of him as he blasted wide from seven yards.

Scully’s charges controlled the game around the middle and made it 3-1 when Gamble was upended inside the box. Behan stepped up to take the penalty and although his strike was straight at Ronan Byrne, Barry Sheedy was on hand to tap-in

Thankfully, the highlight of the evening arrived entering the final quarter courtesy of Gamble’s magnificent curling strike from the edge of the D, making the trip worthwhile for the decent sized travelling support.

Limerick will be back on Leeside in nine days time when they face Cork City in a friendly at Bishopstown, while their semi-final opponents will be Fermoy.

Blarney United: Ronan Byrne; Liam O’Connor, Eric Shinkwin, Aidan Leahy, John Lawlor; Ray O’Leary, Christy O’Brien, Mark Clifford, Cathal O’Neill; Richard O’Brien, Ken Coleman.

Subs: Gary Allen for O’Brien (70),  Brian Burke for O’Connor (70), Jonathan Coker, Eoin Carroll.

Limerick: Dave Ryan; Sean Kelly, Shane Guthrie, Pat Purcell, Andrew Bhandarkar; James McGrath, Joe Gamble, Stephen McGann, Shane Treacy; Denis Behan, Barry Sheedy.

Subs: Corey Treacy for Kelly (h-t), Sean Brosnan for Behan (64), Dave O’Leary for Gamble (74), Colin Daly, Shane Cusack.

Referee: G Kelly.