Wexford Youths vs. Limerick 37

• Keith Wallace
• Sun, Oct 05 2008




Wexford Youths will be looking for their first home win in five months and another confidence booster ahead of the visit of league leaders Dundalk next weekend when they face-off with Limerick 37 in a rearranged fixture at Ferrycarrig Park on Monday evening (kick-off 8pm).

The Youths bounced back from a battering in the League Cup final - which this meeting was postponed for - to defeat table proppers Kildare County on Friday night and will be bidding to temporarily stall Limerick’s march towards a top half finish. From three meetings so far this season, both sides have shared the spoils with a win each and a draw - that stalemate coming in the last encounter, at Jackman Park back in July.

In their second term in the league, a win here would push eighth-placed Wexford eight points clear of bottom-of-the-table Kildare with just six games remaining. The Youths won a crucial six-pointer at Station Road three days ago thanks to early goals from star striker Danny Furlong and midfielder Patsy Malone - a welcome win following a 6-1 mauling at the hands of Derry City in the LC decider the previous weekend.

Their recent outings in the league have been impressive with an unlucky loss to title chasing Waterford United sandwiched in between away wins at Sporting Fingal and Kildare. Their home form, however, has left a lot to be desired. Of their 27 points accumulated so far, 16 of them have come away from Ferrycarrig Park, where they have not won since defeating Limerick way back on 16 May. In 11 subsequent games at the venue in all competitions, Wexford have drawn three and lost eight.

Limerick, on the other hand, have enjoyed a far more successful season. However, despite a number of impressive wins during the course of the campaign, they never seriously threatened a promotion push. Currently sitting in no man’s land in the table, ten points behind Fingal in fourth and seven ahead of Monaghan in sixth, a fifth-placed finish now seems certain for Mike Kerley’s men. On Friday last, they netted a late draw at home to Fingal, however, following a dominant second-half display, they were unlucky not to secure all three points. The Blues, incidentally, have won their last two away games - 3-0 in Athlone and 2-0 in Kildare.

Team News: To follow…

Extratime.ie Prediction: Wexford’s miserable home form is likely to continue here, however, they should have enough to get a draw.