Limerick FC -v- Finn Harps

• Andrew Cunneen
• Thu, May 19 2011


Basement side Finn Harps travel to Shannonside on Friday to try and crack a resilient Limerick FC who have conceded only once in their last four games. The stakes are high in this one as Limerick look to gain ground on Shelbourne while Finn Harps dare not lose their seventh successive fixture in a row. (Kick off 7.45 pm)

Limerick have begun the season reasonably well, only conceding six times in their ten league games. They also find themselves in the Munster Senior Cup final, as well as the quarter final of the EA Sports Cup. It has to be said that, under Scully’s reins, the club has come on leaps and bounds; on and off the pitch.

Limerick recorded a massive home win last weekend, captain Paddy Purcell headed the Blues to victory against Munster rivals Waterford United. Defensively, once more, Limerick seemed to be highly efficient even without the reliable Brian McCarthy. Limerick boss Pat Scully senses the relief.

“It was really squeaky bum time, it was almost the exact same as last week but fortunately we held out for a crucial three points and we are delighted.” McCarthy returns this week from a virus and should further solidify their backline. While Chris Breen appears to be on the way back from injury, Dave Ryan has suffered a further setback and could be out for an extended period of time, allowing his elder brother Barry to hold onto goalkeeping duties.

Finn Harps suffered a 2-1 defeat to Mervue last week, a tough pill to swallow for Peter Hutton. “We were hit by an absolute sucker punch. We lost concentration at the back. We were chasing the game at 1-1, even though we didn’t need to be. We just lost concentration at the back when they broke, and we got punished for it. I’m bitterly disappointed. In general we can take a lot of positives from it. It was an improved performance from the previous week against Wexford Youths but we just didn’t get the result.”

While Hutton tries to remain optimistic, he insists its self assessment rather than the results he is worrying about. “I’m relieved for the boys that we got a goal, they had that monkey on the back that they hadn’t scored for a few weeks. It was good to find the net but Christy Conaghan had a great chance when it was level when he rounded the keeper but he saw it cleared off the line. That would have set us up nicely at 2-1 but its all ifs and buts at the minute and we didn’t do enough unfortunately. We are away to Limerick next which is another tough one. They are all tough games in the league but it doesn’t matter who we play next week, our focus is on ourselves and getting it right.

In the opening game of the season, Finn Harps got one of their three points from Limerick. They led twice but were pegged back both times. The most notable instance from that match was the challenge from Mark Forker on Garry Sheahan which broke the strikers leg. Pat Scully will surely use this as an incentive to rally the troops ahead of this all important clash on Friday evening.

Limerick FC
Injured: Dave Ryan, Thomas Lyons, Garry Sheahan, James O’Brien.
Doubtful: Chris Breen.
Suspended: None.

Finn Harps
Injured: Conor O’Grady, Gareth Harkin.
Doubtful: Gary Whoriskey.
Suspended: None.

Referee: John Grimes.
Paddy Power Odds: Limerick 3/10; Draw 7/2; Finn Harps 8/1.
Extratime prediction: A comfortable home win, 2-0.