Limerick succumbed to a surprise 3-1 defeat to Waterford Utd last Friday night away from home.
Pat Scully’s men were tactically outclassed early on by the Suirsiders who were putting 11 men behind the ball before hitting their counterparts on the counter-attack.
Waterford took the lead in the 22nd minute through prolific striker Willie John Kiely. The Super Blues then began to dominate the affair and were unlucky not to have equalised before the interval. Lady luck was shining down on Waterford as they somehow managed to keep their opponents out, however with twenty minutes to go Shane Guthrie rose highest from a free-kick to nod home the equaliser for the super blues.
It looked like Limerick would go on to win the game, however they wasted several scoring opportunities and with ten minutes to go they were caught on the counter again.
Waterford then put gloss on the score-line in the closing stages to send Pat Scully’s men home scratching their heads.
Limerick now travel to bottom of the league Mervue Utd on Friday knowing that victory is essential to keep tabs with the early leaders.
The Shannonsiders have yet to set the league alight as was predicted before the start of the season, with yet again their Achilles heel of not being able to put the ball in the back of the net often enough coming back to haunt them. However, they should have enough class to see off a poor Mervue side.
Finally, congratulations to Anthony O’Donnell and Barry Sheedy on being selected for the Ireland Under 18 Schools squad to play Northern Ireland in the Centenary Shield match, which takes place at Pike Rovers Sports Ground on Friday 16 March, kick-off 3:00pm.
