Limerick FC 0-4 Sligo Rovers
LIMERICK FC’s involvement in the EA Sports Cup came to an abrupt end at Thomond Park on Monday night when Sligo Rovers left with a 4-0 victory.
Ultimately it was a combination of slack defending and sloppy errors that enabled the league champions to rack up such an emphatic scoreline and, as a whole, Sligo were very clinical when they got their chances.
Limerick actually made a solid start to the game, with Danny Galbraith looking particularly dangerous whenever he was in possession. As early as the fourth minute he slipped an adept through ball to Axel Bossekota, but Sligo managed to snuff out the chance.
The visitors were also threatening to make an early breakthrough in an end-to-end opening few minutes. On 13 minutes Dave O’Leary was on hand to get a key interception to Liam Martin’s cross.
Just after the midway point of the first half, Sligo won a corner which Kieran Djilali whipped into the danger zone. The Limerick players left Jeff Henderson unmarked to direct a free header into Barry Ryan’s net for the opening goal.
Stuart Taylor’s side were given a decent opportunity to equalise four minutes later when Shane Tracy stepped up to a free kick, but the set piece master couldn’t get the ball on target this time.
In the 37th minute Ryan tipped behind a Danny North effort to force a corner. Once again Djilali provided an excellent delivery and Gavin Peers met it unopposed with his head for a carbon copy of the first goal. For the second game in a row, Limerick found themselves 2-0 down before half-time.
It was almost three just a minute later as Martin got a glancing header to Ross Gaynor’s cross, only for the ball to drift wide. The home team’s night got worse just before the interval when Rory Gaffney departed with a metatarsal injury to be replaced by the returning Garbhan Coughlan, whose subsequent performance was one of the very few positives on the night for the Super Blues.
He almost made a dream return to Shannonside within seconds of the restart when he was one-on-one with Sligo goalkeeper Ciaran Kelly, but Coughlan couldn’t find the net. Had he done so, minds would instantly have flashed back to Saturday’s dramatic win over Dundalk, when Limerick recovered from a two-goal deficit to win.
The game’s third goal wasn’t much longer in coming, but instead of reigniting the contest it effectively sealed the result. Ryan’s low clearance was played straight to Lynch, who slipped the ball into North and he finished coolly to make it 3-0.
Limerick, to their credit, were still doing their best to carve out chances, with O’Leary firing in a free kick and Bossekota stretching in a bid to get on the end of a Robbie Williams cross. In their own half, though, the Super Blues were unusually careless in possession, and on 61 minutes Stephen Bradley cheaply gave the ball to Lynch, whose shot drew an athletic save from Ryan.
Sligo now sensed blood every time they were near the Limerick goal and they twice came within inches of adding to their lead midway through the second half. The impressive Dave Cawley curled a shot that struck the post and then Ryan needed to pull off a fine save to tip North’s effort off the upright, a move that was initiated by another cheap Limerick giveaway 40 yards from goal.
Eventually the Bit O Red did get their fourth of the night in the 77th minute. Evan McMillan had only been on the pitch for a couple of minutes when he shot first-time from just outside the penalty box. Ryan managed to get a hand to it but the strike was too powerful to keep out.
Sligo were close to capitalising again on slack Limerick defending from a late corner, McMillan left on his own to get in a header. This time Ryan was able to get behind it and prevent further damage.
In the end the home side paid dearly for sloppy mistakes, the type that you cannot afford to make against teams of Sligo Rovers’ quality. Limerick hadn’t played particularly badly throughout the 90 minutes but they were clearly second best on the night.
The EA Sports Cup is gone but there is still much to play for in the league, while they await the draw for Round 3 of the FAI Cup. Next up for the Super Blues is a trip to struggling Bohemians on Friday.
Limerick FC: Ryan, Kelly, Folan, O’Callaghan, Williams, Bradley, O’Leary (Feeney 66), Tracy (Sheedy 75), Galbraith, Gaffney (Coughlan 45), Bossekota.
Sligo Rovers: Kelly, Keane, Henderson, Peers, Gaynor, Lynch (Connolly 65), Cawley (McMillan 75), Conneely, Djilali, North, Martin (Dykes 85).
Referee: Anthony Buttimer
Attendance: 913
