Limerick FC 2-0 St Patrick’s Athletic
LIMERICK FC pulled off a surprise result by beating champions St Patrick’s Athletic 2-0 at Thomond Park on Friday night. Second half goals from Danny Galbraith and Jason Hughes secured the points for the Super Blues, who picked up their first win in seven games.
Both teams were happy to get on the ball in an open early few minutes and St Pat’s first threatened when Conan Byrne’s cross was destined for James Chambers in the Limerick penalty area, only for Hughes to make a vital clearance.
In the 14th minute, Ian Bermingham beautifully took control of a diagonal ball from midfield to cut across Shaun Kelly and set himself for a shot, but he skewed his effort well over.
Midway through the first half, Lee J Lynch stretched to get to a loose ball in the Limerick box, although his attempt lacked power and Barry Ryan gathered it with ease.
Sammy Oji almost put through his own net on 26 minutes when he got his head to Bermingham’s cross, with the visitors making effective use of the wings.
Limerick had precious little to speak of in terms of chances, but they had the first half’s most glaring opportunity in the 32nd minute when Kelly crossed to Shane Duggan, who headed wide from only two yards after St Pat’s goalkeeper Brendan Clarke misjudged the cross and collided with a team-mate.
Defensive mistakes have dogged Limerick in recent games, but the back four were in impressive form here, Stephen Folan in particular making several important clearances as St Pat’s continued to swarm towards Ryan’s goal with little joy prior to half-time.
Limerick had been under the cosh in the first 45 minutes but began the second half in impressive fashion as the St Pat’s defence was forced into action, with Patrick Nzuzi’s 25-yard shot probably on its way in were it for not for quick closing down.
The visitors were getting forward too, though, and Christy Fagan should have done better with a header from six yards out on 59 minutes. Just after the hour, Galbraith took possession in the middle of the park and surged towards goal to find himself one-on-one with Clarke. The Scot kept his composure to tuck it away for his first goal in a Limerick FC shirt.
St Pat’s were close to equalising within three minutes, but Fagan failed to find the target from five yards after turning towards goal. The champions continued to pour forward, with Oji and Folan needing to be on red alert to thwart St Pat’s during a succession of corners with 20 minutes to go.
Kenny Browne went close with a header in the 75th minute, Ryan saving from close range. The Limerick keeper then pulled off a fantastic save to deny St Pat’s substitute Killian Brennan.
At the other end, Clarke was also in good form as he raced from his goal-line to keep out Duggan after the Limerick captain was played through by James McGrath.
In the 82nd minute, Brennan swung in a free kick towards Bermingham at the back post, but the defender was unable to get a head on it. From the resulting goal kick, Limerick found an opening and Galbraith shrugged off Sean Hoare before crossing to Hughes, who took one touch to set himself before coolly dispatching to the net to put Limerick 2-0 ahead.
The Super Blues still had some last-ditch defending to do in the closing minutes, although they were very close to a third when a swift counterattack saw Galbraith with Hughes to his left and Gaffney to his right. He supplied the latter, whose attempt was stopped by Clarke.
Limerick managed to see out the remaining minutes for a deserved victory on a night when the entire team pulled its weight. The win moves them up to ninth in the table and will give them plenty of confidence ahead of the Munster Senior Cup final against Douglas Hall on Monday evening and, more importantly, the league visit to Drogheda next weekend.
Limerick FC: Ryan, Kelly (Whitehead 81), Folan, Oji, Nzuzi, Hughes, Agyemang (McGrath 48), Duggan, Galbraith (McManus 90), Gaffney, Tracy.
St Pat’s: Clarke, O’Brien, Hoare, Browne, Bermingham, Fahey, Chambers, Byrne, Lynch (Brennan 66), Forrester, Fagan.
Referee: Paul Tuite
Attendance: 793
