LIMERICK FC go into the mid-season break with an emphatic 14-point lead at the top of the First Division, although their 100 per cent league record for 2016 ended last Saturday after a 2-2 draw at home to closest challengers Drogheda United.
Martin Russell’s men were within minutes of also losing their unbeaten status, but a stoppage time equaliser from late substitute Ross Mann rescued a draw for the Super Blues at a sun-blessed Markets Field.
Limerick took the lead just before the hour mark, with Paudie O’Connor seeming to get the decisive touch after the ball was turned home amidst a gathering of players. Drogheda drew level when Limerick goalkeeper Tommy Holland inadvertently dropped the ball over the goal-line and Aaron Ashe thought he had won it for the Boynesiders when he scored in the 89th minute, until Mann found the net in the nick of time.
Despite seeing his team drop points for the first time all season, Russell seemed quite content with the draw and was in philosophical mood after the game.
He said: “We did salvage a point and it’s probably a very important one. It keeps that distance going into the break that, on reflection, we’re very happy to have. We came back right at the death and didn’t lie down, so I’m happy with those things.
“In the second half I thought we were a lot better than in the first half. I thought we should have capitalised on that and taken our chances. It wasn’t to be, but give credit to Drogheda. They worked very hard and they did well today.”
As the season pauses for three weeks, Russell has to be hugely satisfied with his team’s current standing. An immediate return to the Premier Division seems imminent, while they remain in the FAI Cup and have an EA Sports Cup semi-final awaiting them in August.
The manager is targeting not just promotion this year, but progression in the top flight should Limerick succeed in their short-term objective of going back up.
“The players, as a group, have put a hell of a lot into the first half of the season. If they put the same into the second half, there’s no doubt we’ll go up, but there is a bigger picture we talk about. We’re not going up for the sake of it. We want to go up and be competitors in the Premier Division.”
