FOURTEEN years after their last League Cup triumph, Limerick FC have the chance to crown a perfect year when they meet St Patrick’s Athletic in the EA Sports Cup final on Saturday evening (kick-off 5.30pm).
A capacity crowd of more than 4,000 is expected to throng the Markets Field for what promises to be a magnificent occasion as the stadium hosts a major final less than 18 months after reopening.
Saturday September 17 has been ingrained in the minds of Limerick supporters ever since their hard-fought semi-final success away to Derry City on the August bank holiday weekend. It also gives them the chance to avenge last month’s FAI Cup defeat to Liam Buckley’s men.
The Candystripes are one of three Premier Division teams to have been vanquished by Martin Russell’s side en route to the final, with Wexford Youths and Galway United also falling at the hands of Limerick during a cup run that began with a win away to Cobh Ramblers six months ago.
Having wrapped up the First Division title before the start of the month, Limerick striker Chris Mulhall is aware of the scale of what the Super Blues could achieve if they add the EA Sports Cup to the trophy cabinet this weekend.
He said: “It would be massive. It would really be something to look back on. It’s hard to win one trophy, so to win a double would be absolutely massive. Hopefully we can get that job done.
“We’ll have massive support here. We’ll be well drilled. We’ll know exactly what we’re doing and we’ll have had two weeks to prepare for it. We’ll have a right go at it.
“We played St Pat’s already and we saw them on telly a couple of times this year, so we know what we’re coming up against and we’ll have to be considerably better than the last game against them to get a result.”
St Pat’s will start as favourites given their Premier Division status and Russell knows that the Inchicore outfit will provide stern opposition. “From goalkeeper right through the team, they’ve got a squad that are very good by Premier Division standards. It’s going to be a very difficult game, but one that we’re capable of winning if we play to our best.”
