Battling Blues take on table toppers Cabinteely

Limerick FC welcome leaders Cabinteely to the Markets Field on Friday night in the Airtricity League First Division (7.45pm).

Last week, Limerick FC players met with PFAI chairman Stephen McGuinness and Ollie Cahill to vote in favour of strike action as some players had not received expenses for March and the whole squad had not been paid for April, three weeks after the due date.

The Limerick players released a statement through the PFAI and cited a number of concerns regarding their treatment by the club.

One of the reasons for voting in favour of strike action was the recent treatment of Sean Russell in the aftermath of his season ending injury against Athlone Town.

The statement read;

There are still outstanding wages and expenses due to some players for March and currently the players are paying their own physio bills.

The players are also fearing what will happen to them if they sustain any serious injury and if the appropriate rehab/ operation will be available to them.

Russell was promised that the operation on his LCL would be paid for by the club. However, one of two cheques bounced and the outstanding bill of €4,500 has been billed to Russell directly with no contact from the club in relation to the issue.

To add to recent woes, the FAI have indicated that an investigation is underway into suspicious betting patterns surrounding Limerick’s win against Cobh last weekend.

Limerick’s defeat to Shelbourne last month is still being investigated with a report due soon.

FAI Competitions Director Fran Gavin stated that Cobh Ramblers had contacted the FAI with concerns surrounding the game.

“We have received a Uefa report on the Shelbourne v Limerick fixture in April and are awaiting their report on the Cobh v Limerick game last Saturday.

“We have received correspondence from the Cobh Ramblers Board in relation to that match. The FAI remains committed to a zero tolerance stance on match fixing.”

Despite several off the field issues in the past two months, Tommy Barrett and his players have showed tremendous character and remain just five points off Friday night’s table topping opponents.

On three occasions in the last five matches, Barrett has been forced to name just four substitutes due to injuries and suspensions to an already threadbare squad.

Last weekend’s victory came just three days after the playing staff announced that strike action would be taken if the mistreatment continued.

Darren Murphy gave Limerick the lead through the penalty spot after Robbie Williams was fouled.

Shane Tracy doubled the away side’s lead before Cobh staged a second half comeback to level the game through Charlie Lyons and Shane O’Connor.

But it was O’Connor who handed the initiative to Limerick when conceding a second penalty with 10 minutes remaining which Murphy coolly finished to score his third penalty in two games.

Kabia and Ellis traded chances but the Shannonsiders held on for a morale boosting victory for players and supporters alike.

Cabinteely arrive in Limerick off the back of a surprise 5-0 home defeat at the hands of Drogheda United. Despite Cabinteely’s home form being inconsistent, manager Pat Devlin could have not have expected such a one sided score.

Limerick will draw confidence from the first meeting between the sides this season when the Super Blues emerged from Stradbrook with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from injury stricken Sean Russell and Conor Ellis either side of a Conor Keeley header.

Limerick’s experienced players were key to the victory in Dublin as Robbie Williams in particular snuffed out the threat from dangerman Rob Manley. Williams showed all his experience to frustrate Manley physically despite conceding a few inches in height.

Crucially, Jack Brady brilliantly saved a second half penalty from Manley to keep the scores level before Ellis showed great anticipation to capitalise on a mistake from Stephen McGuinness to score.

Meanwhile, there has been no update on potential investment in the club. The talk of the Sean Connor led consortium has gone cold as Limerick face into the home game with Cabinteely.