SOCCER

Limerick FC looking to get back on track with Harps in town

March 18, 2017 / Jack Neville /

Limerick FC host Finn Harps at the Markets Field this afternoon (kick-off 2pm). The Super Blues will be hoping for a much-improved performance after a poor second-half display during the 0-1 home defeat on Monday night.

Meanwhile, the visitors have enjoyed a successful week after a 1-1 draw with Galway United and a 2-1 victory over St.Patricks Athletic in Inchicore.

Limerick FC endured a tough week as they succumbed to two defeats by the narrowest of margins. The positive feeling after their brave display in Dundalk was eradicated by a poor loss at the hands of Keith Long’s well organised Bohemians side. The lack of creativity that the Super Blues showed in the second-half frustrated the large home crowd in attendance.

Martin Russell after Limerick’s disappointing loss to Bohs

Martin Russell has urged his players to react positively to the disappointment of last week. Speaking to the Limerick Leader following the Bohemians defeat, Russell stated

“We have a choice between feeling sorry for ourselves or trying to do things the right way. Hopefully, the bit of luck everyone needs will come our way. There was still a lot of good stuff tonight that we can’t just forget. We will continue to work on things.”

The opposition on Saturday will bring back a host of bad memories for players and supporters alike. Limerick were relegated by Finn Harps in 2015 following a 2-0 extra-time defeat in Donegal. Russell will be hoping that his flair players will not be nullified by Harps as effectively as they were two seasons ago. The Dubliner insists there is no early season pressure on his newly promoted side,

“Our position in the table doesn’t add pressure for the Finn harps game because it is still early in the season. The only pressure we always try to is perform. It is very early days in the league table. You are playing for points and yes, they are important. But I think if we continue to play we have in the last two games, even though we got nothing, I think we will play worse and get something. That will happen during the course of the season.”

Ollie Horgan’s troops travel to the Markets Field fresh off the back of a great 2-1 victory over St. Patricks Athletic last Monday night. Although St. Pats have begun the season poorly, many sides struggle to come away with all three points when they visit Inchicore.

Sean Houston and on-loan striker Ciaran O’Connor provided the victory for the Ballybofey outfit. Despite the surprise victory, Horgan was quick to bring his players back down to earth and put the victory down to “hard work and luck.” When speaking to extratime.ie, the Harps manager stated that he felt his side “got away with it” in Inchicore.

“We got away with it. There was a period in the second-half when we couldn’t get out of our own half. But we held on and got away with it. I thought in the first-half we were decent. We pressed them high but in the second-half we ran out of links.”

It has been a trademark of Horgan’s to play down his side’s chances going into games and he has subtly mentioned that all the pressure will be on Limerick ahead of Saturdays game.

When speaking to the club’s official website, Horgan stated,

“We have got four points from the last two games but this is a quick turnaround for us after being in Dublin on Monday night to play Pat’s. It’s a long journey to Limerick so we’re just hoping that the players recover enough to get a big performance that will be needed if we are going to get anything from the Markets Field. Martin Russell would have seen this game against us as a definite chance of three points so the stakes are very high for them after losing to Bohs on Monday night”

The visitors will be hoping that they can replicate the performances they produced two seasons ago against Limerick in the promotion/relegation play-off which proved successful over two legs, particularly at home.

The Donegal men managed to stifle Limerick’s creative players to great effect and many of those players will again be present in Limerick’s line-up tomorrow afternoon.

Referee: John McLoughlin.

Previous Meetings:

06-Nov-15 Finn Harps 2-0 Limerick (Promotion/Relegation Play-Off)

02-Nov-15 Limerick 1-0 Finn Harps (Promotion/Relegation Play-Off)

18-Aug-12 Finn Harps 1-1 Limerick (First Division)

Limerick:

Injured:Shane Tracy, John O’Flynn

Doubtful: Dave O’Connor

Suspended: None

Finn Harps:

Injured: None

Doubtful:Damian McNulty, Barry Molloy