PREVIEW | Limerick head to Pairc Ui Chaoimh needing a result in the National Football League

The Limerick footballers are on the road to Cork for the second time this year, needing a win in division two of the league.

A result is a necessity this Sunday when Limerick travel to Pairc Ui Chaoimh for the fourth round of the National Football league. Three successive defeats have been Limerick’s lot in their return to the second tier with time running out in their bid for survival.

But Cork in the Pairc will provide Limerick with an opportunity to kickstart their hopes of maintaining their place in Division 2 for a second year. The Rebels come into the game with just two points from their three outings.

That win came against Kildare in the second round when they laid out a statement of intent with a 2-14 to 0-7 win over the Leinster men. However, it came between a pair of defeats to Meath and Dublin. The loss to Colm O’Rourke’s men in the opening round halted early season progress when they defeated Limerick in the McGrath Cup final.

Last weekend they were beaten at home by Dublin but the Rebels can count themselves very unlucky to not have left with a share of the spoils at the least after putting it up to the capital side.

Limerick in the meantime were beaten by Derry, Dublin and Louth in successive rounds. As mentioned, this will be the second meeting of the sides this year with the defeat to Cork in January, Limerick’s first of the new year.

In that McGrath Cup final, Cork were dominant from start to finish, with a pair of goals from the visitors putting a gloss on the final result. Iain Corbett and Davy Lyons hit the net but Cork rarely looked in trouble during the 0-19 to 2-7 victory.

10 July 2021; Brian Hartnett of Cork in action against Cian Sheehan of Limerick during the Munster GAA Football Senior Championship Semi-Final match between Limerick and Cork at the LIT Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

It was a third win on the bounce for the Rebels over Limerick in the last three seasons. Following the 2020 McGrath Cup final win against Cork, their first win over the Leesiders in 17 years, Limerick have yet to overcome their Munster rivals in the most recent clashes.

In 2021, Cork proved too strong in the Munster semi-final, grinding out a 1-16 to 0-11 win in the TUS Gaelic Grounds to end their season prematurely. Twelve months on, Cork once more ended Limerick’s year, this time in the qualifiers, this time by virtue of a 2-18 to 1-16 victory in Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

Ray Dempsey has named his side for Sunday’s clash and it shows five changes to the team that started in the McGrath Cup decider. Into the starting lineup come Sean O’Dea, Tony McCarthy, Colm McSweeney, Hugh Bourke and Brian Donovan.

In total there are nine remaining from the team that started in the qualifier defeat last year.

Round four will provide a clearer picture of where teams in division two are with three games to play following Sunday’s contests. Limerick are rooted to the bottom of the table without any points, two behind Clare, Kildare, Louth and Cork. Meath are on four points while Dublin and Derry sit on six points.

This weekend, Limerick face Cork, Louth meet Meath, Kildare face Derry while Dublin take on Clare. Should the result follow the form in the other three fixtures, Clare, Kildare and Louth are likely to finish the weekend still on two points and should Limerick win then it would leave five teams on two points.

That would give Limerick a huge chance of safety with Meath, Kildare and Clare to come in the final rounds. However, Dempsey and co will be focused on getting their own job done before worrying about results elsewhere.

Limerick face Cork in the fourth round of Division 2 of the National Football League this Sunday at 3.45pm in Pairc Ui Chaoimh.


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