League Preview: Cork City -v- Limerick

Second placed Cork entertain a Limerick team that has just picked up their second win of the season as they look to keep the pressure on Dundalk at the top of the Premier Division.

CORK CITY

City have been in a good vein of form of late and they finally gained some ground on pacesetters Dundalk last week. A win against Micky Adams’ ailing Sligo Rovers, coupled with Dundalk’s mediocre performance versus mid-table Longford, allowed Cork to cut the Lilywhite’s lead to four points.

While the results of this Friday night’s fixtures won’t see a new table topper, Cork must know that dropping points after finally making a breakthrough would negate the fruits of their fine form.

The Leesiders are two for two against their Munster rivals; an easy 5-0 win at Turner’s Cross was followed by closer 1-0 win at Jackman park, which gave John Caulfield’s side both the points and regional bragging rights (although Limerick did win the Munster Senior Cup earlier this year).

Despite a gulf of 39 points separating the sides, Caulfield paid customary respect to his opponents at his club’s media address. He acknowledged that the Blues improved form might give them extra gumption when they visited Turner’s Cross and that despite being rock-bottom all season the Shannonsiders had caused trouble for other title challengers:

“People were saying that Limerick were relegated but, all of a sudden, they have two wins in a row. They have turned their season around and they have given themselves a real opportunity to get off the bottom of the table. We are in good form, but they are coming down here in good form too. We have to be patient and play with the attitude and intensity that we have done in the last number of weeks.

“Even before the two wins they have had, they drew with Rovers and drew with Dundalk, so they have shown that they are a difficult side to play against. You can sense that they now feel they can avoid relegation, so it will be a difficult game for us. At the same time, we are in good form, we are taking it one game at a time and the focus of the lads has been fantastic.”

LIMERICK

Until the start of this month, Limerick hadn’t registered a single win in the league and they still prop up the table in 12^th spot. So a fixture against in-form second placed Cork might seem like a forgone conclusion. But two wins on the bounce gives the Superblues a real hope of avoiding relegation although they will have their work cut out to continue that run when they visit Turner’s Cross.

The Shannonsiders haven’t had much success against the Leesiders in recent times, barring their Munster Cup success back in February. It was 2013 when the Superblues last registered a league success against Cork; then they managed to take seven points from a possible nine, but Cork have won their last five league meetings since then.

Limerick striker, Vinny Faherty has ties to Dundalk as a former player and some of his loyalties evidently remain there as he commented ahead of this fixture, that he would love to do his former club a favour, but that he was under no illusion of the magnitude of the task ahead of his side. He is delighted with the resilience of his teammates have shown to mount a late burst to avoid relegation, what seemed like ‘mission impossible’ a few weeks ago but admitted that any points gained against the top sides had to be considered a bonus.

“Cork have got the bit between their teeth now. They’re chasing Dundalk and they were so close last year. We have got to be realistic. They are a team challenging for the league so no matter where we were – if we were third or second in the table – we would still be thinking ‘this is going to be a hard place to go and get a win.

“I think Dundalk are the only team that would go down there, get beaten and be very upset about it, and it might knock them back a bit. We’re going to be realistic about it.

“Personally, I hope we can do Dundalk a favour. But it will be a tough game, down there especially; even when you’re at a top-of-the-table team they are tough to beat at home. They always play good football at Turner’s Cross.

“They’re going to have a little bit of pressure too and if it doesn’t happen for them right away. They’re going to expect to win and this is a game I think they’ll have marked down as three points.

“There will be pressure on them in that sense. Anything can happen. You could have two chances in a game and they could have 20; you could score your two and end up drawing the game or winning the game. Who knows what will happen. But in the grand scheme of things, you have really got to be beating the teams around you. Cork, anything we get there is a bonus.”

Referee: David McKeon.

MATCH STATS

Cork City have won the last five league games between the sides, scoring twelve and conceding just once in those fixtures.

In games against the sides outside the current top four, Cork City have only dropped two points this season – a 1-1 draw away to Sligo Rovers on the opening day of the season.

Last weekend’s 4-3 victory over Bohemians saw Limerick record back to back league wins for the first time since last October when they had a run of three league wins. Athlone Town (4-2), Derry City (2-1) and Sligo Rovers (1-0) were the teams that they beat in that run.

BETTING

Cork 2/9; Draw 19/4; Limerick 12/1.

PREDICTION

Cork 2 – 0 Limerick.

Cork City

Injured: Gavan Holohan.

Doubtful: John Kavanagh, Darren Dennehy, Kevin O’Connor.

Suspended: None.

Limerick

Injured: None.

Doubtful: None.

Suspended: Patrick Kanyuka, Shaun Kelly.