Mervue United 1 - 0 Limerick FC

• Terry Flaherty
• Sun, May 31 2009


Mervue Utd recorded their fourth win of the season after a narrow 1-0 win over Limerick FC at Terryland Park on Saturday evening. A first goal of the season from winger Alex Lee two minutes after the break was enough to give the home team all three points.

The first half was a forgettable affair as both sides cancelled each other out with chances at a premium and only three efforts on target, two for Limerick and one for the home team. Johnny Glynn made only one change from his side who drew 2-2 with Athlone as Nicky Curran returned at right back with David O’Brien dropping to the bench. Pat Scully was forced into four changes from the side that drew 0-0 with UCD as Paul Danaher, Tommy Barrett, Paul Cummins and Colin Scanlan were all included in his starting eleven.

Alex Lee’s corner kick after 8 minutes picked out centre half Damien O’Rourke but he headed over. On the quarter hour mark a Paul Cummins cross into the box found Shane Treacy but his effort was saved by Eoin Martin.Three minutes later Martin Deedy had a shot blocked by Mervue captain Eric Browne while five minutes later Cummins headed just wide from a Limerick free-kick.

Jamie Wunsch then shot over Eoin Martin’s crossbar from the edge of the box as Limerick were gaining an upper hand in the game. Mervue had been forced to make two changes inside 24 minutes as David O’Dowd replaced the injured Mike Tierney and then had to be replaced himself after a collision with Danaher saw him stretchered off to be replaced by Rory Gaffney.

Mervue’s Nicky Curran released Kevin Barrett down the right wing and he produced a great ball into the box but no Mervue player could get on the end of it and when Rory Gaffney returned the ball into the box again Paul Danaher cleared the danger. Eric Browne had the ball in the Limerick net when he flicked on Rory Gaffney’s long throw but the referee had awarded a free to the visitors for an infringement.

Mervue created the best chance of the first half in injury time after an excellent move. Kevin Barrett won the ball with his back to goal and laid it off to his strike partner David Goldbey who moved into the box before crossing to Barrett who saw his goal bound effort deflected away for a corner kick.

Mervue wasted no time on the resumption to open the scoring as Lee scored his first ever League of Ireland goal within two minutes of the re-start. Rory Gaffney provided the cross from the left wing picking out Barrett whose shot was parried by Dave Ryan to the lurking Lee who had the simple task of tapping into an empty net.

Limerick responded on 49 minutes as Deedy crossed to Jason Hughes who fired over while eight minutes later Deedy’s free-kick once again picked out Cummins who headed over from ten yards. Eoin Martin kept the home side in front two minutes later as he saved smartly at his near post as Hughes tried to sneak an effort in from the edge of the box.

Gary Traynor had a 35 yard lobbed effort pushed out for a corner by the back peddling Ryan on the hour mark while another dangerous Gaffney cross was cut out for a corner two minutes later. At the other end Cummins had a shot well saved by Martin on 79 minutes while Colin Scanlan shot well over two minutes later. Scanlan and Cummins combined well but the former saw his effort blocked by the excellent O’Rourke at the expense of a corner.

Limerick continued to press for an equaliser while Mervue hit them on the break with substitute Kevin Crehan looking dangerous on the counter. Eric Browne cut out another Scanlan effort heading behind for a corner as Limerick got desperate. Three minutes into injury time and Limerick’s final effort saw Martin save Cummins header from another dangerous Deedy cross.

Despite a dreadful opening half the game picked up in the second period as both sides played much better brand of football. Not for the first this season Mervue’s determination and battling qualities ensured it was them who collected all three points on offer as once they scored they comfortably held the visitors while also looking to add a second.

Mervue manger Johnny Glynn was delighted with the result saying “This was an excellent result for us and moves us up the table again. I wasn’t to unhappy at half time with the score at 0-0 but the early second half goal seemed to spur us on as we played much better in the second half. Once again we showed great character and this is a big result for us”. Next up for Mervue is an away trip to Finn Harps next Friday night while Limerick will look to bounce back when they face an away trip to Athlone Town on Saturday evening.

Mervue United: Eoin Martin; Nicky Curran, Mark Ludden, Damien O’Rourke, Eric Browne; Kevin Barrett (Kevin Crehan 80 mins), Rynal Browne, Gary Traynor, Alex Lee, Mike Tierney (David O’Dowd 17mins (Rory Gaffney 24 mins), David Goldbey. Subs not used: Martin Conneely, David O’Brien

Limerick FC: Dave Ryan, Brendan Daly, Martin Deedy, Paul Danaher, Tommy Barrett, Jamie Wunsch, Paul Walsh, Jason Hughes, Paul Cummins, Shane Treacy (Dave Ryan 71 mins), Colin Scanlan. Subs not used: Stephen Goggin, Derek Daly, Brian Collopy.

Referee – Brendan Kelly

Man of the Match – Alex Lee (Mervue Utd) Very good wing play and tireless work throughout the game while also scoring the vital winning goal.