Limerick FC 2 - 0 Mervue United

• Andrew Cunneen
• Sat, Jul 02 2011


A tale of two screamers at Jackman Park saw Limerick overcome a stern test from Mervue United as they defeated them by two goals to nil. Incredible strikes from Paudie Quinn and Garbhan Coughlan sealed the points for Limerick after a hard fought ninety minutes on Shannonside.

Limerick lined out with some unusual positioning; John Frost who is predominately a left sided player started at right back due to the absence of Corie Treacy. Andrew Bhandarkar filled the gap on the left side for Frost. Peter Hynes was called back into the side and Barry Ryan regained his spot from his brother Dave, who played against Monaghan on Tuesday.

The warning signs were evident from the start for Mervue as a fantastically floated cross from Thomas Lyons picked out Brian McCarthy free in the centre. His header wasn’t accurate enough to test Ger Hanley in the United goal.

The best chance of the first half fell to Sean Brosnan. John Frost cut inside onto his favoured left boot and hung a great cross into the danger area. Brosnan rose well and his headed effort struck the post and rebounded back into the arms of Hanley. Mervue appeared blessed.

John Mountney will be kicking himself that he didn’t find an opener for Mervue as a series of ricochets found the striker with a direct path to goal. He curled his shot well wide of Limericks goal and Barry Ryan breathed a sigh of relief as the ball drifted past the post.

Mike Collins was the next to panic the home support. His effort from all of twenty yards was acrobatically tipped over the crossbar by Barry Ryan. Mervue began to show intent, but were to be undone by one of the best goals this season.

Thirty-four minutes were on the clock, and Paudie Quinn found himself thirty yards out. The youngster had the audacity to attempt a shot at goal, and what a shot it was. Ger Hanley could only watch the ball rise consistently in the air, strike the underside of the crossbar, and nestle  comfortably in the back of the net. Top class from the Kerry native.

Tom King was Mervue’s main threat all night from right back. His galloping runs often caused mayhem for the Limerick defence, but could never really find the end product. The perfect example of this was five minutes before the interval when he ran almost directly in a diagonal line toward the Limerick goal, but couldn’t find the strength in his boot to trouble Ryan, who collected comfortably.

The second half would be more of the same as Mervue threatened, but their work would be put to waste as an incredible strike would seal their fate.

Limerick displayed some footballing excellence as the half progressed and Andrew Bhandarkar linked up well on the left side with Paudie Quinn. Peter Hynes managed to win the majority of headers whenever they opted to play it over the top, but for the majority, the encounter was a good one to watch.

Rory Gaffney has an effort well saved by Barry Ryan just past the hour mark, but the big Mervue opportunity came when Mike Collins managed to miss a headed opportunity with the goal at his mercy. You were to get the feeling it wasn’t going to be Mervue’s day, especially when Jason Molloy somehow managed to find himself in behind the motionless Limerick defenders at a tight angle. Probably stunned with disbelief at his fortune, Molloy smashed the ball into the side netting. That was to be the final opportunity for Mervue United.

Limerick sealed the win with three minutes to go as the substitute Garbhan Coughlan continued his run in behind as Peter Hynes won the header from a long ball. Coughlan shaped on the edge of the box and struck home marvellously into the bottom corner. The nerves could settle on Shannonside as the points were confirmed.

A hard fought win for Limerick see’s them go into their break on a high note while Mervue United can be proud of their performance and will take positives from it.

Limerick FC: Barry Ryan; John Frost, Pat Purcell, Brian McCarthy, Andrew Bhandarkar; Paudie Quinn, Thomas Lyons (Peter White 66), Jeffrey Judge, Stephen McGann (Garvan Broughall 80); Sean Brosnan (Garbhan Coughlan 63), Peter Hynes.
Subs Not Used: Shane Cusack, Alex Scully, James McGrath, Barry Sheedy.

Mervue United: Ger Hanley; Tom King, Marc Ludden, Martin Conneely, James Casserley; Noel Varley, David O’Brien, Kevin Crehan, Rory Gaffney; Michael Collins (Jason Molloy 73), John Mountney.
Subs Not used: Ger McGrath, Dan Cunningham, Mike Tierney, T.J. Forde, Phil Lawless, Damian O’Rourke.

Referee: Sean Grant (Wexford).
Attendance: 453.
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Paudie Quinn.