Soccer – Limerick FC’s escape to victory

LIMERICK FC still have three more matches to try and pull off a highly improbable escape from relegation, the first of which arrives on Saturday 17 evening when they welcome Derry City to Markets Field (kick-off 6:30pm).
The Super Blues bounced back from the recent home defeat to champions Dundalk with a tremendous 3-1 victory away to Galway United last week.
Vinny Faherty put the visitors ahead in the 15th minute at Eamonn Deacy Park before ex-Limerick defender Sammy Oji equalised on the hour mark. Ian Turner quickly restored Limerick’s lead and Faherty made sure of the points late on.
Limerick manager Martin Russell commended the “character” shown by the players in that win, saying: “It was an important result as some people questioned if we could hit back after losing to Dundalk. We answered those questions last Friday and the character the lads showed was fantastic, especially after being pegged back to 1-1.
“I said at the end of the game that there were instances where we could have played even better, but to go up to Galway and win 3-1, I couldn’t be happier.”
Derry come to Shannonside in sixth place, but the bottom half of the Premier Division is so congested that even the Candystripes have work to do in their final three games to ensure their top flight status, with just six points separating them from bottom side Limerick. Russell said that the extreme competitiveness among the bottom seven positions in the 12-team league is good for his team.
“It’s a tight league. It’s a tough league. There are so many teams still fighting to stay up and that has kept it interesting. It also gives us a better prospect of staying in the league and it’s good that so many teams still have something to play for. We just want to keep it going to the final day.”
Limerick’s final game of the season is away to Sligo Rovers, who are presently just two points ahead of the Super Blues, and Russell is aiming to go into that clash on October 30 ahead of Sligo in the table.
“Even with only three games left, it’s hard to know which way it will go. We’ll work towards that [Sligo game] and we hope that we’ll still be in with a chance of doing something that many people said we wouldn’t have a hope of doing.”
Meanwhile, Markets Field staged two underage internationals earlier this week.
Republic of Ireland under 19s drew 1-1 with Ukraine on Saturday before, in the second fixture between the teams two days later, the visitors recorded a 2-1 victory.