19.45 18 Aug 2014 -
Referee: Neil Doyle
League Preview: St Pats -v- Limerick
- Macdara Ferris
- Mon, Aug 18 2014
SAINT PATRICK’S ATHLETIC
The aim for the Saints will be to make it 11 wins from their 13 league games in Richmond Park this season when they take on Limerick on Monday night (kick-off 7.45pm). Pat’s will be looking not just to cement third spot in the table, as they stand two points clear of Shamrock Rovers, but to close the gap on Cork City (six points) and league leaders Dundalk (ten points).
Liam Buckley’s men have won their last nine games in Inchicore scoring 29 goals in the process and come into the game on the back of a hard fought 3-2 home win over UCD last Friday. Keith Fahey put Pat’s 1-0 up on half time before Greg Bolger earned himself a red card early in the second half after an overzealous tackle on Colm Crowe. Conan Byrne put in another fine performance for Pat’s and he scored to make it 2-0.
Ian Bermingham looked to have wrapped up the win volleying home Killian Brennan’s cross 13 minutes from time but ten man Pat’s allowed UCD get back into the game. It was a nervous ending to the match for the Saints supporters as first, with three minutes remaining, Hugh Douglas scored. Then in injury time Robbie Benson scored for the students from a free kick but Pat’s prevailed 3-2.
Liam Buckley’s men have won three of their last four games but, critically for their title retention ambitions, they lost to second placed Cork City in Turner’s Cross following Colin Healy’s late wonderstrike for the Leesiders. Mark Quigley returns for Pat’s from his recent suspension but Ken Oman is likely to be out after missing Friday’s game. James Chambers who also missed the win over UCD faces another fitness test ahead of kick off.
LIMERICK FC
Having lost their last four league games on the road, Limerick face a tough task when they travel to take on the champions St. Patrick’s Athletic on Monday night. They were just six minutes away from earning a valuable point against Dundalk last Friday night before Patrick Hoban’s goal gave the SSE Airtricity League leaders the win.
Martin Russell’s men have only two wins on their travels in the league this season but are unbeaten in the capital, with one win and three draws. When the two teams last met, Limerick won 2-0 in Thomand Park and in their first meeting of the season back in March it was a 1-1 draw in Richmond Park with James McGarth scoring for the Shannonsiders. That is St. Pat’s only stalemate at home in the league all season. The Limerick manager, who won a league title with Pat’s in 1999, will be looking on the trip to Inchicore to replicate his team’s form in Thomand Park where they’ve won four of their last five games.
“These are the games where we’ll learn a lot more than some of the wins,” said Russell speaking to LimerickFC.ie about playing two of the top three in the league in consecutive games away from home. ”In Dundalk, there were valuable lessons learned. I’m sure again we’ll go to St. Pat’s trying to even improve on that. We’ll go and try to win the game and either way we’ll know going forward what areas we need to develop.
“If you can outperform the teams that are going to win the league or look like they’re going to win the league – that’s what you want to do for the future.
“In the first half on Friday, I thought we gave as good as we got; in the second half, not so. That’s where we’re short at the moment (eighth place). We are where we are but where we want to get to is going to take some work and a decent bit of improvement.”
Samuel Oji made his 25th league start for Limerick in Dundalk and the vice-captain is relishing the challenge of taking on the Saints on Monday. “These are the games we should want to play in”, said the 28-year-old speaking to LimerickFC.ie. “It’s another tough game but we want to go and show people what we can do. That should be the mentality of every boy here because we’re capable.
“We’ve done well against Pat’s; we drew at their place and won at our place. Again, we should go there with no fear. We’ll show them the respect that they’re due but at the same time go there believing that we can get a win.”
Referee: Neil Doyle.
MATCH STATS
Danny Galbraith is the top scorer for Limerick in the league so far this season with seven goals. He scored in the Super Blues’ 2-0 win over the Saints in Thomand Park earlier in the year, along with Jason Hughes. Galbraith also scored in both of Limerick’s away league wins this season. In April he earned them a 1-0 victory in Dalymount Park and he was on the mark in their last win away from home which was a 4-1 victory against Drogheda in May. He was substituted just after the hour mark in Dundalk last Friday but is expected to be fit for the trip to Richmond Park.
If Pat’s make it ten league wins in a row on Monday, they will equal what the club did in their debut league season. They lost their opening game in the 1951/52 season but then won the next ten games to help clinch the league title. Their record home winning streak is 12 victories set across April 1955 to March 1956. They won the title in both of those seasons.
Christy Fagan is top league scorer for the Saints with 16 strikes but he hasn’t found the back of the net in domestic action since the start of July. He scored in the 1-1 draw in the Champions League qualifier away to Legia Warsaw.
BETTING
St. Pat’s 2/5; Draw 10/3; Limerick 13/2.
PREDICTION
2-0 home win.
St. Patrick’s Athletic
Injured: Ken Oman.
Doubtful: James Chambers.
Suspended: Greg Bolger.
Limerick FC
Injured: None.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.
About Macdara Ferris
Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl …