Limerick FC put their managerial drama behind them as they came away from Richmond Park with all three points after a 2-0 win over St Patrick’s Athletic.
St Pats had been on a good run of form of late, with a 3-game winning streak, but Limerick were fully deserving of their victory.
After an early Josh O’Hanlon effort it was Limerick who had more chances in the first half, however Pats did have lots of possession without doing too much with the ball.
Limerick did go in front when Tony Whitehead flicked on from a Shane Duggan free-kick after a good spell of pressure from the visitors.
You can see the goal here;
After Lee Desmond missed a chance for Pats, Ogbene almost doubled Limerick’s lead before the break as his effort nearly went in off Pats defender Ian Bermingham.
Pats upped the pressure in the second half, as Conan Byrne had a couple of chances saved by Clarke.
Pats did have a penalty midway through the first half, but former Pats goal-keeper Brendan Clarke saved Conan Byrne’s spot-kick before Ian Bermingham hit the post with the follow-up
Here’s Brendan Clarke’s Penalty save;
Limerick had a couple of chances after that to go 2 up through captain Shane Duggan and substitute John O’Flynn, who replaced Rodrigo Tosi, but both efforts were saved by Pats goal-keeper Conor O’Malley.
O’Flynn did double the visitors lead in the 83rd minute, with an excellent finish to a great Limerick counter-attack to put the result out of reach of Pats.
After the game we spoke to Limerick coach Joe Gamble, “It was a fantastic result for us especially after a very tough week with Martin leaving and the whole upheaval that it brought. But the players deserve a huge amount of credit for showing great character and mental toughness to come away with a 2-0 win.”
“Overall every player performed well, especially our work rate without the ball and showing great grit and determination to defend and be hard to beat, which is a minimum requirement for me if you want to do well in the league of Ireland.”
“We did ride our luck at times in the second half when St Pats put us under a lot of pressure, and they missed a penalty which was very harsh on Shaun Kelly.”
“Bredan Clarke did brilliant to save the penalty but overall his performance was fantastic.”
On the recent change of manager at the club, Joe said, “Willie has come in and hasn’t changed too much since Martin has left, but he has brought a few changes and he has his own ideas on the game, which going on tonight’s result and performance went very well.”
“I think with so much disruption during the week it was a great result and everyone should take credit for sticking together and producing tonight.”