Having beaten Bray Wanderers four-nil in a pre-season friendly at the Carlisle Grounds, Limerick proved it was no fluke as they advanced by the same score to the last 16 of the FAI Ford Cup.
The First Division side put a lacklustre Bray to the sword as the
Premier Division outfit finished with nine men.
Paudie Quinn gave the Shannonsiders a first half lead, before both Adam Mitchell and Danny O’Connor saw red.
Denis Behan’s 76th minute penalty helped secure the win for Pat Scully’s side.
Substitute Garbhan Coughlan got in on the scoring act in the 86th minute. Right on full-time, Quinn registered his second by firing low to the net from the edge of the box.
Former Republic of Ireland U21 stopper Darren Quigley presented the away side with their opener in the 42nd minute.
Then with 16 minutes remaining, Wanderers centre-half Mitchell was dismissed for a tackle from behind on Quinn as he attempted to convert a close-range rebound.
O’Connor continued his protests to referee Rob Rogers and was booked. But the home captain continued to argue the case which saw the official produce another red card.
The visitors were decimated by injury, suspension and a player being cup-tied, which meant they started with just 12 of their squad available. That included midfielder Joe Gamble as they named just five substitutes on the bench.
Yet somewhat against the run of play, the Shannonsiders were gifted the advantage by Quigley.
A through ball released the breaking Sean Brosnan. Quigley tried to turn away from the attacker but only succeeded in playing the ball into the path of Quinn who curled a first time shot into an empty net from 25 yards.
But any hope of a comeback was extinguished in the 74th minute.
Corie Treacy’s ball over the top saw Barry Sheedy evade the offside. His curling effort was kept out by Quigley. Quinn went to convert the rebound but was upended by the tackling Mitchell.
As he was walking off the pitch dismissed and before Behan could
convert the spot-kick, referee Rob Rogers booked O’Connor, before brandishing another red card and showing it to the Bray skipper.
Substitute Garbhan Coughlan got in on the scoring act in the 86th
minute as he poked the ball over the line from eight yards.
Then right on full-time, Quinn registered his second by firing low to the net from the edge of the box.
Limerick had threatened in the 16th minute, when David O’Leary sent Sheedy racing clear, only for Dane Massey to get back and make a sliding block tackle inside the penalty area at the expense of a corner.
Despite having territorial advantage, it wasn’t until the 33rd minute that Wanderers went close.
Jake Kelly’s long range in-swinging free forced Barry Ryan to tip over his cross-bar.
From Dean Zambra’s resulting corner, the unmarked Daire Doyle sent a glancing header just wide of the far post.
Having lost Chris Shields to injury early in the second period, Doyle was again just off target with a rasping shot in the 55th minute.
Still pressing without creating anything of real merit, substitute John Mulroy’s mazy run created a 72nd-minute opening. But his 22-yard effort rose over the bar.
Bray Wanderers: Darren Quigley; Shane O’Connor (Kevin Knight 63 mins), Derek Prendergast, Adam Mitchell, Dane Massey; Daire Doyle; Danny O’Connor; Chris Shields (John Mulroy 51 mins), Jake Kelly, Dean Zambra; Conor Murphy (Dan McGuinness 80 mins).
Subs not used: David Webster, Shane O'Neill, Graham Kelly, Brian Kane.
Limerick FC: Barry Ryan; Corie Treacy, Pat Purcell, Peter White,
Andrew Bhandarkar (Garvan Broughall 70 mins); Barry Sheedy (Peter Hynes 78 mins), David O’Leary, Jefffrey Judge, Sean Brosnan (Garbhan Coughlan 62 mins); Paudie Quinn, Denis Behan.
Subs not used: James McGrath, Shane Cusack.
Referee: Rob Rogers (Dublin).
