Limerick 0-2 Derry City
Derry City cruised to a comfortable 2-0 win against bottom of the table Limerick at Jackman Park in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division.
It is now nine games without a win for Martin Russell’s team, who are marooned at the foot of the table, and they never looked like toppling their opponents here.
A Barry McNamee penalty set Derry on their way midway through the first half and the visitors produced a killer blow in the final minute of the half as Mark Timlin curled in his first league goal of the season.
Limerick never recovered from that and Derry cruised through the second half, with Philip Lowry coming close to adding some gloss to the scoreline late on, only for Conor O’Donnell to save.
Limerick, without a win in eight attempts this season started the game brightly, with Shane Duggan causing problems on the wing.
The hosts could have taken the lead when Duggan broke into a dangerous position but his attempt to find a team-mate in the Derry area was denied as Shane McEleney produced a vital block to deny the hosts.
But it was Derry who created the most noteworthy chance of the game on 19 minutes when Seanan Clucas produced a fantastic defence-splitting class to send Mark Timlin through on goal. It was a great chance for Derry but Timlin was denied by Limerick goalkeeper Conor O’Donnell, who produced a fantastic block to parry the shot away.
That did little to dispirit Limerick, who threatened themselves just two minutes later.
Duggan again provided the ammunition and Sean Russell’s shot beat Gerard Doherty, only for Clucas to block the ball on the line.
The game was end-to-end and a goal was never far away
It arrived on 24 minutes when Barry McNamee fed a ball through the Limerick defence to put McEleney through on goal. McEleney had the presence of mind to take the ball around O’Donnell, but in his desperation to stop the Derry man, he fouled McEleney, gifting a penalty to the visitors.
With striker Anthony Elding on the bench, it was left to McNamee to take the kick and he showed great composure as he sent O’Donnell the wrong way to give Derry the lead.
And it only got worse for Martin Russell’s team as Derry doubled their lead right on half-time.
McNamee was at the heart of the goal as his clever reverse pass found Timlin, who got a yard and curled the ball sumptuously past O’Donnell and into the corner of the net.
Derry came out determined to kill the game off with a third goal and they very nearly did just that 11 minutes into the second period when Timlin crossed for Sean Houston, but the midfielder could only head over O’Donnell’s bar.
Limerick showed no signs of getting back into the game in the second period, with Shane McEleney and Aaron Barry comfortably dealing with what little the hosts had to offer.
Instead it was Derry who threatened and Philip Lowry and McNamee could have scored before the final whistle ended Limerick’s misery.
Limerick: Conor O’Donnell, Sean Harding, Robbie Williams (Tony Whitehead 90), Aidan Price, Paul O’Connor, Shane Duggan, Dean Clarke, Vinny Faherty, Shane Tracey (Kieran Hanlon 72), Sean Russell, Jason Hughes (Ian Turner 72).
Derry City: Gerard Doherty, Dean Jarvis, Seanan Clucas, Shane McEleney, Barry McNamee, Philip Lowry, Patrick McEleney (Nathan Boyle 90), Sean Houston Mark Timlin, Seamus Sharkey (Ryan Curran 75), Aaron Barry.
Referee: Derek Tomney.
