v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:07 Page 1
v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:07 Page 2
v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:07 Page 3
super blues 03
Chairman’s Welcome. A word from our Chairman, Pat O’Sullivan
I
would like to extend a warm welcome to our visitors from Bohemians for this afternoon’s FAI National Under-19 League Southern Division match. I would like to begin by congratulating two of our players, Mark Hoban and Evan Cusack on their call-up to the Republic of Ireland Under-17 International team. Mark and Evan will join up with Tom Mohan’s squad for a friendly match in Dublin next Wednesday and we wish the two boys the very best of luck. There is a lot of talk about Ireland at the moment and young players and that we need to do something about our underage structure in Ireland. I have invited some of the people who write about it down here to see our setup. We’re now two-and-a-half, almost three years, into our underage programme. I’m talking particularly about our Under-19s, seven of whom have been up and down to our senior team. For the first time in the history of Limerick soccer, we had nine players chosen during the summer to go to international squads. We brought our Under-19s to England last year just to expose them to what goes on in the UK. The first game was called off at half-time because of the weather but we were trailing to Bolton Wanderers and then Blackpool beat us comprehensively. We went back this year and beat Huddersfield Town 4-1 and Blackpool 4-0. That is despite the fact that we had four of our Under-19s away with the Ireland Under-18s on a training camp in England. What I’m saying is that as a club, in
our own small way, we know what we’re doing here.While physically not big, technically our players are streets ahead in lots of stuff. Two of the players have gone back to Huddersfield because they liked them so much. They went over for a week’s coaching. There is so much talent in this area but if it doesn’t have the structure it will never have the chance to express itself. But if it does have the structure and the support, from our management team all the way up – with the gym, diet, sports scientists, off-field and off-season – it can reap rewards. You obviously have to have the right type of young man and they’re a credit to their parents, clubs and communities, and that has been acknowledged in England by everybody. For those who say there’s nothing in Ireland then they should come to Limerick and look at what we’re doing here.
PAT O’SULLIVAN
v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:07 Page 4
BOHEMIANS
MANAGER DECLAN FARMER
MANAGER GRAHAM O'HANLON
O 1. O 2. O 3. O 4. O 5. O 6. O 7. O 8. O 9. O 10. O 11. O 12. O 14. O 15. O 16. O 17. O 18. O 19. O 20. O 22. O 23. O 26. O 27. O 28. O 29.
O 1. O 2. O 3. O 4. O 5. O 6. O 7. O 8. O 9. O 10. O 11. O 12. O 13. O 14. O 15. O 16. O 17. O 18.
Nathan MURRAY Gavin WHYTE Colm MURPHY Tony WHITEHEAD Paudie O'CONNOR Mark HOBAN Nathan KELLY Shane WALSH Kieran HANLON Seรกn MCSWEENEY Cian O'DONOGHUE James MCGRATH Gavin DILLON AJ O'CONNOR Matt KEANE Evan SHINE Conor MCGUIRE Ross FITZGERALD Mikey GREED Evan CUSACK Tadhg RYAN Val FEENEY Shane COSTELLOE Ross MANN Michael GUERIN
Mark OSBOURNE Ryan HUGHES Shane MALONEY Josh KENNEDY Aaron HENDERSON Luke KELLY Paddy COLLINS Ryan NOLAN Fiona REILLY Eoin RHODES Jake HYLAND Adam KELLY Reece DUFFY Jack CAREY Aaron HARDING Gary NAUGHTON Keith MAHONEY Jack MENTON
v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:07 Page 5
BOHEMIANS
v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:07 Page 6
06 super blues
Managers Notes. Matchday notes from Limerick FC U19’s manager, Declan Farmer.
G
ood afternoon and welcome to today’s FAI National Under-19 League Southern Division match against Bohemians. I watched Bohs against Mervue United last weekend and they play nice tidy football and play triangles all over the pitch. They have two very good full-backs who like to get forward and a speedy right winger. Every team we play seems to be setup in a 4-3-3 formation. It appears to be a trend in Ireland at the moment coming from the Emerging Talent Programme that the FAI run. Mervue won the game against Bohs 4-2 although it was 4-1 for a while. Every team we come up against seem to raise their game against us because of who they’re playing against and in the first half of games they press us high and don’t tend to drop back, so I’m expecting a good competitive game. Unfortunately, our 4-0 win over Mervue two weeks ago was chalked off and awarded as a 3-0 win for them as we fielded a player who was deemed ineligible. These things happen in football clubs and we certainly won’t be the last to do it. Through the success we have had, a lot of players have been up with the first-team squad and playing in senior games. Colm Murphy made his first-team debut last month and it was just an oversight on our part as we automatically assumed he was signed, forgetting that he had not signed a separate form for the Under-19 League. You just have to get on with it and get over it. We’ve spoken to the players about it and their reaction was very positive. They said it doesn’t matter and that we will still win the league, so they’re certainly not disheartened by it. On the pitch, we’ve had two good 4-0 wins
over Longford Town and Mervue and I’m particularly pleased with the clean-sheets. This time last year we started off pretty similarly in terms of results but we were conceding a lot of goals. At the start of the season we looked at that as one of the main areas we wanted to improve in and so far we’ve done that. It’s a challenge in each game for the goalkeeper and defenders not to concede and that’s just as important as scoring goals. I know that we’ll always score goals so the fact that we’ve now shut the back door is very pleasing. Two of our young players, Mark Hoban and Evan Cusack, who were born in 1997, have been called up to the Republic of Ireland Under-17 International squad for a friendly match in Dublin on Wednesday. That’s a really good sign of the potential in the group and we wish them well. Hopefully, today, we can cap a good week with another three points.
DECLAN FARMER
v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:08 Page 7
v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:08 Page 8