Scully: 'There's no reason why we can't get a result'
LIMERICK FC face into the biggest game of their season this Friday night when the Super Blues host Munster rivals Waterford United at Jackman Park (7.45pm).
Following last Friday night's sensational 2-1 win over Cork City at Turner's Cross another win for Pat Scully's men this weekend would propel Limerick FC into joint-second spot in the First Division, joint-second with Waterford United.
A draw, or course, would probably suit both sides at this stage of the campaign, but Leader Sport got the sense from Limerick FC manager Pat Scully this week that the Super Blues will be chasing all three points.
"The Waterford game is a good game for us, it's a great opportunity for us to show what we can do," manager Pat Scully said.
"If we win we will be joint-second with Waterford so for that reason alone it's a great challenge.
"Waterford are a good team, we know that, but so are we.
"There's no reason why we can't get a result and that's what we will be trying to do."
Limerick FC traveled to the RSC on Friday, April 9 and lost 2-1 to Waterford United, but the Super Blues have been a side transformed in recent weeks and represent the division's form side winning seven of their last ten league games.
"I suppose the main difference between then and now is that the lads have developed," Pat Scully explained.
"We were a bit unlucky at the start of the season with some of our results, but we also started the season with a very young squad. The lads have built up a bit of experience now and they are starting to really perform. Now we have a bit of expectation in the squad, an expectation that we should be getting results and that's not a bad thing.
"Personally I've been hugely impressed by the response of the players so far and by the mental strength that they have shown in games - it's not easy to go down to Turner's Cross and win I can tell you that from experience.
"We're ahead of a lot of good teams now, there's a lot of good teams in the league, but I think we have the most room for improvement. There's a lot more to come from this bunch of players."
Obviously Pat Scully was thrilled with the result on Friday night, especially following the mid-season break.
"It really was great to come back from the break after a couple of weeks and get a result like that," admitted Limerick FC's Pat Scully.
"You never can be quite sure how the players will respond to the mid-season break, but the lads obviously looked after themselves.
"We gave them ten days off, but we also gave them a training programme and they obviously stuck to it which is something we're really happy with," Pat Scully said.
"It really was a good performance by the team and a great result. I was really pleased with Timmy Kiely, who we have only just signed from St. Michael's (Tipp).
"He did fantastically well for a lad who is only at the club for a week now.
"He worked hard out there on the right wing and was very dangerous. In saying that the game was all about a good team effort.
"Everyone played reasonably well and it was great to see Shane Clarke back in the team as well."
But before Limerick FC supporters get carried away with the thoughts of escaping the division for the first time in 16 years Pat Scully has guarded against such optimism: "It's too early to get carried away.
"The players have been brilliant and now we're in the position we want to be in, we want to challenge for promotion. But we must keep our focus and realise that we have to keep doing the things that got us here.
"We've got to keep going out on the park and playing well.
"We're eight points ahead of Cork City now and five ahead of Shels, they're big clubs.
"But we're not happy to be in third place, we're not finished yet. We want to be winning games, that's the culture of the club now and that's the way we want it to stay."
Pat Scully is also hoping to attract a big crowd to Jackman Park on Friday night, but he was also careful this week to highlight the contribution of the Limerick fans to this year's campaign.
"I know the numbers have been small at times, but I couldn't say a bad word about the supporters that have been coming to the games," Pat Scully said.
"You can go to games with big crowds and they don't make half the noise that our supporters do. They're great, they never get on the back of the team and they're always making life difficult for the opposition.
"I couldn't ask for any more and we really appreciate their contribution. We would love more people to come to the games, but all we can do is keep our focus, keep winning games and hopefully that will attract the crowds."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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