Fairview heartened by FAI home draw

DESPITE losing their critical Kilmurry Lodge Premier League clash with Pike Rovers on Sunday morning Fairview Rangers will be heartened by a home draw in the quarter-finals of the FAI Junior Cup.
Fairview, to keep their hopes of challenging for the Premier League title alive, desperately needed to beat the league leaders, but they lost 1-2 and now find themselves six points behind while Rovers also hold a game in hand on the ‘View.
Ironically Fairview have been drawn at home against Erris United (Mayo), the side that knocked Pike Rovers out of the FAI Junior Cup, in the quarter-finals while, should they win that encounter, they will also enjoy home advantage against Bohemians FC (Waterford) or Ballymun United in the semi-finals.
In the remaining quarter-final ties Clonmel Town will host Sheriff YC while St. Peter’s will host Lisselton Celtic or City United - all four quarter-finals will take place on March 22 while the semi-finals are fixed for April 5.
In the seventh round Erris United made the 540-kilometre round-trip to face and beat Kinsale (2-1) while Fairview beat Kilkenny side Evergreen 4-1. The sixth round saw Fairview beat Redcastle (Donegal) 2-0 while Erris United beat Pike Rovers 3-2 in Mayo. In the fifth round Erris United beat Dublin Bus while Fairview saw off Tipperary’s Rock Rovers (3-2).
Erris United are is based at Carne Nash, near Belmullet.
Limerick FC slumped to their first defeat of the season at the Belfield Bowl on Friday night when they lost 2-1 at the hands of UCD.
Limerick struggled to contain a young UCD side and didn’t muster their first shot on target until the 86th minute, but the side, now jointly-managed by Paul O’Donnell and Mick Shiels until March 25, stuck to their task and kept the students at bay in the first half. UCD broke the deadlock in the 57th minute when Ciaran Kilduff opened the scoring while Chris Mulhall added a second in the 73rd minute. Limerick did manage a late Paul Cummins strike (91st minute), but ultimately UCD deserved all three points.
Despite that defeat the Super Blues are eagerly looking forward to this Friday night’s clash with Mervue United at Jackman Park (kick-off 7.45pm).
Tommy Barrett, a stalwart of the side, was frustrated by the UCD result, but he is looking forward to the visit of the Galway city side to Jackman Park: “The UCD result was a bit frustrating, but we’ve had no real pre-season so we can’t get too upset about it. We’re looking forward to the game against Mervue, we’ll try to play good football and hopefully Limerick people will come out, like they did last season, to support us.”
Mervue United played their first-ever League of Ireland game against Athlone Town on Friday night at Terryland Park, but failed to mark that auspicious occasion with three points.
Mervue United beat Kildare County 5-2 on aggregate last December to qualify for the First Division. That result should have brought Kildare County’s seven-year stint in the League of Ireland to an end, but the untimely demise of Cobh Ramblers has seen the Thoroughbreds also take their place in the First Division. Two former Super Blues, Nigel Keady and Dave Goldbey, could feature for Mervue at Jackman Park while the side is managed by Johnny Glynn. The Mervue United players returned from a pre-season trip to Spain recently and Johnny Glynn will be hoping that the likes of the former Galway United and Athlone Town striker David O’Dowd can earn his side the points against Limerick on Friday night.
Limerick FC however are more than capable of recording their first win of the season in their first home game and despite the poor result against UCD the Super Blues will be expected to see off the challenge of Mervue United.

Brian McDonnell