Limerick boss Barrett praise for Cockhill challenge

Limerick FC progressed to the second round of the Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup after a 2-0 away victory over Ulster Senior League outfit Cockhill Celtic.

Goals in the second half from Killian Brouder and Barry Maguire were enough to see the Premier Division side into the next round.

The scoreline suggests a close encounter and the Limerick Manager said Cockhill gave it a real go, despite only being in pre-season.

“They made it difficult, they were in it to compete, they put 11 behind the ball which is hard to break down,” he said.

“We only really created chances when they got tired, it’s a difficult game, it’s a difficult place to come, they’re good at what they do, they broke very well and set pieces were tricky to defend so I’m happy to get a clean sheet,” he added.

Gavin Cullen made a number of fine stops towards the latter stages of the fixture and Tommy Barrett noted had they found the net on such occasions, it would have been unjust on his opponents.

“It could have been 4 or 5 for a finish but that wouldn’t have been fair on Cockhill, as they were well organised, they kept the score down and they gave a great account of themselves,” he said.

Cockhill had a great opportunity to open the scoring inside five minutes and Barrett noted, had Cockhill scored that early, they would have been in for a much more difficult afternoon.

“They had the best chance of the first half, a breakaway, they probably should have scored,” he said.

“You’re getting your tails up, we had all the ball but it’s difficult to break down a team that is well organised,” he added.

Next up for Limerick as a league game against Sligo Rovers and Tommy noted that all games now, are as important as the next.

“Every game is difficult for us at the level we are playing at. Any game we play is difficult for us, we were very poor last week against Bohemians, first 25 minutes I thought we were decent but Bohs took over after that,” he concluded.