v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:07 Page 1

v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:07 Page 2

would like to extend a warm welcome to ourvisitors from Bohemians for this afternoon’s FAINational Under-19 League Southern Divisionmatch. I would like to begin by congratulatingtwo of our players, Mark Hoban and Evan Cu-sack on their call-up to the Republic of IrelandUnder-17 International team. Mark and Evanwill join up with Tom Mohan’s squad for afriendly match in Dublin next Wednesday andwe wish the two boys the very best of luck.There is a lot of talk about Ireland at the mo-ment and young players and that we need to dosomething about our underage structure in Ire-land. I have invited some of the people whowrite about it down here to see our setup. We’renow two-and-a-half, almost three years, into ourunderage programme. I’m talking particularlyabout our Under-19s, seven of whom have beenup and down to our senior team.For the first time in the history of Limerick soc-cer, we had nine players chosen during the sum-mer to go to international squads. We broughtour Under-19s to England last year just to exposethem to what goes on in the UK. The first gamewas called off at half-time because of theweather but we were trailing to Bolton Wander-ers and then Blackpool beat us comprehensively.We went back this year and beat HuddersfieldTown 4-1 and Blackpool 4-0. That is despite thefact that we had four of our Under-19s awaywith the Ireland Under-18s on a training campin England. What I’m saying is that as a club, in

our own small way, we know what we’re doinghere.While physically not big, technically ourplayers are streets ahead in lots of stuff. Two ofthe players have gone back to Huddersfield be-cause they liked them so much. They went overfor a week’s coaching. There is so much talent inthis area but if it doesn’t have the structure itwill never have the chance to express itself. Butif it does have the structure and the support,from our management team all the way up –with the gym, diet, sports scientists, off-field andoff-season – it can reap rewards. You obviouslyhave to have the right type of young man andthey’re a credit to their parents, clubs and com-munities, and that has been acknowledged inEngland by everybody. For those who say there’snothing in Ireland then they should come toLimerick and look at what we’re doing here.

super blues03

Chairman’s Welcome.A word from our Chairman, Pat O’Sullivan

I

PAT O’SULLIVAN

v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:07 Page 3

Nathan MURRAYGavin WHYTEColm MURPHYTony WHITEHEADPaudie O'CONNORMark HOBANNathan KELLYShane WALSHKieran HANLONSeán MCSWEENEYCian O'DONOGHUEJames MCGRATHGavin DILLONAJ O'CONNORMatt KEANEEvan SHINEConor MCGUIRERoss FITZGERALDMikey GREEDEvan CUSACKTadhg RYANVal FEENEYShane COSTELLOERoss MANNMichael GUERIN

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.

10.11.12.14.15.16.17.18.19.20.22.23.26.27.28.29.

MANAGERDECLAN FARMER

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Mark OSBOURNERyan HUGHESShane MALONEYJosh KENNEDYAaron HENDERSONLuke KELLYPaddy COLLINSRyan NOLANFiona REILLYEoin RHODESJake HYLANDAdam KELLYReece DUFFYJack CAREYAaron HARDINGGary NAUGHTONKeith MAHONEYJack MENTON

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.

10.11.12.13.14.15.16.17.18.

MANAGERGRAHAM O'HANLON

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

BOHEMIANS

v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:07 Page 4

BOHEMIANS

v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:07 Page 5

ood afternoon and welcome to today’s FAI Na-tional Under-19 League Southern Divisionmatch against Bohemians. I watched Bohsagainst Mervue United last weekend and theyplay nice tidy football and play triangles all overthe pitch. They have two very good full-backswho like to get forward and a speedy rightwinger. Every team we play seems to be setup ina 4-3-3 formation. It appears to be a trend in Ire-land at the moment coming from the EmergingTalent Programme that the FAI run. Mervuewon the game against Bohs 4-2 although it was4-1 for a while. Every team we come up againstseem to raise their game against us because ofwho they’re playing against and in the first halfof games they press us high and don’t tend todrop back, so I’m expecting a good competitivegame.Unfortunately, our 4-0 win over Mervue twoweeks ago was chalked off and awarded as a 3-0win for them as we fielded a player who wasdeemed ineligible. These things happen in foot-ball clubs and we certainly won’t be the last todo it. Through the success we have had, a lot ofplayers have been up with the first-team squadand playing in senior games. Colm Murphymade his first-team debut last month and it wasjust an oversight on our part as we automaticallyassumed he was signed, forgetting that he hadnot signed a separate form for the Under-19League. You just have to get on with it and getover it. We’ve spoken to the players about it andtheir reaction was very positive. They said itdoesn’t matter and that we will still win theleague, so they’re certainly not disheartened byit. On the pitch, we’ve had two good 4-0 wins

over Longford Town and Mervue and I’m partic-ularly pleased with the clean-sheets. This timelast year we started off pretty similarly in termsof results but we were conceding a lot of goals.At the start of the season we looked at that asone of the main areas we wanted to improve inand so far we’ve done that. It’s a challenge ineach game for the goalkeeper and defenders notto concede and that’s just as important as scor-ing goals. I know that we’ll always score goals sothe fact that we’ve now shut the back door isvery pleasing.Two of our young players, Mark Hoban andEvan Cusack, who were born in 1997, have beencalled up to the Republic of Ireland Under-17 In-ternational squad for a friendly match in Dublinon Wednesday. That’s a really good sign of thepotential in the group and we wish them well.Hopefully, today, we can cap a good week withanother three points.

06 super blues

ManagersNotes.

Matchday notes from Limerick FC U19’s manager, Declan Farmer.

G

DECLAN FARMER

v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:07 Page 6

v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:08 Page 7

v Bohemians Sept2013_Layout 1 21/09/2013 00:08 Page 8