Taylor - There were lots of positives

Limerick manager Stuart Taylor says there were “a lot of positives” to take from the game despite falling to a 2-0 defeat by reigning champions Sligo Rovers at The Showgrounds on Saturday night.

Limerick were undone by goals nine minutes into either half as Raffaele Cretaro and Danny North left Barry Ryan with no chance with close-range finishes.

But the outcome could have been very different if Darragh Rainsford had converted the chance that fell his way three minutes before half-time, the 18-year-old shooting straight at Gary Rogers when perfectly placed.

The results over the weekend mean that the Superblues are now four points off sixth place but the performance in Sligo will certainly give encouragement ahead of their tests against Saint Patrick’s Athletic, Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk.

And speaking shortly after the final whistle, Taylor focussed on the good aspects of his team’s display, on a night when new signing Samuel Oji made his debut.

“There were a lot of positives in the game,” the 38-year-old said.

“I thought that Samuel Oji was solid enough at centre-back and he certainly complemented Stephen Folan. I thought Stephen came on leaps and bounds as the game went on and we looked very solid across the back four, with Patrick (Nzuzi) and Rob (Williams) being the two full-backs.

“We were a lot more balanced. We had players playing in their normal positions and we had players playing on the correct side of the pitch to have a good balance about the back four, so that was good.
 

“And it gave confidence throughout the game. The goals we lost had nothing to do with the back four we had and I thought that we created chances.
 

“I thought in the latter part of the first half, we were definitely the stronger side and the better side. We were creating chances and picking up second balls and having the play, so there were a lot of positives.
 

“Unfortunately, for the second goal, there was a little mistake and it kind of put us on a little bit of a downer. But we still battled away, we still kept going – we just need a little bit more belief in the final third, and that comes by us playing games and creating chances.”
 

Limerick fell behind when Cretaro converted Kieran Djilali’s cross, but Taylor agreed that his players recovered well from that early goal, and they should have been level at the break through Rainsford.
 

“The goal came about ten minutes into the game and for a couple of minutes after that, they obviously had the confidence,” he said, “but we showed the strong character that we’ve got and came back into the game.
 

“We started winning our battles all over the park and then we started creating chances. We set our stall out a little bit differently today where we tried to be more inventive in our final play and it worked for us in the latter part of the first half.
 

“Darragh Rainsford had a great chance. Normally, he puts those away. It wasn’t to be today.
 

“But again, it’s a good lesson for us, we can build on that and I was really happy with certain aspects of the game. Yes, there are other aspects we want to change, like the two goals, but that will come.
 

“Goals change games and I think we’ve learnt that this season where we’ve been on the wrong side of either an error or a decision. It’s one where we need to make sure that we take our chances.”
 

Sligo’s second goal came from what appeared to be a harshly-awarded free-kick against Dave O’Leary, and Taylor said: “It definitely wasn’t a foul, but again, the referee makes decisions.
 

“The favourite saying in football is that ‘decisions level themselves out over the season’. We’ve got seven games left and I think we’ll be having plenty of penalties and free-kicks for the remainder of the season!
 

“But I don’t buy into that. I think decisions are there to be made and they’ve got to be done as fairly as possible. I think that we’ve probably been on the wrong side of the decisions.
 

“But we’ll keep battling away. If it doesn’t break you it makes you stronger, and certainly it’s nowhere near breaking us – we’re too strong a characters and too strong a team to lie down to the wrong decisions.
 

“We’re trying to come away from that and just more or less concentrate on our own play. As we keep saying to the players ‘go and score good goals that the referee and linesmen can’t chop off’. That’s the way we’re trying to go about our play right now.
 

“Decisions going against us – we have to make sure that we go and defend straight from the free-kick. They’re tough decisions to take but we’ll go and live with it.”
 

Next up for Limerick is the visit of title favourites St. Pat’s to Thomond Park on Saturday evening.
 

“They’re all difficult games,” Stuart said, “but if we show the character that we showed in spells in the game then we’ll be fine in that game.
 

“It’s one where I’m looking forward to going and playing a little bit more adventurous. With it being a home game as well, we’re looking to go and put a spectacle on as always. We’re hoping that we’ll be creating chances next week.”
 

Following their game against the Saints, Limerick will have a 17-day break between then and their next outing, at home to Shamrock Rovers on 24 September.
 

But Taylor is not worried by that long break, stating: “Having a 17-day break gives you time to go and work on things.
 

“It lets us get Samuel a little bit fitter and a little more knowledgeable towards other players, it lets them know him a little bit more and lets him know them.
 

“We’ll use that time to go and work on things. It’s just on the back end of that break, we’ve got games that come thick and fast.
 

“What it does do is it gives us three weeks to go and get everyone fit – to get Brian O’Callaghan fit, Pat Purcell fitter and Rory Gaffney with his foot – and it gives us a chance to go and build people up and let them rest wee knocks that they’ve got and get over their injuries.”