Promotion/Relegation play off

[EAFC_rdfl]

After the craic last night being allowed to go on, would it be safe/legal to allow 4k into Finn Park?
probably not naw, sure the Harps players would end up 'hacking' at the spectators nearest the pitch

[seand]

Great to see a huge crowd at this one. When Limerick were getting less than a thousand into Jackman for Cork, Rovers and Dundalk I did wonder if there was any future for them, regardless of a ground move. Looks like there's real potential for LFC at Markets Field

Second leg will be interesting, the onus will be on Harps to come out of their shell, which should open things up a bit for Limerick.

[pineapple stu]

Second clean sheet of the season for Limerick. Have to think that in itself is a missed opportunity for Harps.

Though obviously still nicely balanced for the second leg. Have to imagine whichever team is in the First Division next season will start as title favourites.

[Jofspring]

Second clean sheet of the season for Limerick. Have to think that in itself is a missed opportunity for Harps.

Though obviously still nicely balanced for the second leg. Have to imagine whichever team is in the First Division next season will start as title favourites.

If we go down I reckon we will have basically a whole new squad next season so I don't think us going down will make us favourites where as if harps stay down and keep the squad they will most likely be favourites.

[nigel-harps1954]

If we go down I reckon we will have basically a whole new squad next season so I don't think us going down will make us favourites where as if harps stay down and keep the squad they will most likely be favourites.

If we stay down, McHugh is retiring and I'd say a few of the players will have better offers from Irish League clubs and possibly Derry/Sligo.

We really need to get promoted.

[thomas72]

I think between the two sides Limerick back 4 is poor more so centre half position but are excellent going forward.

Harps imo is the opposite I was impressed with there centre half's excellent in the air but up front they were very average lad that started worked his socks off but offered very little lad that missed there only real chance plenty of pace but lacked composure as show for that chance he could of taken a touch and composed himself and rolled it un but he snatched at it.

[Sam_Heggy]

Nathan Boyle had an open net in the first half after the centre half over hit the back pass to the keeper and it bounced over his head. Can't believe he nearly hit the fecking corner flag with his effort.
Banda's chance was one he'd had scored 10 out of 10 times for the Under 19's, I think he saw his name in lights in only his 3rd appearance for the 1st team.
Funston was cleaned inside the box in the 2nd half, stone wall pen.
Shaun Kelly with a 2 footed lung at Tony McNamee should have been a red.

That's about the total of our positives.

With Raymond Foy and Kevin McHugh injured, it took alot away from the team as we didn't keep the ball well and had no burst of pace coming from midifeld.

We still looked threatening and would hold no fear of Limerick on Friday night as they are brutal at the back.

In saying that, they have players who could hurt us and are a surperior footballing side. Damian McNulty was roasted, it was amazing that he played having spent Friday night and Saturday in hospital with food poisoning. Limerick hit the crossbar but other than that, Ciaran Gallagher didn't have any real saves to make.

Great to see such a big crowd and decent atmosphere. Hopefully Finn Park will be something similar on Friday night.

[thomas72]

Nathan Boyle had an open net in the first half after the centre half over hit the back pass to the keeper and it bounced over his head. Can't believe he nearly hit the fecking corner flag with his effort.
Banda's chance was one he'd had scored 10 out of 10 times for the Under 19's, I think he saw his name in lights in only his 3rd appearance for the 1st team.
Funston was cleaned inside the box in the 2nd half, stone wall pen.
Shaun Kelly with a 2 footed lung at Tony McNamee should have been a red.

That's about the total of our positives.

With Raymond Foy and Kevin McHugh injured, it took alot away from the team as we didn't keep the ball well and had no burst of pace coming from midifeld.

We still looked threatening and would hold no fear of Limerick on Friday night as they are brutal at the back.

In saying that, they have players who could hurt us and are a surperior footballing side. Damian McNulty was roasted, it was amazing that he played having spent Friday night and Saturday in hospital with food poisoning. Limerick hit the crossbar but other than that, Ciaran Gallagher didn't have any real saves to make.

Great to see such a big crowd and decent atmosphere. Hopefully Finn Park will be something similar on Friday night.

You must of been listening to the game on the radio Limerick should of been out of sight at half time your forgetting the two open goals in the first 15mins one hitting the bar another iv no idea what he was trying to do.
Also the 2 or 3 free headers in the 6yrd box that went wide really have to be scoring them but I suppose be worse if we created nothing

[Sam_Heggy]

Were the lads on the radio making up what they saw??

I was at the game.

It wasn't clear headers unmarked, it was under serious pressure from our defenders. As I said, aside from hitting the bar, I don't remember Ciaran Gallagher making a save.

[nigel-harps1954]

You must of been listening to the game on the radio Limerick should of been out of sight at half time your forgetting the two open goals in the first 15mins one hitting the bar another iv no idea what he was trying to do.
Also the 2 or 3 free headers in the 6yrd box that went wide really have to be scoring them but I suppose be worse if we created nothing

The one that hit the bar was by Damien McNulty.

[osarusan]

Last time I was in Ballybofey, we were on some terrace behind the dugouts. I think the TV gantry was across from us.

Will we be on the opposite side this time?

[Sam_Heggy]

Last time I was in Ballybofey, we were on some terrace behind the dugouts. I think the TV gantry was across from us.

Will we be on the opposite side this time?

Yeah, ye will be in our state of the art away section.......

I wouldn't complain too much about the handing of our supporters other than the fact of over charging them and allowing some Limerick fans into the seats in the middle of us.

There were plenty of Harps fans standing at the fence behind the nets too and were perfectly happy to do so.

Nice stadium at Market fields, only draw back being the stands are so far away from the pitch.

[ForzaHoop]

Yeah you will be in the open terrace beside the TV gantry but i don't think they are anyway strict on the movements of supporters especially if it lashes down

[gael353]

Only found out this morning, the Harps fans that arrived late where charged €17 for student tickets because the lad in the ticket booth 'didn't have the correct change'. Not only did they miss the first twenty minutes of the game, they were grossly overcharged for the experience.

Fair play Limerick.
Whose fault was it that they missed the first twenty mins of the game? Are you suggesting they should receive a discount for arriving late for a game? How much is a stand ticket for an away supporter anyway cos im trying to work out what sort of financial transactions took place. Tell him write to the club for a refund

[Jofspring]

I can't understand where €17 would have come from if there was no change. If there was no change then surely they would have been charged €10, €15 or €20. To me €17 is the kind of price you would need to have change to charge.

I overheard the stewards talking on the radios and they were saying "a bus of fans has just arrived late, the stand is full, and no tickets are left, what will we do" And someone replied "just charge them for terrace and we'll sort something". Obviously I don't know what happened after that and what they were actually charged.

[joey B]

I'm sure they aren't suggesting they get a discount were did you get that from?? They were late because the bus they were on got TWO tyre blowouts on the motorway coming into Limerick,

[Sam_Heggy]

I was charged €15 into the away section. I think it was something like €12 for students.

The lads were charged €17 each for some reason.

[nigel-harps1954]

A handful of the lads that got charged €17 each were 2nd level students, who were only meant to be charged €7. They were all told they had to be charged €17 because they didn't have correct change. All because the club sold away tickets to home fans. The lad in the ticket booth out on the road beckoned over home fans he told to go away once we walked away from the ticket booth.

The head steward was well warned in advance that there was a bus load of Harps fans that would be arriving late, but they kept letting in home fans regardless.

It was a shambles of an organisation.

[MattB11]

I went to harps game in Jackman park a number of years ago and was charged 8 bloody euro for a burger and can of fanta, what the hell is with the massive over charging for food and drink? Do you Limerick fans pay these prices or do ye just take **** with away fans?

[Acornvilla]

I went to harps game in Jackman park a number of years ago and was charged 8 bloody euro for a burger and can of fanta, what the hell is with the massive over charging for food and drink? Do you Limerick fans pay these prices or do ye just take **** with away fans?
Didn't buy anything last night, but I think it's usually about 4.50 for a burger and chips in the home end. The times I sat in the away end with the Town lads I never got food so can't comment on away end prices, although they had no food in the away end in the MF when they played this year.

[D24Saint]

I went to harps game in Jackman park a number of years ago and was charged 8 bloody euro for a burger and can of fanta, what the hell is with the massive over charging for food and drink? Do you Limerick fans pay these prices or do ye just take **** with away fans?

The Rats of Limerick don't catch & cook themselves it's high quality cuisine they are offering.

[osarusan]

Away section tickets being sold to home fans is wrong even if there is no late bus on the way.

The 17euro thing confuses me.

How many were charged that amount? Were they handing over 20 quid and only being given back 3 or what? Did the booth only have 1 or 2 euro coins as change? If so, why not hand over 30 quid for 4 and get 2 euro change?

[nigel-harps1954]

Away section tickets being sold to home fans is wrong even if there is no late bus on the way.

The 17euro thing confuses me.

How many were charged that amount? Were they handing over 20 quid and only being given back 3 or what? Did the booth only have 1 or 2 euro coins as change? If so, why not hand over 30 quid for 4 and get 2 euro change?

I've no idea, but I'd assume it was all of the 33 people on the bus charged that much. I wasn't on the bus myself and got ticket at normal price myself, just know what I was told by the lads who were on the bus.

Harps officials have been informed and they're passing on all the info the Limerick to investigate anyway.

[Jofspring]

It's up to the burger place to set their price. Ya a meal deal I got last week (first time ever going to the burger van) was like €9. Burger, Chips and Drink. It's a complete rip off. First and last time I'll buy food inside.

Edit: that was in the home section.

[Acornvilla]

It's up to the burger place to set their price. Ya a meal deal I got last week (first time ever going to the burger van) was like €9. Burger, Chips and Drink. It's a complete rip off. First and last time I'll buy food inside.

Edit: that was in the home section.
Ah jeasus, I got something, I think the last time I did would have been against Dundalk, or maybe Bohs and prices were half that..

[LK37oldskool]

On the the price of the food, it has nothing to do with Limerick FC as the pitch is leased to the Food seller and he has complete control over what he charges, There are 3 very good take a ways with 250m of the ground. Any way you went to the away end you'd have had to pass one of them. Its a new ground and there are a lot of teething problems and for sure, nights like last night will help going forward to make things better in future. the club want to do things right and i'm sure they will listen to any complaints. Looking forward to going up Friday but have to say your place looks a right tip from the footage i saw on tv last night. Sorry but it looks old and in need of a face lift.

[Sam_Heggy]

Feck it lads, the kebab place round the corner from the ground was only €7 for a kebab meal. Couldn't beat it.

[Sam_Heggy]

On the the price of the food, it has nothing to do with Limerick FC as the pitch is leased to the Food seller and he has complete control over what he charges, There are 3 very good take a ways with 250m of the ground. Any way you went to the away end you'd have had to pass one of them. Its a new ground and there are a lot of teething problems and for sure, nights like last night will help going forward to make things better in future. the club want to do things right and i'm sure they will listen to any complaints. Looking forward to going up Friday but have to say your place looks a right tip from the footage i saw on tv last night. Sorry but it looks old and in need of a face lift.

Finn Parks not a tip, it's not old, it's just full of charm.

[LK37oldskool]

Charm I can do 👍.

[Mr A]

I was on the blowout bus and was charged €15. I was directed to the terrace but when I said I had paid for a seat was let into the away stand. I was only aware of a few lads getting hit for €17. Things just seemed very confused but people were so frustrated withe being late they just accepted it to get into the ground. In nice time to see the sodding goal as well!

Limerick's crowds have mushroomed so it's inevitable there will be some issues.

[fbtn]

Yeah - the bloke in the ticket booth only had a handful of euro coins left so some of the younger lads got shafted.

Bizarrely, myself and my son didn't get charged at all on the way in. With the €30 I saved, the socialist in me spent it on cider to share with the back of the bus on the way home.

The situation with the bus on the way there was balls for us but it really was one of those things that can just happen and thankfully no one was hurt, which was the main thing.

Don't think that it was ideal that there were so many home fans in the away section with little to no segregation. That said, the Limerick fans were a very friendly bunch and there were zero issues. The lack of toilets was also a bit annoying but thankfully, the strategically placed Transit van behind the away stand worked out well!

Must say fair play to Limerick. The Market Fields looks great and you can see the club are building something good there. Good to see the people of the city come out and support them.

Hopefully we'll see a few hundred of them up on Friday night in Ballybofey for what should be another tense and dramatic playoff in front of another massive crowd. We should have a few of our lads back from injury but regardless, we'll certainly give them a game of it.

UTH.

[nigel-harps1954]

Something fbtn mentions there I just have to point out too which I probably unfairly didn't mention, the majority of Limerick fans were very friendly indeed and a few of them moved, and had no problem doing so, when we mentioned there was a bus load of fans coming along.

[thomas72]

Limerick chairman paying for 4 buses for supporters

[fbtn]

Limerick chairman paying for 4 buses for supporters

That's pretty cool.

Maybe he will treat all the fans of a 'Best Of' compilation CD of his rousing speeches to listen to on the journey!

In all seriousness, the Delia Smith speech at half time was like something straight out of Alan Partridge.

[Jofspring]

Most teams in the premier have been treated to the half time Pat speeches at this stage. He even made a speech to MK Dons about what they should do in the Championship.

[nigel-harps1954]

Jesus, fair play to him. Four half decent buses that length of the country will cost probably the guts of €2,500 euro.

[bluewhitearmy]

Jesus, fair play to him. Four half decent buses that length of the country will cost probably the guts of €2,500 euro.

I know of 3 50 seaters I'm running one and its costing us €1000.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Jesus, fair play to him. Four half decent buses that length of the country will cost probably the guts of €2,500 euro.

He owes a lot of people down there that were involved with the club money. He should look at paying them off first of all.

[MattB11]

Away section for this will be bottom end of the stand towards the river end and not the gantry side.

[Dodge]

Some turnaround for O'Sullivan. Banning fans earlier in the year and paying for them to go to Donegal now. If they don't get a result, I'd be afraid there wouldn't be a bus home to Limerick for the lads

[ForzaHoop]

How many tickets are being allocated to LFC ?
Most people in my job are talking about headin to the Game now, most are saying i used to go years ago bla bla but they are going FRIDAY, so big numbers i expect

[Jofspring]

We have asked for 500 tickets but no way we will need it.

[nigel-harps1954]

How many tickets are being allocated to LFC ?
Most people in my job are talking about headin to the Game now, most are saying i used to go years ago bla bla but they are going FRIDAY, so big numbers i expect

Tickets be on sale in Letterkenny in the next day or two far as I'm aware. Make sure people buy them before going up. There's going to be stupidly large queues before the game with people who won't have bought tickets before the match.

[ForzaHoop]

200 or 300 LFC fans would get some atmosphere going, can't wait for the Game now

[Sam_Heggy]

Most interest around a Harps game in years.
Could be a sell out.
1 more sleep.

[Acornvilla]

Most interest around a Harps game in years.
Could be a sell out.
1 more sleep.
Honestly did think you wrote 1 more sheep for a second..

[nigel-harps1954]

Main stand almost completely sold out in Finn Park and Town End Terrace tickets selling fast too.

The sold out signs could well go up outside Finn Park by kick-off tomorrow.

[Jofspring]

First time heading up to Finn Park tomorrow. Where is he best place to get a pint in and food that's close to the ground?

[joey B]

Jacksons or Villa Rose hotel s be your best bet mate both 5 minute walk from the ground.

[nigel-harps1954]

First time heading up to Finn Park tomorrow. Where is he best place to get a pint in and food that's close to the ground?

Depends what you're looking for.

If you want a good dinner then you can't go wrong with Villa Rose as mentioned. It's a little expensive, but it's good food and it's close to Finn Park. It's out on the main road through Ballybofey, on the left hand side as you come in from Galway/Sligo direction.

If you're just looking for a chipper and a burger, Navenny Grill is beside Finn Park and as good as you'll get in the town. Barca Bar is across the road from that and will be the main bar for supporters really. There's also a take away across the road from that, it's relatively new though so I'm not sure what the food is like in it.

The main bar for Harps supporters before a match is Barretts Bar, again out on the main road. It's very small, and I mean very small, but it's good craic and a good pint.