Limerick FC 0 Shamrock Rovers 1
Scoring chances were few and far between at the Market’s Field on Monday evening and fittingly it took a penalty to separate the sides.
It went the way of Shamrock Rovers 15 minutes from the end when Ronan Finn was hauled down and Graham Burke blasted the spot kick past Brendan Clarke.
Rovers had the better of matters territorially and Burke headed over after five minutes with Finn just over with a 25-yard drive.
Limerick never threatened in that opening half but the home side’s first chance fell to Conor Ellis who was hauled down but play was called back for off-side. Cantwell went close but his effort was just wide after 55 minutes.
A draw looked likely until Finn was toppled and the penalty decided the outcome as Rovers finished with 10 men when Sean Kavanagh was shown a straight red card near the end. A total of 1,348 fans paid in on a wickedly cold evening and they had little to cheer about.
Limerick: Clarke, Kelly (McGowan 76), Whitehead (Foley 86), Broudar, Dennehy, Coleman, Cantwell, Fitzgerald, Duggan, Cameron (O'Sullivan 62), Ellis.
Shamrock Rovers: Chenginiski, Boyle, Lopez, Grace, Finn, Kavanagh, Shaw (Carr 64), Coustrain (Mielle 72), Clarke, Burke (Byrne 96), Bone.
Referee: G Kelly, Cork.
