Buckley pleased with Pat's perseverance

St. Patrick’s Athletic manager Liam Buckley was pleased with his team’s perseverance as they dug deep to claim an injury time win over Cork City thanks to Killian Brennan’s late penalty on Friday night. Speaking to extratime.ie after the game, Buckley was delighted that his team came from behind to claim a vital Airtricity League win after Ciarán Kilduff had given 10 man Cork City a shock 1-0 lead just before the hour mark.

“Cork scored against the run of play but we kept at them,” said Buckley.  “Anto Flood scored a great goal to get us back in the tie. In fairness to the guys, they merited that based on the number of chances we had.”

Buckley’s men besieged the Cork goal in the final quarter of the game trying to get the winner as they looked to maintain their three point lead at the top of the table. The Saints weren’t just reduced to lumping balls long into the box thought but looked to get down the wings and provide good delivery into the box for Anto Flood and substitute Christy Fagan who came on with 10 minutes remaining.

“We were trying to pass it. That is how we play. There were probably areas that we could have played a little bit cleverer, getting balls to feet and getting it back to have more shots on target but overall I can’t be picky. The lads worked extremely hard.

“We just had to keep on going, keep on going, keep on going and if it happens, it happens. It took to the 93^rd minute to score but for me it doesn’t matter whenever it will be. The lads kept aggressively looking for it to get that opportunity to score.”

It was a fairly aggressive game with Cork reduced to 10 men following Kalen Spillane’s sending off following an apparent head butt on Flood. In addition to that red card there were eight yellow cards shared equally amongst the team’s with Killian Brennan’s booking a minute from time meaning he will miss Pat’s game next Friday at home to Drogheda United. However, Brennan’s later intervention in stoppage time could prove pivotal in the direction of the title.

Having given the Leesiders the lead with his third goal since the start of his loan spell from Shamrock Rovers, Kilduff turned villain for the visitors as he grabbed a fistful of Killian Brennan’s shirt in the 92^nd minute. Referee Padraig Sutton pointed to the spot. Brennan blasted the penalty home for his eight goal of the year and his sixth successful penalty this season.

“He has done fantastic for us,” said Buckley speaking about Brennan. “It takes nerves to calm down and make sure to score. He has scored some very important penalties for us this season.”