FAI CUP Report: St Patrick's Ath 2 - 1 Shamrock Rovers
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Goals from Conan Byrne and Jason McGuinness proved enough to send St Patrick's Athletic through to the 3rd round of the FAI Cup against local rivals, Shamrock Rovers, at Richmond Park on Friday night.
Two key mistakes cost Rovers dearly on the night and the Saint's capitalised ruthlessly. Immediately from kick off there was a tell-tale sign of how this match might go for Rovers, The ball was passed back to Keith Fahey, an unpopular figure among the home crowd since his switch from Inchicore to Tallaght, who clipped a long, hopeful ball forward that went straight out for a Saints throw in. Cue an eruption of jeers from the Saints' crowd, the second loudest cheer of the night, with the loudest arguably coming with the withdrawal of Fahey by Pat Fenlon later in the evening.
Unfortunately, the game did not get much better for the Hoops or Fahey who seemed to try extravagant, and mostly unsuccessful, passes to find his team-mates, rather than the simple more obvious ones.
Jason McGuinness had the home crowd worried within two minutes when his attempted back pass was cut out by the alert Michael Drennan. Lucky for McGuinness, and the Saints, Drennan's touch was poor and took him too far wide resulting in an attempt that ended wide of the goal.
The opening half hour of the match was even enough. The Saint's did have slightly more of the ball but they didn't create more than their counterparts. The most dangerous moments for both sides came from set pieces Firstly Ryan Brennan with a header from a Hoops corner and then Sean Hoare went close with a left footed volley from a driven Killian Brennan corner.
Like so often last season, the reliable Conan Byrne was the man to break the dead-lock after 32 minutes. The goal was the result of superb Pat's pressure. Gavin Brennan, under pressure, was forced to pass the ball back to Patrick Cregg who was closed down swiftly. Cregg looked inside for Maxime Blanchard but Conan Byrne nipped in and finished with a nice curling effort into the bottom left hand corner from just outside the box.
The Inchicore faithful didn't have to wait long for their second goal thanks to a Jason McGuinness header. Perhaps the Pat's fans would rather thank the Hoops goalkeeper Craig Hyland because it was his mistake that allowed a tame McGuinness header from a Conan Byrne corner into the net.
The Hoops came out fighting at the beginning of the second half. The opening seven minutes yielded more chances for the Hoops than the entire first forty-five. First Drennan went very close after his dipping header was tipped onto the crossbar by Brendan Clarke. Drennan had another opportunity to score following a neat one-two with Marty Waters, but from a tight angle he could only find the side netting.
As Rovers continued to push forward in search of a way back into the game they left a bit of space at the back. Aaron Greene did his utmost to exploit this extra space but he spurned two glorious opportunities to seal the game for Pat's, missing two one-on-one's with Craig Hyland.
Rovers pulled one back through a beautiful Gary McCabe free kick with six minutes remaining. McCabe won the free kick on the edge of the box when Lee Desmond brought him down after a bit of trickery. However, an onslaught from Rovers never really materialised, although a half-chance for Gavin Brennan was blocked by his own player Marty Waters.
The Saints will now be in the draw for the 3rd round of the FAI Cup but for Rovers, the long wait for further FAI Cup success continues for the most successful club in the competition.
St. Patricks Athletic: Brendan Clarke; Lee Desmond, Seán Hoare, Jason McGuiness, Ian Bermingham; Conan Byrne (Morgan Langley 80), James Chambers, Killian Brennan, Aaron Greene, Chris Forrester (Conor McCormack 82); Christy Fagan (Jamie McGrath 55).
Subs not used: Conor O'Malley (gk), Ciarán Kilduff, Kenny Browne, Sam Verdon.
Booked: K Brennan (19), Langley (90), McCormack (90).
Shamrock Rovers: Craig Hyland; Simon Madden, Max Blanchard, Conor Kenna, Luke Byrne; Gavin Brennan, Patrick Cregg, Keith Fahey (Gary McCabe 66), Ryan Brennan (Stephen McPhail 46), Brandon Miele (Kieran Marty Waters); Mikey Drennan.
Subs not used: Barry Murphy (gk), Tim Clancy, David Webster, Gareth McCaffrey.
Booked: Drennan (16), Fahey (18), L Byrne (59), McPhail (70).
Referee: Paul McLaughlin
Attendance: 1,800 (estimate)
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Conan Byrne (St Patrick’s Ath).
