LSC Preview: St Patrick's Athletic -v- Shelbourne

St Patrick’s Athletic host Shelbourne at Richmond Park on Monday night in the Leinster Senior Cup Semi-final (Kick-off 7:45 PM).

ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC

The Saints come into this game off the back of a 0-2 home defeat to Galway United on Friday night in the FAI Cup second round.

Jonah Ayunga in the first half and Eoin McCormack netted a beauty at the death to ensure the Inchicore club will not have European football next season.

Pats are actually in decent form in the league, winning four of their last five, so the defeat was a bit of a surprise. They have a chance to redeem themselves tonight though, in a competition they have won eight times.

A 0-4 drubbing of Bray Wanderers back in February and a 2-1 win over non-league Firhouse Clover last month has paved the way for tonight’s meeting with Shels.

Boss Liam Buckley has won a trophy in every season he’s managed at Richmond Park in his second spell (since 2012) and will no doubt want to keep the record going.

Often ridiculed and scoffed at, the Leinster Senior Cup is still a trophy at the end of the day, no matter how significant, and one would think the Dublin club will want to capture it after a disappointing season by all accounts.

SHELBOURNE

Shels also come into this game off the back of a 0-3 FAI Cup second round loss to Shamrock Rovers at Tolka Park on Friday.

Brandon Miele, Graham Burke and James Doona all netted in the second half in the comprehensive win for the Hoops.

A chance to bounce back for the Drumcondra club presents itself tonight, in a competition where they have won 4-2 against Wexford in February and 0-3 against Bohemians back in April. They have won the competition 20 times, the last in 2010.

Speaking to extratime.ie after the Rovers loss, boss Owen Heary says he’s anticipating a tough game for his charges tonight.

“We’re playing Pats, another Premier team, another difficult game. They got beaten in the cup so I’m sure they’re going to put out a strong team and try and win and get in the final.

“Bohs and Wexford here were comfortable wins. It means nothing – going into a semi-final, anything can happen.” (see Owen Heary article here)

Dundalk or UCD await the winners of tonight’s tie in the prestigious competitions final.

Referee: Unknown

MATCH STATS

Both sides have met each other competitively 135 times. Pat's winning 48 times to Shels' 53 wins, with 34 stalemates.

There has been an average of 2.3 goals per game in those games.

Although Bohemians against Shamrock Rovers and Shels against Bohs are the big Dublin derbies, but this one is still pretty big and is known as ‘the red derby' as both clubs wear red coloured jerseys.

BETTING

St Patrick’s Athletic 5/4; Draw 5/2; Shelbourne 15/8

PREDICTION

St Patrick’s Athletic 3 -2 Shelbourne

St Patrick’s Athletic

Injured: Unknown

Doubtful: Unknown

Suspended: Unknown

Shelbourne

Injured: Unknown

Doubtful: Unknown

Suspended: Unknown