League Preview: St. Patrick’s Athletic -v- Bohemians

Ronan Coughlan of St Patrick's Athletic free clears the Bohemians bar when the sides met earlier this season

Ronan Coughlan of St Patrick's Athletic free clears the Bohemians bar when the sides met earlier this season Credit: Conor Ryan (ETPhotos)

ST. PATRICK’S ATHLETIC

Two sides with contrasting recent fortunes come together in Richmond Park on Friday night when St. Patrick’s Athletic host Dublin neighbours Bohemians in a 17:45 kick off. 

The hosts were unbeaten in their first nine matches but have now lost two on the trot to stall their progress while in contrast Bohs got off to a poor start by their standards, winning only two of their first nine matches, but they have turned things around by winning their last two matches, scoring six goals and conceding none.

The Saints great start to the 2021 season came to a halt when they went down 2-1 to Shamrock Rovers on 8 May, a not unexpected result given Rovers have been the team to beat in the League of Ireland for the last two seasons. However their 3-1 loss away to Drogheda United last Friday will be more worrying for their management team of Stephen O’Donnell and Alan Mathews.

The Athletic were below par in the Drogheda match and were 2-0 down at half time thanks to superb goals from Dane Massey and Mark Doyle. Drogheda were fully deserving of their lead at the break as Pats struggled to find their early season form and their patchy performance was characterised by misplaced passes, some poor defending and a lack of real penetration up front.

They did improve in the second half, the half time team talk obviously having an effect, and they bombarded the home defence for large stretches of the second period but found the Drogheda defence, in particular goalkeeper Daniel Odumosu, in no mood to concede anything.

The introduction of the powerfully built Nahum Melvin-Lambert, an 18-year-old striker on loan from Reading, did provide a spark for Pats and he gave them a lifeline in the 82nd minute when he fired home a goal from close range.

Their joy was short lived however as Drogheda confirmed their superiority in the 88th minute when one of their substitutes Jordan Ademoyo put the issue beyond doubt with a third goal.

Speaking to the St Pats media team this week about the Drogheda match, Stephen O Donnell said  “for us it’s a question of small steps, with regards to everything across the board. With a bit more experience we might have played the situation against Drogheda a bit differently, but that will come with time, and players will get used to each other. We have a lot of young boys, it’s all part of the learning curve for them’’

In relation to the Bohs match, he added ‘’Bohs have a big squad and over the course of a busy schedule it will help a lot; it gives them more options and they might not be impacted as much injury wise.



“They are a very talented squad, their lowly position early in the league was a false position and we are under no illusions that they are going to be one of the strongest teams in the league over the course of the full campaign.’’

BOHEMIANS

The Gypsies arrested their poor start to the season with their 4-0 win over Finn Harps on Saturday 8 May, their first home win of the season. they followed up on that performance with another win last weekend, travelling to Longford Town and coming away with a comprehensive 2-0 victory.

The upturn in their recent form pushes them onto 14 points and sixth position in the league table and while they are a long way behind pace setters Shamrock Rovers who are on 27 points, they will have their sights set on at least reclaiming second spot on the league table, the position where they finished the 2020 season.

The second spot on the league table is currently occupied by their opponents this Friday night, St. Patrick’s Athletic, so that vying for second position is bound to add even more spice to what certainly will be another hotly contested Dublin derby.

Bohs boss Keith Long will have been pleased with the two clean sheets in their last two outings as it will have confirmed to him that he has a good defensive structure in place this season - in their first 11 games they have only conceded 12 goals.



They also have a good spread of goal scorers and are not dependant on any one source for their goals - so far this season four players, Georgie Kelly, Liam Burt, Ali Coote and Ross Tierney have all bagged three goals apiece.

In their last outing against Longford, Liam Burt scored a stunning goal after 29 minutes, Georgie Kelly Ali Coote and Dawson Devoy also had clear cut chances to score before Coote finally did find the net in the 74th minute from a Tierney cross which the home defence failed to clear.

Referee: Rob Hennessy

MATCH STATS

Pats won the most recent fixture between these two sides, a 1-0 win at Dalymount on 3 April.

In the seven preceding fixtures going back to September 2018 the Saints hadn’t succeeded in beating Bohemians, losing five of those matches and managing two draws, both at home in Richmond Park.

PREDICTION

St. Patrick’s Athletic 1 - 2 Bohemians 

BETTING

St. Patrick’s Athletic 11/10; Draw 11/5; Bohemians 23/10

St. Patrick’s Athletic

Injured: Cian Kelly

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Bohemians

Injured: Stephen Mallon

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

 

 

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