League Report: St Patrick's Athletic 2 - 1 Shamrock Rovers

Shamrock Rovers' five-game unbeaten run came to a halt when they were on the wrong end of a 2-1 result against St. Patrick's Athletic in a cracking game of football at Richmond Park on Friday night.

The game had been hyped up as the game of the weekend, and it certainly lived up to its billing, with end-to-end action throughout the game, three goals, some excellent individual performances, and great entertainment for the sell-out crowd of 5,000 supporters who crammed into the Inchicore venue.

St. Pats were full value for their three points, and their morale-boosting 3-0 win against Sligo Rovers on Easter Monday gave them huge confidence when they faced the five-in-a-row chasing Rovers on their home patch.

Rovers, for their part, are never short on confidence; however, the sight of a whole host of injured players sitting in the stand will not have gone unnoticed by the Hoops supporters, and in the final analysis, it may have been their absence which tilted the game in favor of the home side.

Jack Byrne, Neil Farrugia, Rory Gaffney, Sean Kavanagh, Aaron McEneff, and Johnny Kenny were all unavailable for Stephen Bradley, and he will need to get as many of these players as possible back on the pitch if they are to get the five-in-a-row ambition back on track. Despite all the injuries, Rovers started the better and took an early lead in the fourth minute through Darragh Nugent.

Graham Burke fed Darragh Burns with the ball on the right wing, and when the former Pats player floated in a cross with his left foot, Nugent was unmarked on the penalty spot, and he headed the ball into the corner past Danny Rogers to make it 1-0.

The Hoops were very polished in the opening 20 minutes, and they could have buried the game with a second goal in the 12th minute when Dylan Watts flashed a Josh Honahan cross off the crossbar before it was cleared to safety by Joe Redmond.

The home side only found their rhythm from the 20th minute on, and Aaron Bolger, Brandon Kavanagh, and Kian Leavy were the main driving forces behind their first-half revival.

Their rhythm was further disrupted in the 40th minute, however, when striker Ruairi Keating was forced to leave the field with a foot injury. He looked to be in a lot of distress and was to leave the ground later in a protective boot, a sign that he may be out of action for a while.

The sides went into the halftime break with Rovers one ahead, but Pats were a transformed side in the second half, and it was no surprise when they drew level in the 54th minute.

Kavanagh was instrumental in setting up that equaliser, having been fouled by Sean Hoare on the right touchline; he whipped in the free kick, and Joe Redmond headed powerfully to the net past Lean Pohls.

The crowd hardly had time to draw its breath when Pats took the lead three minutes later. Kavanagh was involved again, this time taking advantage of a poor clearance at the back by Rovers, skipping along the end line before firing in a low cross which Alex Nolan met first time with a precise strike to the bottom right corner of the net.

Bradley unloaded his bench with the aim of getting back on level terms, but while the fresh legs allowed them to dominate the closing stages of the game, they found the Pats back four to be in resilient mood and in no mood to concede a second goal.

Sean Hoare came closest to scoring for Rovers in injury time, but his powerful header was well saved by Danny Rogers a few minutes before the final whistle.

Overall, Pats were deserving of the three points, and their fighting performance on Friday night, coupled with the four points picked up over Easter, now sees them catapulted into third place on the league table.

They face bottom-of-the-table Dundalk away next Friday night, while Rovers will look to improve on their fifth place on the table when they host Sligo Rovers at Tallaght Stadium.

St. Patrick's Athletic: Daniel Rogers; Anthony Breslin, Conor Keeley, Joseph Redmond, Luke Turner; Aaron Bolger, Brandon Kavanagh (Cian Kavanagh 72), Kian Leavy (Christopher Forrester  46)Jamie Lennon; Ruairí Keating (Mason Melia 40), Alex Nolan (Jason McClelland 83).
Subs not used: Marcelo Pitaluga, Alfie Taylor, Arran Pettifer, Adam Deans, Michael Noonan.
Booked: Jamie Lennon (64).
Sent off: None.

Shamrock Rovers: Léon-Maurice Pöhls; Daniel Cleary, Seán Hoare, Joshua Honohan (Trevor Clarke 73), Pico; Darragh Nugent ( Conan Noonan 85), Markus Poom ( Richie Towell 85), Dylan Watts ( Gary O Neill 85), Graham Burke, Darragh Burns, Aaron Greene.
Subs not used: Lee Steacy, Toms Leitis, Cian Barrett, John O'Sullivan, Cian Dillon.
Booked: Dylan Watts (48),  Markus Poom (49) , Aaron Greene (65), Daniel Cleary (88)
Sent off: None.

Referee:  Damian MacGraith
Attendance: 5,000
extratime.com Player of the Match:Brandon Kavanagh ( St Patricks Athletic)