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

SHELBOURNE

Shels will be looking to get back to winning ways after a mini slump in form when they host St. Patrick's Athletic in Tolka Park on Friday night (KO 7.45pm).

The Reds had been on a nine-game unbeaten run and were ahead of the pack at the top of the table but then only picked up a single point in their last three outings, albeit they are still holding the league leadership.

Back-to-back defeats to Galway United and Bohemians were followed by a home draw against Shamrock Rovers last weekend, the latter probably a good result given that they played the last 14 mins of the game with only 10 men.

Shane Farrell was introduced as a sub in the 76^th minute but 12 minutes later he was back off the pitch having received two yellow cards from referee Rob Hennessy.

Damian Duff was certainly very forthright in his assessment of the impact of Farrell’s dismissal when he spoke about it after that game, however he had moved on from that incident when he spoke to the Shelbourne media team this week in advance of the Pats game.

“First and foremost, before you look for points, it’s always about performance,” said Duff. “More often than not, when we get that performance, we get a win. It’s about playing with a real energy and edge. We had that on Monday (against Shamrock Rovers ).

"There will be dips, highs, and lows across a long season. When you get knocked down, experience a low, we acknowledge it and we get on with it. We still dropped two points, so it’s important we get back to our best and winning ways now tomorrow.”

He added: “St Pats have a lot of quality, they may not be happy with all their results, some of them have been mixed, but they’re a very dangerous team. They have brilliant players in every position and some of the biggest names in the league, whom we have the utmost respect for.

"I’m glad it’s a Dublin Derby; there’s nothing like these games, they really are big occasions and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC

The Saints have had a very mid-table level of performance in the 12 games they have played since the start of the season, winning five, losing four and drawing three games.

They currently sit in sixth position, but still with only seven points separating them from league leaders and Friday night’s opponents Shelbourne.

They had a poor return from their double set of fixtures last weekend, being lucky enough to escape with a point in a 1-1 draw at home to Waterford, before being well beaten 3-1 by Derry City in the Brandywell on Minday night.

Significantly, they have only won a single away game all season, a 1-0 win at Galway United on the opening night of the season back in February.

That statistic is bound to play on the mind of manager Jon Daly as he heads into the bear pit that is Tolka Park on Friday night.

Daly spoke with the Pats media team on Thursday and said “Shelbourne are top of the table, they've had an excellent first third of the season.

“Although they've had a few draws and a couple of defeats recently, we know what they are capable of and we need to be prepared for that.

“We've had some brilliant games at Tolka Park over the last couple of seasons since Shels came up and have scored some excellent goals in a couple of great wins, and that 4-4 draw!

“Last season, we earned a hard fought 1-0 victory there through a Sam Curtis header from a set piece in the first game, and came out on the wrong side in the last minute in our other match there last year.

“They beat us at Richmond six weeks ago, we felt both of their goals were preventable and we know we'll need to defend well tomorrow night.’’

Referee: Robert Harvey

MATCH STATS

These sides have met in the league on 148 occasions, with Shels winning 57 games, Pats winning 55 games and they have drawn 25 of the games, so little or nothing between the sides historically.

In keeping with the long-term history, there has been very little between these great Dublin rivals in recent years also as over the last eight games - Shels have won three, Pats have won four and there was one draw, back in October 2022.

Of more significance perhaps is that Shelbourne have won the last two clashes between the two sides, one at home at one away.

In the most recent clash in Richmond Park in March, Shels came out on top by 2-1, a brace of goals from Will Jarvis offsetting a late goal for Pats by Jake Mulraney.

A crowd of around 5,000 is expected on Friday night with Pats confirming that over 1,000 of their fans are travelling to Drumcondra for the game so it should be another cracking Dublin Derby.

BETTING 

Shelbourne 7/5; Draw 11/5; St Patrick’s Athletic 7/4

PREDICTION

Shelbourne 1 - 1 St Patrick’s Athletic 

Shelbourne 

Injured:  Shane Griffin

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

St Patrick’s Athletic   

Injured: Tom Grivosti. Alex Sjoberg.

Doubtful:  None

Suspended: None

League Preview: Shamrock Rovers -v- Galway United https://t.co/IuO2WYROeGpic.twitter.com/qvMa2lpFvj

— extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) April 25, 2024