League Report: St. Patrick's Athletic 0 - 0 Bohemians

St Patrick’s Athletic and Bohemians played out an entertaining goalless draw in front of a crowd of just over 5000 at Richmond Park.

In the first game after the summer break, neither side showed signs of rustiness, though both need to sharpen up in front of goal.

This result may be considered a better point for Alan Reynolds' side as Bohs edged six points clear of Dundalk, who sit below them in the relegation playoff spot, while the Saints remain 6th and in European contention but have played two games more than Waterford and Shamrock Rovers.

Both sides lined out after the summer break looking to turn around their indifferent campaigns, with neither team appearing to struggle for confidence.

The break seemed to benefit both sides, with Stephen Kenny and Alan Reynolds perhaps gaining a greater opportunity to scrutinize their squads.

Despite a goalless first half, the game was played with a sense of freedom and a frantic nature, with neither side gaining proper control of proceedings.

Both teams were guilty of coughing up cheap turnovers, and the first chance of the game came when James Clarke broke and his effort was deflected for a corner.

Another counter-attack saw Jordan Flores slip the ball to Dayle Rooney, who crossed the ball on a plate for James Akintunde, who inexplicably missed from point-blank range, but his blushes were spared by the offside flag.

In the 17th minute, Pats had their first opportunity when Clarke had the ball pinched from his feet in midfield by Jake Mulraney, who played in Kian Leavy, but he fired over.

That sparked the Saints into life, and they would have been ahead had it not been for a potential save of the season from Kacper Chorazka, who scooped the ball off the line from Ruairi Keating’s close-range header.

Goal-saving interventions aren’t just limited to goalkeepers, and former Bohemian Anto Breslin made a heroic goal-saving clearance from underneath his crossbar in front of the end where the fans who once lauded him now taunt him.

Rooney’s cross looked destined to be tapped home by Akintunde, but Breslin flew to the rescue, injuring himself in the process.

The frantic nature continued after the break, with both sides having their moments without creating a meaningful chance.

Keating had a shot saved by Chorazka in the area just after the hour mark before Romal Palmer skewed high and wide from outside the area.

Bohemians showed some nice combination play on the edge of the area, which eventually saw Rooney play a reverse pass to Paddy Kirk, but the shot was straight at Daniel Rogers.

It was the turn of the away side to have a purple patch, and Adam McDonnell will wonder how he didn’t get any contact on Rooney’s cross.

Forrester headed a Brandon Kavanagh corner wide in the 75th, with Kavanagh one of five substitutes made by Kenny while Reynolds remained reluctant to turn to his youthful-looking bench.

Another substitute, Melia, was guilty of waiting too long to pull the trigger when through on goal twice in a matter of moments, with Kirk making a goal-saving tackle before Jake Carroll pounced on him in the area.

Chorazka produced another fine save to flick Kavanagh’s free kick around the post before a driving run and cross from Alex Nolan managed to evade everybody in the six-yard box.

The turnover patterns continued with Pats desperate for a winner, and Kavanagh drove at the Bohs defence before firing an effort towards the top corner, which was saved by Chorazka.

The Saints had one last roll of the dice, and a Kavanagh free kick was headed on and inexplicably allowed to bounce in the area by two Bohemians defenders, but Cian Kavanagh couldn’t get a meaningful effort on target.

St. Patrick's Athletic: Daniel Rogers; Carl Sjöberg, Joseph Redmond, Tom Grivosti, Anthony Breslin (Jason McClelland 77); Christopher Forrester, Jamie Lennon, Kian Leavy (Brandon Kavanagh 55), Romal Palmer (Mason Melia 68), Jake Mulraney (Alex Nolan 77); Ruairí Keating (Cian Kavanagh 77).
Subs not used: Marcelo Pitaluga, Conor Keeley, Luke Turner, Aaron Bolger.
Booked: Carl Sjöberg (32), Brandon Kavanagh (71).

Bohemians: Kacper Chorazka; Cian Byrne, Jake Carroll (Aboubacar Keita 86), Patrick Kirk; James Clarke, Jordan Flores, Daniel Grant, Adam McDonnell, Martin Miller, Dayle Rooney; Oluwaseun Akintunde (Oluwaseun Akintunde 77) (Nickson Okosun 86).
Subs not used: James Talbot, Divin Isamala, Jevon Mills, Sean Moore, Billy Gilmore, Rhys Brennan, Filip Piszczek.
Booked: Cian Byrne (83), Daniel Grant (86).