Sporting Fingal 2 - 3 St. Patrick's Athletic

St.Patrick's Athletic snatched a win at Morton Stadium tonight with a late Derek Doyle winner in a match which looked like it would end in a draw.

The two sides had a stuttering start to the match, with few chances for either side in the opening few minutes.

Ryan Guy had the first chance of the match, but shot well over after three minutes. Conan Byrne followed up at the other end with a searching cross, but missed the head of Ollie Cahill.

Both sides had to resort to long-range shots for the remainder of the half as their 4-5-1 formations cancelled each other out. On seventeen minutes Darren Quigley had to come out of the Sporting goal and clear the ball following a short back pass which almost let Derek Doyle in for the opener.

Just when it looked like the match would still be a stalemate at half-time, up popped Shaun Williams to score for Fingal.

John Frost crossed in to the Pats penalty area, and Shane Guthrie clumsily stumbled to allow Williams to finish with a half volley into the net to open the scoring on thirty-eight minutes.

Fingal began the second half by controlling possession and had a goal ruled out on fifty-one minutes as Ollie Cahill was judged to have fouled a Pats defender before heading the ball in.

The Saints looked forlorn at times as they resorted to long balls in their search for an equalising goal, and they only found that goal after they passed shorter and more direct.

On sixty-one minutes Ian Bermingham crossed from close range into the Sporting penalty area for Vinny Faherty, who finished with an audacious back heel past Darren Quigley.

Two minutes later Pats completed a double salvo with another stylish goal. Following a Fingal attack, David McAllister broke, and cut through the Sporting defence by exchanging passes with Vinny Faherty. McAllister, then alone on Darren Quigley, finished well to give the Saints the lead.

Fingal needed to respond quickly, but it took them a while as their defence failed to clear their lines when they needed to.

Gary Rogers saved a powerful Gary O'Neill shot on seventy three minutes, and then made another stop to deny Ronan Finn a long-range equaliser.

The equaliser did come though, through Fingal stalwart Conan Byrne on seventy-six minutes. Gary O'Neill played Byrne in at the far post, and Byrne slid the ball past Rogers from an awkward angle.

Ronan Finn went close to winning the match for the home side on seventy-nine minutes with another long-range effort, but the day belonged to Pats in the end.

In the ninetieth minute, David McAllister crossed well and Derek Doyle headed powerfully past Darren Quigley to give Pats a dramatic late winner.

Sporting Fingal: D Quigley, G O'Brien, J Frost, S Williams, S Maher, K Browne, C Byrne [A Kirby '86], R Finn, G O'Neill [G Crowe '81], O Cahill [E Zayed '72], S Mc Faul
SUBS NOT USED: B Gannon, B Clarke

St Patrick’s Athletic: G Rogers, D Pender, I Birmingham, C Kenna, S Guthrie, D McAllister, S Byrne, V Faherty, D Doyle, G O'Connor, R Guy [B Cash '86]
SUBS NOT USED: D Lynch, J O'Brien, N Haverty, C Bennion

Referee: P. Sutton (Clare)
Attendance: 792
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: David McAllister