Pats and their 'Triangle of Greatness'

When it came to last season at Richmond Park, a lot of things were predicted. No one realistically expected the side to finish ahead of the Harlem Globetrotters-esque squad that was assembled a few stops further west than them on the LUAS. For them to push the eventual winners of the league nearly all of the way would have been a pleasant surprise to most of the Pats faithful, but for the side to have played some of the best football in the league would have come as no surprise to those lads who constantly moan in that main stand in Richmond Park.

The appointment of Liam Buckley seemed to signal a return of the the old footballing attitudes of Sporting Fingal. Cast aside were the effective, well organised and Greece 2004-esque beliefs of Pete Mahon and John Gill for Bucko was to bring beauty back to football in the west of the city. The signings of the old boys from Fingal seemed to signal this from the outset. Bolger, Browne and Clarke were all players who had played under Buckley at Sporting Fingal, a club who's beauty on the pitch was only matched by its unsustainablity off it.

Buckley's Fingal sides were young, eager and fantastic. They rose through the First Division with style and ease, coming into the Premier Division less than 2 seasons after they were given the last minute opportunity to join the League. They won an FAI Cup showing true grit and determination, beating a then title chasing Shamrock Rovers side in the quarter finals before coming back from the dead to beat Sligo Rovers in the final 5 minutes of the 2009 blue riband game. They even had to score a penalty against Ciarán Kelly to win the trophy.

When Pat's took the field this year, it was clear that the Irish footballing public were in for a treat. A return to the passing football that was marshalled by Buckley in Morton Stadium. They started to rack up the points before completely dominating Shamrock Rovers in Richmond Park in what was in many ways a game that set the tone for both clubs this year. They passed the ball to death and pressed the champions of 2011 into making uncharacteristic mistakes. This game wasn't about Chris Forrester's utterly majestic chip, it was about the football played before it. The hunger of Forrester gave no respect to the reputations earned by the back five of the Hoops, but the midfield gave him the platform to perform.

While everyone around the world raved about that chip, the midfield were quietly earning praise. Pat's fans couldn't believe what they were seeing, representing them in Richmond Park. This was the football
that they had successfully shut down for years, that they were playing. The fans soon took the play to their heart, with terms such as "The Triangle of Greatness" coined to encapsulate the dominance of Greg Bolger, John Russell and James Chambers over their opponents. They took the opening games by storm and should have beaten eventual champions Sligo Rovers, but for a penalty miss from Christy Fagan that gave the lads in the International Space Station an example of Umbro's latest incarnation of the matchday football.

As Pat's professed through the season, they kept in touch with the head of the table and gave a great account of Irish football to our German bankrollers. This was all on the back of midfield domination that hadn't been seen in Dublin since Sligo Rovers played on away days in 2011. They were equally adept at playing away from home as they were in playing in Richmond Park, the extra space in other grounds allowing the central midfield trio to emphasise their control over the middle. They just lacked that killer touch that they had in previous seasons with Danny North.

Although they eventually fell short in all competitions, Pat's fans were more than proud of the displays of their side and midfield from this season. They gave them something to be proud of, the pride in seeing your football team getting the ball down and dominate your rivals through quick thinking and vision. It's like being proud of yourself when you beat someone you don't like in a school test, for your hard work and cleverness payed off.

That's why any departures from the "Triangle of Greatness" were gonna be heartbreaking to the Inchicore faithful. In losing Chambers, they lost their Ndo, their Finn, their midfield basis. When Liam Buckley
and his back room team sit down to try and recruit someone into the inner triangle of St. Patrick's Athletic's starting eleven, they're gonna have big boots to fill with big responsibilities but they'll be with big rewards.