Saint Patrick's Athletic FC -v- Derry City FC

• Eoin Manning
• Mon, Apr 06 2009


Saint Patrick’s Athletic will be looking to bounce back from Friday's late, late defeat in Bray when they entertain top-of-the-table Derry City at Richmond Park on Tuesday night (kick-off 7.45pm). That loss at the Seaside saw the Saints' three-match winning run come to an end and also prevented them from joining Derry at the summit.

Title challengers
The home side face a difficult task against many people’s favourites for the Premier Division title, who finished third behind Bohemians and St. Pat's last term, and again, the pair have quickly established themselves in the top four this season. The Candystripes went top despite only drawing with Galway United at the weekend, a result which kept their unbeaten record intact. St. Pat's, on the other hand, have been this year's Jekyll and Hyde side, impressing on occasion and flattering to deceive on others.

'Improvement needed'
Saints manager Jeff Kenna was understandably furious following Friday's loss but immediately set his sights on Tuesday game. “It’s coming thick and fast so there’ll have to be a marked improvement in our level of performance on Tuesday if we expect to get anything from Derry," he said. "It can’t come quick enough as far as I’m concerned.” Meanwhile, Kenna’s managerial counterpart, Stephen Kenny, was ruing the profligate finishing from his own team against Galway, which culminated in his side being held to a 1-1 draw. “Galway only managed one shot on target and scored from that," he said, "while we created quite a few openings but only managed to score one of those ourselves.”

Kenny focused
Immediately turning his attention to the clash with the Inchicore club, the former Longford Town, Bohemians and Dunfermline Athletic boss predicted an open and enthralling encounter. “St. Pat’s are expected to be one of the team’s in the race for the championship," he said, "and with that in mind they will come out and attack us," before adding, “some teams will defend for all their worth in the hope of snatching a point while other teams will come at you flying and I think that St. Pat’s will be the latter," a comment which could be construed as a parting shot at Galway.

Bohs threat
While both sides will go into the game desperate to get back on a winning run and establish themselves as Bohs' most realistic title challengers, they will also have an eye on events elsewhere. As Bohs themselves face the daunting task of travelling to Terryland Park to take on Ian Foster’s resurgent Galway outfit, Messrs Kenna and Kenny will be acutely aware that a victory could move their respective teams away from the Dalymount Park club.

Saints depleted
St. Pat’s will be forced to continue without the injured quartet of Mark Leech, Gary Dempsey, Garreth O'Connor and Stephen Maher. As a result, Kenna may well name the same team as the one that was so narrowly defeated in Bray, although John Lester be pressing for a starting place in the heart of the midfield. For Kenny’s part, he has no new injury concerns ahead of the game and welcomes back Clive Delaney and Mark Farren to his squad. With the league table only beginning to take shape, St. Pat’s and Derry will be very keen to test themsleves against the very best sides in the country and will use this game as an early indication of just how genuine their respective title hopes actually are.

extratime.ie prediction: 1-1.