St Patricks Athletic -v- Sligo Rovers

• Eoin Manning
• Thu, May 14 2009


When, on May bank holiday Monday just gone St. Patrick’s Athletic boss Jeff Kenna and his CEO Richard Sadlier appealed to the club’s supporters for calm during their recent terrible run of results, citing financial constraints, injuries and the loss of key players from last season as the mitigating factors in the club’s downward spiral it could have gone two ways.

One was that disgruntled supporters would feel it was a cop out from admitting Kenna was the wrong man to manage the team’s fortunes and the second was that they would take on board what the two men at the centre of the club were saying.

Fortunately for Kenna the united front has struck a chord with the Inchicore faithful and the latter has been chosen, with Pat’s supporters willing to give the former Republic of Ireland international time to get things right.

Friday night’s Premier Division clash against Sligo Rovers at Richmond Park is the perfect opportunity to start doing just that (Kick Off: 7:45pm) given that the Bit’o’red are sitting precariously above the relegation zone and will be without their suspended captain Conor O'Grady for the game.

Kenna has publicly stated that he is expecting a tough game: “Sligo suffered the same fate as ourselves last weekend, a 3-0 defeat at home so both teams are gunning to bounce back and we can expect a tough match.” Though privately he will be eyeing the game as one where anything less than three points would be a disappointment against a crestfallen Rover’s side.

Portugese defender Mauro Almeida remains absent for the travelling Sligo squad as does Sean Doherty, while Richie Ryan picked up a knock on his ankle during last week’s shocking defeat to Shamrock Rovers but should be fit to play.

Manager Paul Cook is naturally disappointed with his team’s plight this year and described the Shamrock Rovers performance s the club’s worst under his stewardship but is not giving up hope too easily: “what I do know about management is that there is always another game soon and that you can go from zero to hero quite quickly in football.'

A theory his opposite number will also be subscribing too come Friday night although things getting any easier for Kenna on the injury front, if anything they are getting worse.

Damien Lynch is struggling to be fit with a calf injury, while long-term absentees Gary Dempsey, Mark Leech, Gints Friemanis, Bobby Ryan and Glen Fitzpatrick all remain no closer to a comeback. Stuart Byrne will also be forced to miss the encounter following his sending-off against Derry City.

However, Kenna will welcome back Jamie Harris and Dave Partridge following their own suspensions and both will be pushing for a starting place.

Come the final whistle on Friday evening one club ill be breathing a huge sigh of relief while the other will be plunged deeper into the mire.