Credit:
Sporting Fingal -v- St. Patrick's Athletic
- Niall Farrell
- Mon, Aug 23 2010
Two sides with real ambitions of at least getting a European spot this season square off on Monday night at Morton Stadium as Sporting Fingal host St. Patrick's Athletic (kick off 7.45pm).
Last Friday night, Sporting won away at UCD while Pats could only draw with Sligo Rovers at home. It is Sligo, coincidentally, who lie just behind Fingal in fifth place and Liam Buckley's need a win to stave off the Bit O'Red and keep up the pressure on the top three.
Pats sit in second position and a win could bring them to within two points of league leaders Shamrock Rovers, depending on the result in Tallaght.
This is the first time that Fingal have played Pats at home in the Premier Division and Sporting boss Liam Buckley spoke of the effort required by his players: "We’ve drawn twice at Inchicore so far but, as the home team, we’ll be expecting to take the initiative for this one. Our players realise this game will not make or break their season but are aware of the opportunity it gives them to put themselves into a better position three quarters way through the campaign."
Midfielder Conan Byrne, who scored the winner against UCD, echoed his manager's comments: “We’ve had to grind out some wins lately which perhaps would have resulted in draws earlier in the campaign. Playing St. Pat’s at home is a brilliant prospect for us. They’ve been up around the top all season and here’s a chance for us to continue our current form against one of the title favourites.”
For St. Patrick’s Athletic, Dave Mulcahy (hamstring) and Danny North (knee) are set to miss out having picked up injuries against Sligo Rovers on Friday night. Paul Byrne (ankle) is still out but Damien Lynch returns having recovered from an ankle injury.
"I thought the team played really well (Friday night) and we did everything we could to win the match so I’ve no complaints. It was a real Pats’ performance, especially in the second half and I couldn’t fault the players - they were excellent”, manager Pete Mahon said.
“Sporting Fingal present a very different challenge but we’re looking forward to it. It’s a big game for us, while we were even with Rovers a few weeks ago they are now 5 points clear so we can’t fall too far behind them."
Sporting Fingal
Injured: Colin Hawkins
Doubtful: Lorcan Fitzgerald
Suspended: None
St Patrick's Athletic
Injured: Dave Mulcahy, Danny North, Paul Byrne.
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Referee: P. Sutton
Paddypower.com Odds: Fingal- 5/4 Draw- 21/10 Pats- 15/2
Extratime.ie Prediction: 2-2
About Niall Farrell
Niall Farrell is our correspondent at Tolka Park, covering the goings-on at Shelbourne. You can visit Niall's website for further information and contact details- niallf.net.