St. Patrick’s Athletic 3-1 Bohemians

• Philip O'Rourke
• Sat, May 22 2010


St. Patrick’s Athletic gained revenge for their Setanta Sports Cup final defeat against Dublin rivals Bohemians as they came out on top of a cracking Airtricity Premier Division game at Richmond Park on Friday night.

In attendance at the match was Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trappatoni and he picked a great game to come and watch. The opening few minutes of this game were played out in the middle of the field with neither side keeping possession and both giving the ball away cheaply.

It was a mistake in the 13th minute by St. Pat’s goalkeeper Gary Rogers that gifted the visitors the lead. Roger’s poor kick-out fell to Anto Murphy, who passed to Jason Byrne and the striker just placed the ball passed the Saint’s keeper.

A minute later and things started to boil over when former St Pat's player Mark Quigley flew in with a two-footed challenge on St. Pat’s Gareth Coughlan, which sparked a furious reaction from both players and fans of St. Pat’s. How Quigley didn’t see red only referee Damien Hancock will know. It mattered little though as Pat Fenlon took Quigley off minutes later to the delight of the home crowd.

The incident seemed to wake-up St. Pat’s and they started to play better, passing the ball around and looking the more dangerous of the two sides. It was the 36th minute when Vinny Faherty was given the opportunity to equalise but he blazed over the bar from just inside the box.

However they didn’t have to wait long before they did get the equaliser when Paul Byrne’s header was well saved by Boh’s keeper Barry Murphy from close range. Unfortunately for Murphy the ball fell to substitute Derek Doyle who had the easy task of tapping in from four yards out.

Things got even better for the home side when another scrappy goal put them in the lead. This time Shane Guthrie headed in for Paul Byrne to score and send the home fans wild.

If the first goals were scrappy there was nothing scrappy about the Saints third goal. Stuart Byrne found space about 30 yards out from goal and curled a shot into the top right-hand corner two minutes before half-time. Faherty had a chance to make it 4-1 in first half injury time but headed just wide of the post.

The second half didn’t produce what the first half did and Bohemians looked tired and out of idea’s as they didn’t created any clear cut chances. A few shouts for soft penalties by the visitors showed there desperation to try get back into the game.

Bohemian’s best chance fell to Paddy Madden in the 68th minute but he failed to score from six yards out as he scuffed his shot straight into the arms of Rogers.

St. Pat's defended brilliantly and kept Bohemians at bay, not letting them create any chances. The result moves St. Pat's six points clear of Bohemians in the league.

St. Patrick’s Athletic: Gary Rogers, Derek Pender, Ian Bermingham, Conor Kenna, Shane Guthrie, Ryan Guy, Gareth Coughlan (Derek Doyle 16), Stuart Byrne(Conor Sinnott 89), David Mulcahy, Paul Byrne, Vinny Faherty (Alex Williams 88).
Subs not used: Noel Haverty, Dan Connor.

Bohemians: Barry Murphy, Owen Heary, Steven Gray (Gary Burke 88), Ruaidhri Higgins, Jason McGuinness, Brian Shelley, Anto Murphy, Paul Keegan, Mark Quigley (Paddy Madden 17), Jason Byrne, Killian Brennan.
Subs not used: Mark Rossiter, Chris O'Connor, Conor Powell.

Yellow Cards: Mark Quigley.

Extratime Man of the Match: Stuart Byrne.