St. Patrick's Athletic 2 - 0 FC Shakter Karagandy
- Conor Kelly
- Thu, Jul 21 2011
A superb team performance from St Patrick’s Athletic secured a spot in the third qualifying round of the Europa League after they beat FC Shakter Karagandy of Kazakhstan 2-0 (3-2 agg) in Richmond Park.
Trailing from first leg the Saints had no option other than to win the game and they looked to get on the front foot immediately and pressed their opponents hard in the opening moments.
It was Karagandy however who had the first chance of the game on five minutes when Utabayev Kairat’s ball failed to be tucked away by Khizhnichenko Sergei who was on the edge of the six yard box. Ten minutes gone and Shakter came close again when Pats failed to clear their line. Dusan Petronijevic forced Gary Rogers to save low at his bottom right hand corner.
It wasn’t all Karagandy as the hosts had forced three free kicks and a corner inside the first ten but failed to make the most of their deadball opportunities. The Saints did capitalise on one of those opportunities when on fourteen minutes Evan McMillan rose highest to head home a perfectly placed corner to give Pats the lead goal.
The header put Pete Mahon’s men ahead on goal difference thanks to David McMillan’s away goal in the first leg in Kazakhstan. Mahon would have hoped his side could grab a hold of the game following the opener but they failed to maintain possession on the slick surface as Karagandy looked to get back into the game.
Shakter came agonisingly close to levelling the game and going back in front overall on the half hour when Maksat Bayshanov’s header into the box was then flicked onto the bar by Aldin Dzidic much to Rogers’s relief. Daryl Kavanagh then saw his attempt soar over the bar after he benefited from Derek Doyle’s hard work.
With ten minutes left in the half Kavanagh had a penalty shout turned down by Belgian referee Sebastien Delferiere. The winger had weaved into the box but failed to convince the referee that the challenge from Nikola Vasiljevic had impeded his run. Pats then had a second penalty shout when a Shakter defender appeared to use his hand in the box but again Delferiere turned it down much to the annoyance of Danny North who picked up a yellow card for his protests.
The Pats players were getting frustrated as after fourteen fouls in the first half only two Karagandy players had been cautioned.
Karagandy started the second half on the front foot winning two early corners, the second of which ended in a weak attempt from Vasiljevic, letting Pat’s off the hook. Poor passing was putting the home side under pressure as the struggled to maintain possession.
Karagandy’s discipline was letting them down as with fifty minutes gone they had committed fifteen fouls.
Ian Daly had his first major involvement on the hour when his shot from the edge of the box was deflected wide for a corner from which Brian Shorthall headed wide. With every moment that Pat’s held onto their lead they grew in confidence as they looked to secure a spot in the third qualifying round. Shane McFaul was giving the Karagandy midfield no time on the ball as he pressed hard throughout the game and continuously regained possession for his side.
Bayshayev almost equalised on sixty five minutes when his shot beat Rogers but was cleared by Evan McMillan who was on the goal line. Just three minutes however, the roof of Richmond Park was raised when Pender whipped the ball towards the back post for Derek Doyle for stick his right foot out and nudge the ball into the Shakter net.
This left the score at 2-0 on the day and 3-2 overall in favour of the home side who were pushing forward in waves looking to finish the Kazakhstan side off. Karagandy were hoping to pull one back and they nearly did when Khizhnichenko put the ball past Rogers but fortunately it also went past the upright.
Stephen Bradley looked to put Pat’s home and dry when he struck a free kick beautifully from just outside the box only for Mokin to push the ball over with a fine save.
As the fourth official indicated there would three minutes additional time Pat’s backs were to the wall as Karagandy bombarded them with long balls but Evan McMillan and Shorthall were equal everything that was thrown at them. Delferiere blew his whistle to signal the end of the game and with that the men from Inchicore advanced to the next round of the Europa League where they will face Ukrainian opposition in the form of Karpaty Lviv.
St Patrick’s Athletic: G Rogers, D Pender, I Bermingham, B Shorthall, E McMillan, S McFaul, S Bradley, D North (D McMillan 76) , D Kavanagh, D Doyle (A Murphy 86), I Daly (D Mulcahy 84) Subs Not Used: C Bennion, P Crowley, C Kenna, S Guthrie
FC Shakter Karagandy: A Mokin, K Utabayev (A Bormantaev 80), A Dzidic, N Vasiljevic, A Kirov, U Konysbayev, M Bayshanov, G Vicius, Z Kukeyev, S Khizhnichenko, D Petronijevic (S Dosmanbetov 74) Subs Not Used: A Grigorenko, Y Tarasov, V Borovski, L Mangutin, T Zhangylyshbay
Referee: Sebastien Delferiere (BEL)
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Daryl Kavanagh
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