- Dave Donnelly
- Mon, Aug 03 2015
St Patrick's Athletic advanced to the final of the EA Sports Cup after a penalty shootout win over Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium.
Pats' transfer window acquisition Ian Morris – on as a substitute in extra time – converted the decisive penalty after Mikey Drennan and Dave O'Connor had missed successive spot kicks for the Hoops.
Rovers boss Pat Fenlon made wholesale changes to the side that won in Drogheda on Friday night, with just four of that line-up retained, though the depth of his squad meant he was able to recall top scorer Mikey Drennan as well as handing starts to under-19s Dylan and Cian Kavanagh.
Liam Buckley, by contrast, opted to go for consistency and made just three changes to the side that overcame Galway on Friday night: Conor O'Malley, Kenny Browne and Greg Bolger replaced Brendan Clarke, Shane McEleney and Aaron Greene.
The home side were dominant in the early stages and should have hit the front within 30 seconds as O'Malley – playing for the first time against his former club – misjudged Dylan Kavanagh's low cross, but Lee Desmond did well to get back on his line and block Cian Kavanagh's goalward effort, which would have been the quickest goal ever to grace the South Dublin stadium.
Marty Waters snatched at an opening before Chris Forrester brought the visiting crowd – domiciled in the upper corner of the main stand – to their feet as he cut inside Simon Madden and watched his curling effort, destined for the top corner, expertly tipped onto the bar by Rovers' stand-in keeper Barry Murphy.
Waters was again wasteful when, after good work from Ryan Brennan, he scuffed his shot wide from close range, before the strong wind took effect and allowed Pats to take control, penning the Hoops into their half for much of the opening period with their short passing game.
Killian Brennan forced another good save from Murphy as he had to be at full stretch to tip a 25-yard free kick around the post, before the Rathfarnham native misjudged the flight of Conan Byrne's corner and had Saints defender Lee Desmond to thank for inadvertently deflecting Kenny Browne's goalward header onto the bar.
Rovers – in a rare foray forward – hit the bar themselves on the stroke of half-time as Kenny Browne was caught in possession on the edge of his six-yard box by Dylan Kavanagh. The ball fell nicely for Drennan, who crashed his first time shot back off the crossbar.
Browne made amends within two minutes of the restart as he got the vital touch – with the tip of his toe – to prevent Drennan's cut-back finding Waters unmarked with the goal at his mercy, and the Waterford man was impressive with and without the ball as the Saints withstood a barrage of pressure early in the second period.
As in the first half, the wind made set-pieces the most likely route to goal, and Rovers thought they'd done exactly that when McCabe floated a long-distance free kick towards the back post. Blanchard made contact with the ball, but not enough as it bounced agonisingly wide of the post.
Both teams attacked in the closing minutes of normal time, as Chambers squandered two efforts from inside the box either side of Drennan flashing a shot across O'Malley's goal, but neither side could force the end of the tie within 90 minutes.
Pats had the better of the efforts in extra time as James Chambers forced a good close-range stop from Barry Murphy and Dave O'Connor cleared Conan Byrne's shot off the line, but the scoreboard remained untroubled and the tie would have to be settled by penalties.
Killian Brennan delighted the fans at his old club when he blazed the first spot kick well over the bar, but O'Malley saved brilliantly from Drennan and O'Connor struck the post after an unfortunate battle with the rolling ball, leaving Morris the opportunity to steal the hearts of the Saints fans.
Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy; Simon Madden, Max Blanchard, David O'Connor, Luke Byrne; Ryan Brennan, Gary McCabe, Cian Kavanagh (Brandon Miele 67); Marty Waters (Gavin Brennan 103), Dylan Kavanagh (Dany North 80), Mikey Drennan.
Subs not used: Craig Hyland (gk), Conor Kenna, Pat Cregg, Gareth McCafffrey.
Booked: R. Brennan (120+2).
St Patrick's Athletic: Conor O'Malley; Ger O'Brien, Kenny Browne, Lee Desmond, Ian Bermingham; Greg Bolger (Ian Morris 106), James Chambers, Killian Brennan, Chris Forrester (Aaron Greene 87), Conan Byrne; Jamie McGrath (Morgan Langley 111).
Subs not used: Brendan Clarke (gk), Jason McGuinness, Darragh Markey, Jack Bailey.
Booked: Brennan (82), Langley (120+2).
Referee: Paul Tuite.
Attendance: 2,200 (estimate).
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Kenny Browne (St Patrick's Athletic).
