- Aaron Gallagher
- Sat, Apr 11 2015
Neither side could break the unbreakable deadlock that was Friday night's fixture between St. Patrick's Athletic and Cork City, as a Lee Desmond red card in the second half provided the highlight to this aggressive and foul-burdened tie at Richmond Park.
With both sides lacking the creativity and final touch to put a goal on the scoreboard, the game ultimately fell into a tie of cynical fouls, disruptive play and yellow cards, with little of the passing fluid football accustomed to the Richmond Park turf allowed to surface on account of the aggressive fouling of both sets of teams.
The game began with nether side offering any serious threat to the opposition's goal, with both Christy Fagan and John O'Flynn duely isolated in the opening half an hour of the game. Both sides' frustration at the lack of chances created was evident as the game fell into a period of cynical fouls and yellow cards, with all of Karl Sheppard, Killian Brennan and Lee Desmond finding themselves in the referee's book before half time.
Chances all came in a flurry in the closing fifteen minutes of the first half however, with Karl Sheppard's flick onto the Pats crossbar providing the closest opportunity. A John Kavanagh corner was flicked on initially by John O' Flynn who succeeded in finding an unmarked Karl Sheppard who's own flick looped high and over, the chance hitting the top of Conor O'Malley's crossbar before going over.
Playing in a more centralised position than usual, Chris Forrester provided a constant threat on the Pats counter-attack, the midfielder linking up with Lee Desmond to expose the space afforded to him in front of the Cork City defensive line.
It was a Conan Byrne cross however that came closest to putting the home side ahead in the first half. A ferocious cross by Byrne found striker Christy Fagan centimetres beyond his marker, the tightest of margins allowing the current PFAI Player of the Year to capitalise and hit a venomous header – the effort being parried over by Mark McNulty in an opportunity that surely should have put Liam Buckley's side ahead going into half time.
The second half carried the determined grit and energetic presence of the first, with a massive penalty shout coming early in the second half with Pats' Conan Byrne initially turning his marker to lead himself into a mazy run into the Cork box, before being brought down to the sound of a pleading St. Pats support looking for the penalty – referee Derek Tomney not obliging.
More chances came as Pats went in search of the goal they surely needed in this game to give themselves any chance of competing for the title this year, with Chris Forrester turning on John Dunleavy to release a threatening left-footed effort, however the shot coming too close to the dive of Mark McNulty
Christy Fagan finally found the space he needed in the Cork box in the 65th minute after a near-post cross from Conan Byrne, the striker's limp effort attempting to steer the ball on the volley into the corner of the Cork net ultimately failing as the ball stumbled eventually wide.
John Caulfield's side were intent on taking all three points themselves, as a dangerous dribble on the right wing found Billy Dennehy cutting inside and skipping past marker Killian Brennan before releasing a rasping left-footed drive, the shot whisping comfortably wide of Conor O'Malley's post.
The cynical nature of the game came full circle in the 75th minute as Lee Desmond, filling in for the suspended Ian Bermingham at left-back, was sent off for a second bookable offence by referee Derek Tomney – St. Pats' fourth red card of the season having had Killian Brennan, Conor McCormack and the aforementioned Ian Bermingham sent off already this season.
Late opportunities in the form of long range efforts from Christy Fagan and Cork's Billy Dennehy kept the competitive edge to the game alive, however neither team was to find the back of the oppositions' net in this hotly contested game in Inchicore.
St. Patrick's Athletic: Conor O'Malley; Ger O'Brien, Sean Hoare, Kenny Browne, Lee Desmond; Conan Byrne, Aaron Green, James Chambers, Killian Brennan, Chris Forrester; Christy Fagan (Ciáran Kilduff 90+1).
Subs not used: Pat Jennings (gk), Morgan Langley, Conor McCormack, Jamie McGrath, Jack Bayly, Sam Verdon.
Bookings: Desmond (14), O'Brien (75), K Brennan (77).
Sent off: Desmond (75).
Cork City: Mark McNulty; John Kavanagh, Alan Bennett, Darren Dennehy, Ross Gaynor; John O'Flynn (Kieran Djilali 56), John Dunleavy (Gavin Holohan 79), Liam Miller, Gary Buckley, Billy Dennehy; Karl Sheppard (Rob Lehane, 86).
Subs not used: Alan Smith (gk), Dan Murray, Mark O'Sullivan, Liam Kearney.
Bookings: Dunleavy (17), Sheppard (37).
Referee: Derek Tomney
Attendance: 1,728
ExtraTime.ie Man of the Match: Conor O'Malley (St. Patrick's Athletic)
