- Dave Donnelly
- Sat, Oct 29 2016
Derry City capped off a fairytale season in style with a dominant 2-0 win over St Patrick's Athletic at Richmond Park.
Kenny Shiels' side were already assured of third place going into the final day's fixture, but despite a number of personnel changes they were in control from the moment Rory Patterson opened the score midway through the first half.
Patterson could have had a hat-trick before half-time, but had to settle for just two as he drew a penalty from Saints defender Rory Feely – who was sent off – and finished himself deep in injury time.
Saints huffed and puffed in the second half and could have snatched a late equaliser had the ball not spun unfortuitously for defender Ian Bermingham two yards out, but in truth Liam Buckley's men were a shadow of the side that stunned champions Dundalk 5-2 three days previously.
The Candystripes had the first effort on goal in an error-strewn opening period, Niclas Vemmelund heading wide from a corner after 19-year-old full back Ben Doherty had done well to win a corner.
Pats' first chance of the game fell to Steven Kinsella when goalkeeper Shaun Patton badly misjudged a bouncing ball and deflected the ball into the Everton loanee's path, but the keeper recovered to block his effort.
Christy Fagan headed just over the bar for Pats before a series of defensive lapses presented Patterson with the opportunity to open the scoring.
Having seen one effort brilliantly cleared off the line by Sean Hoare, Patterson exploited more disorganisation at the heart of the Saints rearguard to finish easily past a helpless Clarke with less than half an hour played.
Patterson could have made it two shortly afterwards when Hoare slipped and allowed him one-on-one once more, but his delicately chipped effort unluckily came back off the crossbar, and Rory Holden bundled the rebound wide with an open goal at his mercy.
And the former Northern Ireland striker was unlucky again right on half time as he peeled away to the back post and met Conor McCormack's deep cross but he couldn't quite get a hold of a difficult volley.
Patterson tested Clarke shortly after the break when he latched onto Harry Monaghan's pass and beat Hoare, but shot straight at the keeper, before a heavy touch from sub Keith Ward's pass spurned another opportunity.
Monaghan was left to curse his timing as a Ward free-kick fizzed across the face of goal and just beyond his reach, while Bermingham was similarly non-plussed when the ball failed to drop for him, before Patterson finally settled the tie.
His pace had caused problems for the Saints defence throughout, and once again he stole a yard on Feely as Derry countered, and was about to pull the trigger in the box when Feely made a desperate attempt to win the ball.
Referee Rob Rogers pointed straight to the spot, and Patterson dusted himself down to send Clarke the wrong way and ensure Pats finished in the bottom half of the table for the first time since 2009.
St Patrick's Athletic: Brendan Clarke; Ger O'Brien, Sean Hoare, Rory Feely, Ian Bermingham; Sam Verdon, JJ Lunney, Jamie McGrath (Fuad Sule 68), Conan Byrne, Stephen Kinsella (Darragh Markey 63); Christy Fagan.
Subs not used: Conor O'Malley (gk), Ciaran Kelly, David Cawley, Dinny Corcoran.
Booked: Rory Feely (87).
Sent off: Rory Feely (90+5).
Derry City: Shaun Patton; Conor McDermott, Niclas Vemmelund, Dean Jarvis, Ben Doherty; Conor McCormack, Harry Monaghan, Barry McNamee, Rory Holden (Keith Ward 41), Joshua Daniels (Nathan Boyle 75); Rory Patterson.
Subs not used: Ger Doherty (gk), Gareth McGlynn, Aaron McEneff, Ronan Curtis.
Booked: Conor McCormack (79).
Sent off: None.
Referee: Rob Rogers.
Attendance: 931.
Extratime.ie Player of the Match: Conor McCormack (Derry City).
