Updated at 16.23am
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC 3
LONGFORD TOWN 0
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(Vine h/t SportsJoe)
CHRIS FORRESTER’S DOUBLE, and a goal from James Chambers saw St Patrick’s Athletic make it four league wins on the bounce tonight as they easily overcame Longford Town in Richmond Park
Christy Fagan was missing for the home side, as was Killian Brennan, but that made little difference as Forrester lit up the first half, and continued to entertain in the second.
Sean Hoare carved out a perfectly weighted diagonal pass for Forrester’s first on 18 minutes, and the inventive midfielder had all the skill required to lob Paul Skinner from the left side of the box.
Longford could, and probably should have equalised on the half hour mark when Gary Shaw ghosted past Jason McGuinness to shoot to the far post where Mark Salmon was arriving, but he skewed the ball over the bar.
The Pat’s midfield seemed to really find their rhythm after that, with Aaron Greene, James Chambers and Forrester all influencing the play, and when Greg Bolger turned over possession to feed Greene, he was fouled in the box by Martin Deady.
Referee Paul Tuite immediately pointed to the spot, and Forrester stepped up to fire home his seventh league goal of the season on the stroke of half-time
The second half was less than four minutes old when Liam Buckley’s men then made it 3-0. Bolger’s ball around the corner for Conor McCormack to run on to saw him deliver, and Chambers was on hand to fire past Skinner.
It was all a bit easy for the Saints after that as their midfield were simply too strong for Stephen Rice and Kevin O’Connor in the Longford engine room, and although Gary Shaw showed enough to threaten, Brendan Clarke’s goal seldom came under attack.
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC: Clarke, Bermingham, Hoare, McGuinness, O’Brien, Bolger (Desmond, 76), Chambers (Verdon, 63), McCormack, Greene, Forrester, McGrath (Langley, 70).
LONGFORD TOWN: Skinner, Mulhall, Deady (Shannon, 74), Rice, Salmon (Ben Mohamed, 60), Shaw, O’Connor, Powell, Simon (O’Sullivan, 45), Rossiter, Gorman.
Man of the Match: Chris Forrester
Referee: Paul Tuite
Attendance: 1,165
Originally published at 10pm 26 June.
