St Patrick’s Athletic 4
Finn Harps 0
Aaron Gallagher reports from Richmond Park
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC secured a fourth league win in five with a crucial 4-0 victory over Finn Harps on Friday night, a victory which raises the Saints up to seventh in the Premier Division and three points above the dreaded bottom three.
Harps came into the game having beaten Liam Buckley’s side home and away this season. However by the end of the night Ollie Horgan’s side suffered a fourth consecutive league defeat thanks to goals from Graham Kelly, Conan Byrne and a brace from second half substitute Kurtis Byrne.
The loss plummets Harps back into the relegation mix with tough games against Cork City, back-to-back fixtures versus Limerick, Shamrock Rovers and champions Dundalk all to come.
Horgan’s side had overseen a purple patch of form over the summer which featured four wins in their last six games, including a dramatic 4-3 scalping of Bohemians in the FAI Cup last weekend, but have now suffered four league defeats back-to-back.
St Pat’s, meanwhile, are on a complete upward trajectory. Wins in the Leinster Senior Cup and FAI Cup have been littered between consistent league form which has raised them out of the drop zone and steadily towards mid-table.
The sides were largely even in the early stages and despite promising play from Eddie Dsane — four goals in his last five games — in the opening fifteen minutes, his side went behind soon after.
New signing Paul O’Conor found Graham Kelly inside the area with a neat lay-off, with the latter only too happy to take advantage of a sheepish Harps defence and slot a fine low effort flying into goalkeeper Ciaran Gallagher’s bottom corner.
St Pat’s maintained their dominance in the second half and almost looked to have doubled their lead straight from the tip-off. Striker Josh O’Hanlon started in place of an absent Christy Fagan and had the ball rolling towards the back of the net less than a minute after the break.
He took the ball around goalkeeper Gallagher before defender Killian Cantwell recovered brilliantly to boot the chance clear and keep it at 1-0.
A worrying sight for Saints supporters saw Owen Garvan brought off in the second period before exiting Richmond Park in an ambulance following a collision in the middle of the park.
JJ Lunney replaced the former Crystal Palace midfielder but it was the introduction of Kurtis Byrne that proved decisive.
With six minutes to go Billy Dennehy found the striker unmarked inside the penalty area with a devastating cross towards the back post.
With a neat flick of his boot Byrne brought the ball past Gallagher to make it 2-0 and confirm another crucial three points for the Saints, who are now unbeaten in their last five league outings.
However a miserable night for Harps was not yet over as striker Dsane was given his marching orders by referee Robert Harvey.
This before Conan Byrne added a third deep into stoppage time thanks to a selfless assist from close range from Kurtis Byrne to make it 3-0 before the striker got on the goal sheet again to make it 4-0 with seconds remaining.
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC: Barry Murphy, Michael Barker, Jordi Balk, Lee Desmond, Ian Bermingham, Conan Byrne, Owen Garvan (JJ Lunney 69), Paul O’Conor, Graham Kelly, Billy Dennehy (Darragh Markey 92), Josh O’Hanlon (Kurtis Byrne 74).
FINN HARPS: Ciaran Gallagher, Ethan Boyle, Ciaran Coll, Killian Cantwell, Gareth Harkin, Damien McNulty, Jonny Bonner (Danny Morrissey 68), Sean Houston, Ibrahim Keita (Pascal Millien 67), Mark Timlin, Eddie Dsane.
Referee: Robert Harvey
Subscribe to The42 podcasts here:
