JUST AFTER THE celebrations began to subside for St Patrick’s Athletic’s first goal of this hard-earned 2-0 win over Galway United, Stephen Kenny broke away from a group hug with his backroom team.
The Saints boss had just watched Kian Leavy pick up the ball in a pocket of space outside the box, weave his way forward before exchanging a sharp one-two with Aidan Keena on the edge of the box.
Leavy took the return into the area and four Galway defenders had been taken out of the game. He took one touch to steady himself and with the next drilled it under goalkeeper Brendan Clarke.
“F***ing brilliant,” Kenny roared in delight towards the main stand at Richmond Park.
And it was.
In his programme notes for this game Kenny said the manner of last week’s 2-1 defeat away to Bohemians – conceding twice in injury time – had a “pain that resonates and infiltrates your system and leaves you in a cave where light doesn’t exist.”
He would have been basking in the afterglow of Zach Elbouzedi’s deflected strike on 38 minutes to make it 2-0.
Moses Dyer misses from a few yards out. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
When defender Axel Sjoberg was shown his second yellow card on 69 minutes maybe some of those dark clouds were beginning to form again.
But Galway, who started the night ahead of St Pat’s in second, could not make the extra man count and when the final whistles went around the country it was Kenny’s men who were top of the Premier Division.
They showed the different traits required to remain there over the course of this intense 95 minutes.
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The nature of the game changed completely in eight minutes from the half hour mark.
Galway should have taken the lead when a well-worked move carved open the St Pat’s defence. It was all about the poise and penetration, Cian Byrne clipping a deft ball into space for Jeannot Esua to drive onto.
The right wing back burst into the box, slid a ball across goal where Moses Dyer was waiting for what should have been an easy tap in.
Instead, the Premier Division top scorer – on seven goals coming into tonight – seemed to get his feet mixed up and a scuffed connection from about three yards allowed the agile Joseph Anang spring back to save on the line.
Relief and disbelief on both benches.
Just over 60 seconds later and emotions were contrasting again.
That one two between Leavy and Keena caught Galway flatfooted and the midfielder jinked his way into the box before finishing under the body of Clarke for his first goal of the season.
Keena, who was back in the starting XI leading the line after six games out with a hamstring injury, might have preferred to be the one scoring but his role in the move was a welcome reintroduction.
No wonder it elicited such a response from his manager.
John Caulfield responded by substituting Stephen Walsh for Sean Kerrigan before play resumed but by 38 minutes they were two goals down.
Fortune was against Galway when Elbouzedi’s shot from close to 30 yards just right of centre took a deflection off Robert Slevin and into Brendan Clarke’s right corner.
Galway regained composure until the break and provided their response in the second half. Dyer drove at the Pat’s defence twice in the early exchanges, the second occasion forcing Jamie Lennon into a foul after Sean Hoare had also been left for dust.
The Galway bench reacts to Axel Sjoberg's first yellow card. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Lennon was shown a yellow and from the resulting free kick 25 yards out, Byrne struck the crossbar.
Dyer was then slipped in by Byrne but, just like the first half, his shot from 10 yards out was tame and trickled by Anang but was cleared by Joe Redmond.
Then came the first flash point of a second half that would see Pat’s end up defending their two-goal lead with 10 men for the final 20 minutes.
Sjoberg’s sliding tackle on Robert Burns right in front of the Galway bench infuriated the visitors. Caufield and most of his backroom staff were on the pitch remonstrating but only a yellow was shown to the right back.
Caufield and assistant Ollie Horgan were also cautioned for their role in what followed.
Kenny responded by bringing on speedy winger Simon Power for Keena. Catching Galway on the counter seemed to be the game plan from here but when Sjoberg was shown a second yellow for obstructing Burns with a stray arm it was more of a backs against the wall job.
They stood firm, and kept the darkness of another collapse at bay.
St Patrick’s Athletic: Joseph Anang; Axel Sjoberg, Joe Redmond (captain), Sean Hoare, Al-Amin Kazeem (Luke Turner 78); Zach Elbouzedi (Ryan McLaughlin 70), Jamie Lennon, Chris Forrester, Kian Leavy; Mason Melia (Conor Carthy 78), Aidan Keena (Simon Power 55).
Galway United: Brendan Clarke; Garry Buckley (Cillian Tollet 86), Killian Brouder, Robert Slevin; Jeannot Esua; Cian Byrne (Conor McCormack 90+3), Robert Burns, Patrick Hickey, David Hurley; Stephen Walsh (Sean Kerrigan 33) (Max Wilson 90+ 3), Moses Dyer.
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10-man St Patrick's Athletic hold firm in feisty Galway battle to top Premier Division
St Patrick’s Athletic 2
Galway United 0
JUST AFTER THE celebrations began to subside for St Patrick’s Athletic’s first goal of this hard-earned 2-0 win over Galway United, Stephen Kenny broke away from a group hug with his backroom team.
The Saints boss had just watched Kian Leavy pick up the ball in a pocket of space outside the box, weave his way forward before exchanging a sharp one-two with Aidan Keena on the edge of the box.
Leavy took the return into the area and four Galway defenders had been taken out of the game. He took one touch to steady himself and with the next drilled it under goalkeeper Brendan Clarke.
“F***ing brilliant,” Kenny roared in delight towards the main stand at Richmond Park.
And it was.
In his programme notes for this game Kenny said the manner of last week’s 2-1 defeat away to Bohemians – conceding twice in injury time – had a “pain that resonates and infiltrates your system and leaves you in a cave where light doesn’t exist.”
He would have been basking in the afterglow of Zach Elbouzedi’s deflected strike on 38 minutes to make it 2-0.
When defender Axel Sjoberg was shown his second yellow card on 69 minutes maybe some of those dark clouds were beginning to form again.
But Galway, who started the night ahead of St Pat’s in second, could not make the extra man count and when the final whistles went around the country it was Kenny’s men who were top of the Premier Division.
They showed the different traits required to remain there over the course of this intense 95 minutes.
The nature of the game changed completely in eight minutes from the half hour mark.
Galway should have taken the lead when a well-worked move carved open the St Pat’s defence. It was all about the poise and penetration, Cian Byrne clipping a deft ball into space for Jeannot Esua to drive onto.
The right wing back burst into the box, slid a ball across goal where Moses Dyer was waiting for what should have been an easy tap in.
Instead, the Premier Division top scorer – on seven goals coming into tonight – seemed to get his feet mixed up and a scuffed connection from about three yards allowed the agile Joseph Anang spring back to save on the line.
Relief and disbelief on both benches.
Just over 60 seconds later and emotions were contrasting again.
That one two between Leavy and Keena caught Galway flatfooted and the midfielder jinked his way into the box before finishing under the body of Clarke for his first goal of the season.
Keena, who was back in the starting XI leading the line after six games out with a hamstring injury, might have preferred to be the one scoring but his role in the move was a welcome reintroduction.
No wonder it elicited such a response from his manager.
John Caulfield responded by substituting Stephen Walsh for Sean Kerrigan before play resumed but by 38 minutes they were two goals down.
Fortune was against Galway when Elbouzedi’s shot from close to 30 yards just right of centre took a deflection off Robert Slevin and into Brendan Clarke’s right corner.
Galway regained composure until the break and provided their response in the second half. Dyer drove at the Pat’s defence twice in the early exchanges, the second occasion forcing Jamie Lennon into a foul after Sean Hoare had also been left for dust.
Lennon was shown a yellow and from the resulting free kick 25 yards out, Byrne struck the crossbar.
Dyer was then slipped in by Byrne but, just like the first half, his shot from 10 yards out was tame and trickled by Anang but was cleared by Joe Redmond.
Then came the first flash point of a second half that would see Pat’s end up defending their two-goal lead with 10 men for the final 20 minutes.
Sjoberg’s sliding tackle on Robert Burns right in front of the Galway bench infuriated the visitors. Caufield and most of his backroom staff were on the pitch remonstrating but only a yellow was shown to the right back.
Caufield and assistant Ollie Horgan were also cautioned for their role in what followed.
Kenny responded by bringing on speedy winger Simon Power for Keena. Catching Galway on the counter seemed to be the game plan from here but when Sjoberg was shown a second yellow for obstructing Burns with a stray arm it was more of a backs against the wall job.
They stood firm, and kept the darkness of another collapse at bay.
St Patrick’s Athletic: Joseph Anang; Axel Sjoberg, Joe Redmond (captain), Sean Hoare, Al-Amin Kazeem (Luke Turner 78); Zach Elbouzedi (Ryan McLaughlin 70), Jamie Lennon, Chris Forrester, Kian Leavy; Mason Melia (Conor Carthy 78), Aidan Keena (Simon Power 55).
Galway United: Brendan Clarke; Garry Buckley (Cillian Tollet 86), Killian Brouder, Robert Slevin; Jeannot Esua; Cian Byrne (Conor McCormack 90+3), Robert Burns, Patrick Hickey, David Hurley; Stephen Walsh (Sean Kerrigan 33) (Max Wilson 90+ 3), Moses Dyer.
Referee: Robert Harvey.
Attendance: 4,709.
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Battle Galway United League of Ireland Soccer St. Patrick's Athletic