Saint Patrick’s Athletic 2
Bohemians 1
A DUBLIN DERBY packed with incident and rancour from which Pat’s emerge with their three-game winless run snapped as Bohs are left to rue a profligacy leavened by misfortune.
That Pat’s went into five added minutes ahead and ultimately came through to win is no measure of the drama: they took the lead with 16 minutes left, saw Bohs equalise with a 90th-minute penalty – Devoy scoring after Georgie Kelly missed a spot kick in the game’s early stages – only to instantly grab the game back with a penalty of their own.
The game was scrappy and unsettled in the opening stages before the Pat’s bench erupted in full-blown fury in the ninth minute. After Ali Coote blasted a free-kick into the Pat’s wall, referee Rob Hennessy deemed Ian Bermingham to have handled the ball. He said penalty, as Stephen O’Donnell remonstrated nearby with the fourth official.
Pat’s ultimately had no reason to nurse that grievance as Georgie Kelly smashed his penalty against Jaros’ left-hand post. Bohs missed that chance but held the early ascendancy, with Coote later sending a fierce shot dipping narrowly over the crossbar.
The first half was fraught and physical but low on quality: a Sam Bone effort from distance that forced James Talbot to parry the ball away was the only shot on target from either side.
Bohs finally tested Jaros early in the second half, as Liam Burt skated away from Bone on the left touchline to force the on-loan Liverpool ‘keeper into a smart save at his near post. They then had the ball in the net soon after when Georgie Kelly controlled and finished a raking Rory Feely pass, but was denied by an offside flag.
O’Donnell swapped Chris Forrester for Benson but Bohs remained the better side, and came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock when Tyreke Wilson saw a terrific curling free-kick crash back off the crossbar. Moments later, Kelly planted a header right at Jaros with Pat’s on the brink of being overwhelmed.
Instead they caught Bohs with a sucker-punch. Benson collected a ball in midfield that he slipped through for Matty Smith, who smashed a shot across Talbot and into the corner of the net.
The atmosphere that fizzed and crackled throughout erupted in the final minutes. As the clock ticked into the red, Liam Burt went down in the box from a challenge by John Mountney, with Dawson Devoy doing what Kelly could not and firing the penalty beyond Jaros. Pat’s protested furiously as they believed they should have had a throw in the build up, with O’Donnell red carded and sent to the stand for his hectoring.
It was from there the Pat’s coach saw the game’s final twist: Robbie Benson was pushed from behind in the box by Ciarán Kelly, and he held his nerve to win the game for Pat’s.
Their celebrations were jubilant: Pat’s may not be expected to take the title from Rovers, but they are not going quietly.
Saint Patrick’s Athletic: Vitezslav Jaros; John Mountney, Sam Bone, Lee Desmond, Ian Bermingham (captain); Alfie Lewis, Jamie Lennon, Chris Forrester (Robbie Benson, 55′); Mattie Smith, Ronan Coughlan (Ben McCormack, 73′), Billy King (Paddy Barrett, 83′)
Bohemians: James Talbot; Rory Feely, Rob Cornwall (Andy Lyons, 89′), Ciarán Kelly, Tyreke Wilson; Ali Dawson Devoy, Keith Buckley (captain); Ali Coote (Promise Omochere, 85′), Ross Tierney, Liam Burt; Georgie Kelly (Robbie Mahon, 85′)
Referee: Rob Hennessy