Shamrock Rovers 0
St Patrick’s Athletic 0
SHAMROCK ROVERS AND St Patrick’s Athletic had to settle for a point each tonight in Tallaght Stadium as they drew 0-0 in what was a sometimes lacklustre Dublin derby despite both teams needing three points to close the gap on Derry who also played out a scoreless draw tonight.
Stephen Bradley made five changes to the team that lost on Tuesday night to Derry, with the likes of David Webster, Stephen McPhail, Sean Heaney, Gary McCabe and Dean Clarke all coming in.
Meanwhile Pat’s, who made three changes, arrived in Tallaght having lost their last game to Bohemians, and after a timid opening half an hour they really should have been ahead when Michael Barker teed up Graham Kelly.
The midfielder had the goal at his mercy but he somehow steered his shot over the crossbar from just five yards out.
Thankfully that sparked the contest into life, and when Dean and Trevor Clarke combined to set up Simon Madden, he chose to take a touch in the box rather than shoot first time.
Then came two brilliant saves from Conor O’Malley. The first saw him react brilliantly to tip Sean Boyd’s header onto the crossbar and over, while the second came when Pat Cregg played a swift one-two with Boyd before firing goalwards.
Rovers ended the half well, applying pressure from the flanks, and they started the second period on the front foot, with Dean Clarke fizzing a low shot just past O’Malley’s post.
Clarke tested the Saints’ goalkeeper again soon after, drilling a low shot at him from outside the box, while Stephen McPhail also forced O’Malley into a smart save low to his right with just over an hour played.
Barry Murphy, who was introduced in the Rovers goal after just 13 minutes when Craig Hyland went off injured, had little to do for the most part as the visitors struggled in the final third, and a Mark Timlin strike on 76 minutes was their best chance of the half up until that point.
Just like in the first half, the end of the second saw the tempo lift, and both Sean Boyd and Graham Kelly had good chances to score, but in the end it was a point apiece.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Hyland (Murphy, 13), Cornwall, Webster, Heaney, Madden, T Clarke, McCabe, Cregg (Miele, 70), McPhail, D Clarke (Shaw, 78), Boyd.
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC: O’Malley, Barker, Bermingham, Desmond, D Dennehy (O’Brien, 49), Feely, Kelly, Timlin, Byrne, B Dennehy (Kinsella, 70), Corcoran (McGrath, 78).
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