ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC were tonight confirmed as Airtricity League Premier Division champions for 2013. Here’s how they won a first championship in 14 years.
March
HAVING FINISHED THIRD in 2012, St Patrick’s Athletic kicked off the new campaign with the visit of Drogheda United — who had surprised many by claiming the runners-up spot two points ahead of the Saints.
At Richmond Park, the home side were guilty of missing a number of chances but eventually broke the deadlock through substitute Shane McFaul. The midfielder replaced Greg Bolger just after the hour mark and managed to find find the back of the net through a crowded box after a corner had been half-cleared.
YouTube credit: stpatsfctv
That good start was undone a week later, however, when they suffered at 3-0 defeat in Tallaght. Liam Buckley’s former assistant Trevor Croly had just taken over Shamrock Rovers and got one over on his old colleague. Poor defending from Pat’s allowed Ciaran Kilduff to open the scoring and Gary McCabe and Ronan Finn added one each in the second half.
Heavy rain in March resulted in the postponement of games against Shelbourne and Bohemians at Richmond and the Saints travelled to Thomond Park next to face newly-promoted Limerick for the first time since 1984 in the league. Despite the game producing several opportunities, they needed a Killian Brennan penalty on 20 minutes to come away with the three points.
April
Four days later, Dundalk arrived in Inchicore and were ahead at half-time when John Dillon fired home a penalty after Ger O’Brien had taken down Keith Ward.
Pat’s rallied and Conan Byrne levelled the terms with a half-hour to play but of gifting the Lilywhites a second and, ultimately, the win. Brendan Clarke dilly-dallied on the ball and was caught out by Kurtis Byrne, who rolled the ball into an open net.
That loss was undoubtedly a set-back but Pat’s showed resilience to bounce straight back and record back-to-back away victory — against Bray and UCD.
At home to Shelbourne in the next fixture, Chris Forrester bagged himself a hat-trick as the Saints handed out a 4-0 drubbing. Conan Byrne was the other goalscorer.
A really significant result during this early stage of the season arrived when the reigning champions Sligo Rovers came to town only to see their unbeaten league record ended in a game showed live on RTE. Byrne scored his second goal in four days while Killian Brennan did his best impression of Andrea Pirlo with a perfectly-executed Panenka penalty leaving Pat’s third in the table.
YouTube credit: stpatsfctv
April ended with two 1-1 draws at home to Derry and Bohemians with Dave Mulcahy rescuing a share of the spoils for the Gypsies.
May
Pat’s went unbeaten in the league during the whole of May. A 2-0 win was earned at Turner’s Cross then at Hunky Dorys Park, a stroke of good fortunate handed them a crucial goal against Drogheda. When Ryan Brennan equalised for the home side on 91 minutes, the game looked to be all over. However, referee Tomas Connelly then handed Pat’s an injury-time penalty for handball when the replayed showed that it was Killian Brennan who had actually controlled with his arm.
The second league meeting of the season with Shamrock Rovers saw Pat’s dominate possession but fail to score. Despite those two points dropped, Sligo’s draw away to Bray meant the Dubliners could go level with the leaders if their game against Shels produced a win. And they got the job done with a brace from the bearded Christy Fagan and one more added by Chris Forrester.
YouTube credit: stpatsfctv
Thanks to a productive night at Dalymount Park on 24 May and the Bit O’Red slipping up away to Limerick, Pat’s then moved into top spot in the table. At home to UCD, they scored five unanswered goals to extend that advantage to five points going into June.
June
With only two league games in the month of June, the Saints continued their title-winning form with victory over Limerick. Killian Brennan was on hand to score the first and, in the 58th minute, Anto Flood made an instant impact by finding the back of the net seconds after being introduced. Jake Kelly wrapped up the result.
YouTube credit: stpatsfctv
They went into the mid-season break on the back of a disappointing loss, however. Dundalk were quickly becoming the surprise package and went into the game full of confidence. In poor conditions at Oriel Park, Killian Brennan saw red in the second half but the 10 men went ahead through Fagan.
In an eventful closing period, Kurtis Byrne restored parity before seeing Brendan Clarke save his penalty. But a training ground free-kick from Richie Towell found John Sullivan, who powered home a winner to leave Stephen Kenny’s side third and Pat’s six points better off in top spot.
Fortunately, they got back to winning ways two weeks later against Bray.
July
Exit from the Europa League at the hands of Zalgiris Vilnius of Lithuania was followed up by a decent draw with Sligo at home. The Saints continued their bid by overcoming Cork 2-1.
August
The two points dropped against Drogheda and Dundalk’s win against Shamrock Rovers meant Liam Buckley was looking for a big performance when they met the Hoops a week later.
And that’s exactly what he got at Tallaght Stadium — Conan Byrne incredibly hitting all four of their goals on the night while the home side had Derek Foran and former Saints player Sean O’Connor sent off.
YouTube credit: stpatsfctv
Stephen Maher was the hero in the 1-0 win over Shelbourne in mid-August but Pat’s were overtaken at the top by Dundalk after being held 1-1 at home to Bohemians.
September
Killian Brennan continued to show his important role in the team by notching the winner with a free-kick against his former team Derry in a game which ended 1-0. That win put them ahead of Dundalk once again with games running out.
After a draw away to Limerick, the most highly-anticipated game of the season saw first take on second at a packed Richmond Park.
It was branded a ‘winner-takes-all’ game and ended 2-0 in favour of the home side.There wasn’t a huge amount of football played from two of the league’s most entertaining sides but goals from Chris Forrester and Daryl Kavanagh saw Pat’s take a huge step in their bid to win a first league title since 1999.
YouTube credit: stpatsfctv
With silverware now in their sights, the champions-elect earned three more points away to Bray.
October
Going into the final month, a 3-1 win over UCD put them within touching distance of the league title. Dundalk’s draw with Bohemians meant three points from their final three games would seal it.
And, exactly one year to the day since Sligo were crowned champions for the first time in 35 years after a meeting between the same two sides, Pat’s defeated the Bit O’Red at a packed Richmond Park. Goals from Greg Bolger and Anthony Flood ensured a 2-0 victory that proved the icing on the cake in what has been a fantastic year for Liam Buckley’s side.
Like football? Follow TheScore.ie’s dedicated Twitter account @football_ie >
