St Patrick’s Athletic 1
Dundalk 0
Gavin Cooney reports from Richmond Park
THOSE GLOWERING SKIES that shadowed Dublin all day eventually opened before kick-off to spill ceaseless rain over Richmond Park, and by St Pat’s own meagre returns this season, a solitary Daniel Cleary own goal will feel like a deluge of their own.
Mikey Drennan has scored all three of Pat’s league goals this season and was absent here through suspension, meaning they had to rely on Cleary’s error in first-half added time to secure a first league win against Dundalk since 2016.
It was fully deserved for Pat’s, and followed the template of their opening-day win against Cork City: built on midfield tenacity and seen out with a deep, dogged and doughty defensive performance.
Dundalk, meanwhile, were oddly sloppy in the first-half, and struggled to create too many clear-cut chances when chasing a point at the end of the game. They missed the midfield guile of Robbie Benson and Patrick McEleney, while Chris Shields failed a late fitness test ahead of the game.
The result now means Dundalk trail leaders Shamrock Rovers by 10 points, although of the home fans, and that false start bled into a fitful start for both teams.
The start of the game was delayed for three minutes as the Pat’s staff had to tend to a problem with the nets, and the false kick-off bled into a fitful start, with both sides imprecise.
Chris Forrester’s misplacing a through-ball for Gary Shaw and Jamie Lennon’s clipping a ball over Shaw’s head after the striker came to feet elicited groans from the home support, but Dundalk were equally sloppy in possession, and their imprecision emboldened Pat’s.
Slowly Pat’s began making attacking inroads, aided by Dundalk’s sloppiness. Daniel Cleary had to throw himself at a Conor Clifford shot in the penalty area after the Pat’s midfielder was left unmarked in the penalty area, an errant backpass allowed Rhys McCabe sting Gary Rogers’ gloves from distance, while Jamie McGrath might have been penalised for handball in the penalty area when his arm jutted toward a half-cleared McCabe free-kick.
Pat’s eventually took the lead in first-half added time, and again it owed much to the champions’ curious slumber. Rhys McCabe scarpered down the left-wing behind Sean Gannon, and his low cross was heading for the stooping chest of Gary Rogers before Daniel Cleary slid in and diverted the ball into his own net.
Vinny Perth’s first-half refrain was for his midfielders to push forward, but Dundalk attacked with all the fluency of a rusted hinge. Pat’s of course, deserve credit for disrupting Dundalk whenever they did attack, with Jamie Lennon’s positional awareness again outstanding and Conor Clifford typically tireless.
Nonetheless, Dundalk were restricted to shots from Daniel Kelly and Michael Duffy from outside the box, and a Kelly chance inside the area that perished with his poor first touch.
Perth’s second-half instructions, meanwhile, were a series of riffs on the importance of passing the ball. With Clifford and Lennon swallowing all Dundalk attempts to play through the middle, the champions began the second-half with a series of hoiks down the left-wing for Pat Hoban to chase, none of which yielded any success.
Their best chance came at the end of their best move: Hoban’s clever midfield pass to Murray was then passed through a few pairs of Dundalk feet before David Webster was forced to head the ball over his own crossbar with Hoban lurking.
The next best chance, however, fell to Pat’s, but Chris Forrester could only shoot tamely at Rogers having glided past Brian Gartland.
Perth swapped Gartland, although didn’t tear up his formation as Sean Hoare then reverted to centre back. Hoare, in fact, came close to scoring when heading a Duffy free-kick at Brendan Clarke.
Dundalk fashioned further half-chances: Sean Murray flashed a long-range shot wide, while Georgie Kelly could only divert a delightful Flores dink into the arms of Clarke.
The final act brought them their best chance of the game, however. In the fifth minute of added time, a flicked header fell for Pat Hoban behind the Pat’s defence, but as the angle narrowed, he could only arrow his shot wide of Clarke’s left-hand post.
A vital win for Pat’s to inject some enthusiasm into a dwindling crowd; more puzzles to solve for Vinny Perth in what is proving a tricky debut.
St Patrick’s Athletic: Brendan Clarke; Simon Madden; David Webster, Kevin Toner, Lee Desmond; Ian Bermingham; Jamie Lennon, Conor Clifford, Rhys McCabe; Chris Forrester (Cian Coleman 86′), Gary Shaw (Jake Walker 90′)
Dundalk: Gary Rogers; Sean Gannon, Brian Gartland (John Mountney 75′), Daniel Cleary, Dane Massey; Sean Hoare, Sean Murray; Daniel Kelly (Jordan Flores 58′), Jamie McGrath (Georgie Kelly 84′), Michael Duffy; Patrick Hoban
Referee: Ray Matthews
Attendance: 1878
