St Patrick’s Athletic 1
Cork City 1
JAKE MULRANEY produced the magic for St Patrick’s Athletic.
But Cork City’s Ruairi Keating delivered the sickening blow to their title ambitions with a 93rd-minute equaliser.
The travelling away fans sang about staying up and after a draw like this on a night when they barely registered as an attacking threat they will only gain belief.
The Cork striker’s eighth goal of the season came when a long ball from substitute goalkeeper Jimmy Corcoran fell to him in the box.
He seemed to have an acre of space and once he shifted it out of his feet a low, left-footed effort across goal found the bottom corner.
Richmond Park was left stunned.
Mulraney’s sublime 39th-minute strike looked to have them on easy street.
With Shamrock Rovers only drawing in Drogheda the gap was set to be reduced to two points ahead of the Saints’ Europa Conference League first-round qualifier with Diddeleng in Luxembourg on Wednesday.
But Rovers remain four clear, and with Derry City securing a dramatic late win of their own they are now level on 43 points with Pat’s, who sit second on goal difference.
It was a tense end to a game that began with three yellow cards inside the first 17 minutes.
That set the tone for what was a scrappy encounter, one which ultimately ended with Cork punishing Pat’s for not putting the game to bed when they had the chance.
Cork centre back Jonas Hakkinen was shown the first when he scythed down Mulraney as the pair chased down a breaking ball after the latter’s initial free kick was blocked by the wall.
Mulraney was in the thick of it again a few moments later when his tackle on goalkeeper Tiernan Brooks left the on-loan Notts County man in a heap in the box.
The 20-year-old dallied in possession, inviting the Pat’s winger to advance, and he looked more than a little nervous throughout.
Brooks, whose signing was only confirmed earlier in the day, needed further attention in first-half injury time when a heavy touch gave Mark Doyle a sight of the ball.
This time the sliding tackle was fair although referee David Dunne halted proceedings when the young keeper again required attention.
These incidents involving Brooks added a further sour note as Cork’s sports therapist, Orla McSweeney, was on the end of some audible jeers, ironic cheers and distasteful cat-calls from a section of the home support.
It was more than a little jarring to hear, even more so given the context of the day as the Ireland team departed Dublin airport for the Women’s World Cup.
It was by no means the majority of the ground but it was a significant enough number.
Brooks’ evening came to an end in the 55th minute when he limped off clutching an ice pack. Former Ireland underage goalkeeper Corcoran replaced him and by that stage Pat’s were a goal to the good thanks to Mulraney’s stunner in the 39th minute.
Even if Cork had the two of them between the posts there would have been no stopping it.
Chris Forrester can claim the assist as it was his ball that set Mulraney on the attack, but this was all about the technique and precision of the attacker who has emerged as a shining light since Jon Daly replaced Tim Clancy.
John O’Donovan was poor in his attempts to close Mulraney down and even if there didn’t seem to be any danger as the Pat’s man strode away from goal, the Cork defender should have known better than to allow him space on his favoured left foot.
Twenty yards out, Mulraney had a sight of goal and, still on the run, he arrowed a superb strike into the far top corner.
It was the third time he found the net against Cork this season and this was undoubtedly the pick of the bunch.
Cork had a penalty appeal on the stroke of half time when Cian Bargary fired a cross-cum-shot into the area and it struck the arm of Jamie Lennon.
It would have been harsh given the midfielder’s arms were by his side.
The second half followed the same scatty pattern, Brooks going off 10 minutes after the re-start, and it had the feel of a game Pat’s were happy to try and manage with as little fuss as possible ahead of their midweek trip to Luxembourg.
That’s a dangerous game, though, and they were made to pay when Keating pounced.
St Patrick’s Athletic: Lyness; Brockbank (Norman 64), Curtis, McGrath, Breslin; Lennon, Forrester (Timmermans 91); Mulraney, McCormack (Lonergan 74), M Doyle (A Murphy 64); Carty (E Doyle 74).
Cork City: Brooks (Corcoran 55); Custovic, Hakkinen (Coleman HT), Honohan; Bargary, Bolger (c) (Gilchrist 83), Coffey, O’Brien-Whitmarsh, O’Donovan (Drinan 55); Owlabi (C Murphy 67), Keating.
Referee: D Dunne.