St Pat’s 3

Longford Town 2

Ronan McNamara reports from Richmond Park

ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC kept the pressure on Shamrock Rovers at the top of the league with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Longford Town tonight.

2,500 fans packed into Richmond Park and they were treated to a stunning goal from Billy King while Chris Forrester and Darragh Burns also netted for the hosts after Dean Williams levelled matters with a super free kick.

A late consolation at the death from substitute Conor Davis wasn’t enough despite a spirited second-half display from the visitors.

Town had a penalty appeal waved away by Robert Hennessey after Williams went down leaving Daire Doyle aghast on the sideline.

Just before the half-hour mark King picked up the ball in space and his 25-yard effort rocketed past Lee Steacy into the top corner to break the deadlock in an otherwise uneventful first half.

Longford were nowhere near aggressive enough in their defensive shape, often allowing Paddy Barrett and Forrester to thread balls through the lines.

A much more aggressive Longford emerged from the dressing room for the second period and five minutes after the restart Daire Doyle’s charges were level after Shamrock Rovers loanee, Williams, rifled a free kick from the edge of the box past deputy Pat’s goalkeeper Barry Murphy, whose initial fumble led to the free kick being given.

That sparked the game into life and the visitors posed a threat before substitute Jak Hickman caused panic in the Longford defence with a wicked curling cross that Aaron O’Driscoll failed to deal with, allowing Forrester to pounce and smash home from close range to put the Saints back in front.

Town should have levelled matters as the clock ticked towards the 90 as substitute Aaron Dobbs was sent through on goal only to be thwarted by the magnificent Barrett. The defender then started a sweeping counter-attack that led to Burns curling a neat effort from inside the box into the top corner to make it 3-1, before Davis scored a last-second consolation for the visitors.

St Patrick’s Athletic: Barry Murphy, Ian Bermingham, Sam Bone, Chris Forrester, Ronan Coughlan (McCormack 71), Matty Smith, Billy King, Alfie Lewis, Darragh Burns (Lambert 88), Paddy Barrett, James Abankwah (Hickman 45)

Longford Town: Lee Steacy, Shane Elworthy (Warfield 71), Aaron Robinson, Dean Zambra, Dean Williams, Aaron O’Driscoll, Darragh Nugent, Aodh Dervin (Aaron Dobbs 81), Dean Byrne (Davis 67), Aaron McNally, Joe Manley