St Patrick’s Athletic 1
NS Mura 1
Ronan Macnamara reports from Richmond Park
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC will travel to Slovenia with every chance of progressing from the second qualifying round of the Uefa Conference League after they made their return to Europe after a frustrating three-year hiatus with a 1-1 draw against NS Mura.
Once again an Irish club paid a heavy price for sloppiness at the back, Harry Brockbank the culprit after his backpass sold Joseph Anang short allowing Mirand Daku to steal a march and finish to an empty net after 28 minutes.
An outstanding Chris Forrester goal on the hour deservedly put Pats back on level terms. Forrester combined with Eoin Doyle and volleyed home via the bar from close range.
Debutant Barry Cotter kept up the Shamrock Rovers link and he impressed throughout with penetrating runs and dancing feet but his glaring miss in the opening minute will give him a sleepless night after he turned over Mark Doyle’s pull back from six yards.
Anto Breslin forced Marko Obradovic into an acrobatic save in the fifth minute before Daku drew first blood for the Slovenian side against the run of play.
Mura – the conquerors of Spurs in last year’s group stage – offered precious little in the final third and were pinned back by a relentless Saints side who will wonder how they didn’t turn a thunderous first 20 minutes into goals.
The visitors can count themselves lucky they weren’t reduced to 10 men after Klemen Pucko appeared to raise his hands to the face of Chris Forrester but Maltese referee Ishmael Barbara was lenient in awarding a yellow leaving the capacity crowd aghast.
Brockbank almost atoned for his error five minutes after the restart but he glanced a free header wide and from the resulting goal kick his error almost saw the Slovenian side double their advantage.
The visitors arrived famous for their victory over Spurs in last year’s group stage and they began to flex their attacking muscles in the 75th minute. Anang pulled off a fine save to deny Dardan Shabanhaxhaj before Nik Lorbek turned the rebound wide.
Having teed up a raucous last half hour Forrester almost lifted the roof off Richmond after he went on a dazzling run into the box before being denied by Obradovic late on as the spoils were shared on the night.
St Pats: Joseph Anang, Barry Cotter (Curtis 87), Joseph Redmond, Tom Grivosti, Chris Forrester, Eoin Doyle (Owolabi 80), Harry Brockbank, Mark Doyle, Adam O’Reilly, Anto Breslin, Thijs Timmermans (Lennon. 64)
Mura: Matko Obradovic, Kai Cipot, Kiemen Beganovic, Luka Bobicanec, Matic Marusko (Shabanhaxhaj), Ziga Kous, Nik Lorbek, Mirland Daku, Darrick Morris, Nikola Petkovic (Cipot 65)
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