TIM CLANCY was left to rue a sloppy goal as St Patrick’s Athletic were beaten 1-0 by Bohemians at Dalymount Park last night.
It’s a second successive defeat for the Saints, following Friday’s 2-1 loss at home to Sligo.
After a comprehensive 3-0 win over Shelbourne in their season opener, the Richmond Park outfit will hope back-to-back defeats against sides expected to challenge them for the top spots won’t prove costly come the end of the season.
“It’s tough but when we’re conceding the goals that we’re conceding at the minute, it’s making things a hell of a lot tougher than what they should be,” Clancy said afterwards.
“It’s nowhere near good enough, the goals that we’re conceding. Teams are opening us up. If they’re scoring really quality goals against us, you sort of have to hold your hands up, but the goals we’re conceding are all avoidable and it’s something that we’ll address in the coming days.”
Stephen Mallon’s 49th-minute winner came as a result of some hesitant defending. A long ball initially was not dealt with and the former Sheffield United youngster managed to shrug off the attentions of 19-year-old Wolves loanee Jack Scott all too easily before finishing clinically.
“It’s just ‘go and deal with the ball,’ simple as that, go and deal with it,” said Clancy. “It’s one of the most basic things in football — don’t allow the ball to bounce, don’t question yourself, just go and deal with it. It’s something that shouldn’t happen and we’ll make sure that it won’t happen again.”
Clancy also admitted his side’s efforts down the other end of the field were not good, with Bohs goalkeeper James Talbot a virtual bystander for the majority of the contest.
“We created very little tonight, a few good opportunities in areas where we never really troubled their ‘keeper at all. Of course, we could have created more. It’s something we did against Sligo and Shels and Shamrock Rovers as well, so the disappointing part tonight was not creating enough in the attacking end of the pitch.
“But when you’re conceding goals like that, it puts a hell of a lot of pressure on you, you have to get things absolutely right. It’s frustrating, disappointing, but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves, we’ve got to crack on now.”
One of the most high-profile signings of the off-season, Eoin Doyle scored over 100 goals during a 10-year spell in England but has yet to get off the mark in the Premier Division, with his only competitive goal so far coming in the President’s Cup loss against Shamrock Rovers.
The Dubliner failed to find the net again on Monday, as he was starved of service amid an underwhelming 90 minutes.
“We’re not creating enough chances for Eoin, that’s it,” the Pat’s boss added. “It’s a major issue. And that’s what we spoke about afterwards. Again, that’s something we’re working on.”
One of the League of Ireland’s hottest young talents, Darragh Burns, somewhat surprisingly started on the bench.
The talented winger, who has been linked with a move across the water and scored a superb opening goal in the Shelbourne win, was introduced early in the second half and added some much-needed energy to a largely uninspired Pat’s attack.
“He’s only 19, Darragh. He’s very good and he’s dangerous, but we’ve also other very good players. Tunde [Owolabi] came on and scored a good goal against Sligo and Jay McClelland came on and scored against Shels, so we’ve other good players in attacking areas.
“It’s about managing players and managing minutes as best we can. Darragh, when he came on tonight, we were hoping we would be still in the game and not behind, and that the game would have opened up a bit and given Darragh a lot more space to be direct and carry the ball. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it to him in the right areas.”
After a difficult start, it doesn’t get any easier for Clancy and co, as they host reigning champions Shamrock Rovers on Friday night.
“We know it’s gonna be a tough game, that’s what we’re going to prepare for,” he added.
Comedian Michael Fry is our special guest on this week’s episode of The Front Row, in partnership with Guinness. Joining host Seán Burke, Eimear Considine and Murray Kinsella, he chats about his family’s rugby background and his short-lived playing days, before using his musical ear to rank the anthems of each Guinness Six Nations team. Click here to subscribe or listen below:
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