St Patrick's Athletic vs BasaksehirSt Patrick's Athletic battled to a creditable scoreless draw with Istanbul Basaksehir to leave their Conference League play-off tie finely balanced before the return leg on Wednesday. In front of 6,219 at Tallaght Stadium, the Super Saints were good value for the draw, looking particularly impressive before the half-time break. St Pat's manager Stephen Kenny stuck to his guns with the side that had delivered the goods in Azerbaijan last time out, and they very nearly delivered an even bigger result for the Inchicore side. Facing a squad dotted with players who have international experience, Kenny's side took the game to the Turkish outfit, but the goal that their play deserved never arrived. Saints burst out of the gate, dominating the opening 10 minutes, and putting their fancied opponents under pressure, and they had a massive chance to take the lead on four minutes as Mason Melia got on the end of a Zack Elbouzedi cross from the right, but his header flashed wide of the left post. Sixteen-year-old Melia was involved again a few minutes later as he held up a Chris Forrester pass, before laying it back to Jake Mulraney. His effort from just inside the box was always rising from just inside the box. Forrester, who was talking of finding form again in the build up to the game, then went close after the Turks had cleared a corner, as the midfielder cut in from the right and tried to pick his spot in the far left corner, but it had a bit too much on it. Basaksehir, who reached the last 16 of this competition in 2023, gradually began to grow into the contest, but it would take until the 20th minute for them to bring a save out of Joseph Anang. Again, the chance came from a corner as St Pat's cleared the ball out left. Denis Turuc, who has played 12 times for Turkey, hit it low along the greasy surface, but Anang got his body behind it to make the save. While the visitors were enjoying plenty of possession, the Saints were able to absorb the pressure comfortably. Melia nearly got away on the half-hour mark as an outrageous touch in midfield put him in space, but he hesitated when trying to shoot, and the home side had to settle for the corner. Moments later, Forrester nearly got on the end of a deep corner, but Basaksehir keeper Muhammed Sengezer got enough on the ball to put the Saints player off. There was a setback for St Pat's on the stroke of half-time as the ever-dangerous Romal Palmer had to come off with a knock, but Kenny would have been happy with how things were going otherwise at the break. All the hard work nearly came undone inside two minutes of the restart. Berkay Ozcan ran at the home defence and Tom Grivosti scythed him down on the edge of the box. A booking for the defender but Dimitrios Pelkas, who played for Greece against Ireland in both of the Euro 2024 qualifiers, smashed his free-kick straight at the wall. After absorbing massive pressure, St Pat's were unlucky not to take the lead as substitute Kian Leavy saw his effort from the edge of the box smash the left post and come back out. Moments later, a heavy touch from Anang put the goalkeeper in trouble, and he caught Krzysztof Piatek as he cleared the ball. The Basaksehir bench were screaming for a penalty, but their pleas fell on deaf ears as referee Mohammed Al-emara waved play on. It would be one of his last acts as the Finish whistler appeared to tweak something in his right leg, and he couldn't continue, being replaced by fourth official, and fellow Fin, Peiman Simani. The near five-minute stoppage took a bit of the edge out of the game as Storm Lilian's rain began to intensify in west Dublin, and it was the visitors who battened down the hatches in the closing stages, emptying their bench. All square at full time, and now St Pat's will will head to Turkey on Wednesday knowing that qualification for the Conference League group stages is very much still within their grasp. © rte.ie
