Match Preview

St Patrick's Athletic vs UCD

St Patrick's Athletic returned to winning ways after the Summer break with a 2-1 win against UCD at Richmond Park on Friday night. A second half double from Eoin Doyle was enough to edge the Saints to victory. There were some nervous Pats fans late on when Alex Nolan pulled one back, but it proved to be too little too late as all three points stayed in Inchicore.

It was a quiet opening 10 minutes, with most of the ball spent in the air and St Pats struggling to break down a defiant UCD defence.

The first opportunity of the night fell to Darragh Burns on the edge of the area. Some neat work from Anto Breslin and Mark Doyle teed up Burns who's effort stung the hands of UCD goalkeeper Kian Moore.

The Saints dominated most of the first half with UCD struggling to retain possession and create any clear cut opportunities for themselves.

St Pats went close again just after the 30 minute mark when McClelland's corner found Mark Doyle at the front post. His glancing header forced Moore into making another save with the UCD shot stopper pushing the ball over the bar. It was Doyle's namesake, Eoin who went close with the subsequent corner. McClelland's in-swinging corner lead to a scramble in the box with the ball eventually falling to Eoin Doyle who was inches wide with his effort.

Although St Pats dominated most of the first half, perhaps the best chance of the half fell to the students. They broke at pace and when Darra Keane sent Donal Higgins through, he had the goal at his mercy but Joseph Annang got down the make an impressive save. The rebound fell directly to Sean Brennan, who's effort fell straight to the hands of Annang who did well to deny the students again.

The drama in the St Pats box proved to be the final action of the half as referee Ben Connolly's half-time whistle brought the curtain down on a dull first half.

The second half started much the same as the first half had, with the Inchicore outfit in control and it took them just five minutes to finally break the deadlock. Mark Doyle did well and he laid it off to Chris Forrester on the edge of the penalty box. Forrester's chipped ball into the area found Eoin Doyle who directed his header goalwards. Despite Moore's best efforts to keep the ball out, Doyle's header had generated too much power and it sailed over the keeper's head and into the net to open the scoring.

The students' night went from bad to worse when their manager Andy Meyler was sent off for dissent, after he was unhappy with a Sam Curtis challenge early in the second half.

Former Saint Tommy Longergan was introduced as they went in search of an equaliser and did they scramble the ball over the line, but it was ruled out for offside just before the 70th minute mark.

Moments later, St Pats doubled their lead. Mark Doyle played a neat ball through to Ben McCormack who was bundled over in the penalty area. Eoin Doyle stepped up and he buried his penalty into the bottom right corner to double the St Pats lead with just over 15 minutes left to play.

Lonergan went close again on the 80 minute mark and but Annang was on hand to tip the shot over the bar and away for a corner to deny the UCD attacker.

With four minutes remaining, UCD were thrown a lifeline when Alex Nolan buried the ball home to pull one back and reduce the deficit to the minimum with minutes remaining.

It was an anxious few minutes with the fourth official signalling five added minutes at the end of the half, however, St Pats saw the game out to pick up a valuable three points on their return to action.

Next up is a long trip to the North West to face Finn Harps next Friday with Tim Clancy's charges going in search of back to back wins.

Date	Competition	Home Team		Away Team
June, 5th 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	4	Derry City	1	REPORT
May, 26th 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	2	Dundalk	1	REPORT
May, 12th 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	3	Drogheda United	0	REPORT
May, 1st 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	0	Sligo Rovers	1	REPORT
April, 21st 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	0	Shamrock Rovers	2	REPORT
April, 7th 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	4	Cork City	0	REPORT
March, 31st 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	3	UCD	0	REPORT
March, 10th 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	0	Bohemians	2	REPORT
February, 24th 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	1	Shelbourne	0	REPORT
February, 17th 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	1	Derry City	1	REPORT

Date	Competition	Home Team		Away Team
June, 2nd 2023	League	UCD	1	St Patrick's Athletic	3	REPORT
May, 20th 2023	Womens_under17	Dundalk	0	St Patrick's Athletic	0	REPORT
May, 19th 2023	League	Shelbourne	0	St Patrick's Athletic	1	REPORT
May, 15th 2023	League	Shamrock Rovers	3	St Patrick's Athletic	2	REPORT
May, 5th 2023	League	Cork City	2	St Patrick's Athletic	3	REPORT
April, 29th 2023	Womens_under17	Bohemians	0	St Patrick's Athletic	0	REPORT
April, 28th 2023	League	Derry City	2	St Patrick's Athletic	0	REPORT
April, 14th 2023	League	Bohemians	2	St Patrick's Athletic	3	REPORT
April, 10th 2023	League	Drogheda United	1	St Patrick's Athletic	3	REPORT
March, 18th 2023	Womens_under17	Bray Wanderers	3	St Patrick's Athletic	1	REPORT

Date	Competition	Home Team		Away Team
June, 2nd 2023	League	UCD	1	St Patrick's Athletic	3	REPORT
March, 31st 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	3	UCD	0	REPORT
August, 19th 2022	League	UCD	1	St Patrick's Athletic	2	REPORT
June, 17th 2022	League	St Patrick's Athletic	2	UCD	1	REPORT
April, 18th 2022	League	UCD	1	St Patrick's Athletic	2	REPORT
March, 14th 2022	League	St Patrick's Athletic	2	UCD	0	REPORT
July, 18th 2020	Friendly	UCD	0	St Patrick's Athletic	3	REPORT
September, 13th 2019	League	St Patrick's Athletic	0	UCD	0	REPORT
August, 23rd 2019	FaiCup	UCD	3	St Patrick's Athletic	1	REPORT
June, 28th 2019	League	UCD	0	St Patrick's Athletic	1	REPORT

Date	Competition	Home Team		Away Team
June, 5th 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	4	Derry City	1	REPORT
June, 2nd 2023	League	UCD	1	St Patrick's Athletic	3	REPORT
May, 26th 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	2	Dundalk	1	REPORT
May, 19th 2023	League	Shelbourne	0	St Patrick's Athletic	1	REPORT
May, 15th 2023	League	Shamrock Rovers	3	St Patrick's Athletic	2	REPORT
May, 12th 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	3	Drogheda United	0	REPORT
May, 5th 2023	League	Cork City	2	St Patrick's Athletic	3	REPORT
May, 1st 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	0	Sligo Rovers	1	REPORT
April, 28th 2023	League	Derry City	2	St Patrick's Athletic	0	REPORT
April, 21st 2023	League	St Patrick's Athletic	0	Shamrock Rovers	2	REPORT