St Patrick's Athletic 0 - Sporting Fingal 0Both teams went into this match with opening day wins and confidence high. St Pats were fresh from their 7-0 victory over Longford Town while Sporting Fingal recorded a 2-1 win over Bohemians. With a strong home support and Pete Mahon in attendance, St Pats were expecting a far stiffer task from Sporting Fingal and they weren't to be disappointed. After a bright start by both sides, Sporting Fingal produced some neat passages of play, but the St Pats defence were more than up for the challenge. After 10 minutes, a corner by David Long found Craig O'Callaghan on the edge of the box, with O' Callaghan just dipping the ball over the cross bar from the resulting shot. St Pats were in control for the majority of the opening 15 minutes with Aaron Humphries in particular commanding the centre of the park. On 18 minutes, the Sporting Fingal goalkeeper produced a fine save to deny David Long from a free-kick taken from just outside the box. On 23 minutes, Enda Morris delivered a firmly placed cross to Eoin Fowler in the penalty box, but the resulting header drifted wide of the far post. Enda Morris remained a constant threat to Sporting Fingal on the left wing in the first half. After 30 minutes, Sporting Fingal hit the post and were coming more and more into the game. Two minutes later, a brilliant last ditch tackle by Niall Coffey in front of goal, almost certainly denied Sporting Fingal the lead. For the remainder of the first half Sporting Fingal pressed the St Pats defence with Brian Nolan in particular disrupting numerous Sporting Fingal passages of play. In goal, Luke Bray looked solid when called upon. In the early stages of the second half, Kevin O'Leary's powerful shot from just inside the Sporting Fingal box, tested the keeper. Shortly afterwards Mark Logan again tested the keeper with a snap shot from just outside the Sporting Fingal box, with the keeper needing two attempts to finally control the ball. For the opening 20 minutes of the second half it was nip and tuck between both sides with few scoring opportunities. Sean Stewart come more into the match with strong runs up the wings which caused numerous problems for the Sporting Fingal defence. As Sporting Fingal pressed for the winner, the St Pats defence looked solid, with Sean Kelly in particular making a number of important tackles in defence. The St Pats forwards worked tirelessly throughout the 90 minutes to prise open the Sporting Fingal defence, with Kevin O' Leary and Craig O' Callaghan combining well during the match. When the final whistle came, both sides could look back at missed opportunities but in the end a draw was a fair result. Both teams will provide stern opposition to any team in the up-coming league fixtures. St Pats can take a lot of credit for their solid defence, work rate and persistence throughout the match. Admission for Under 20 matches is free and the club would encourage supporters to get behind both the St Pat's “Under 20” and “A Championship” sides who will be playing their home games at Richmond Park this season.
