St. Patrick's Athletic were held to just a point after an impressive performance against 10-men Shamrock Rovers. Pats had the better of the play throughout the game and should have secured the three points which would have seen them strengthen thei
Shamrock Rovers lost further valuable ground in the title race when they were held to a 0-0 draw by an enterprising St. Patrick’s Athletic side on a lovely September evening at the Tallaght Stadium.
A huge improvement in Rovers’ performance levels after the interval led ratcheted up the corner count and led to some really good opportunities at the South Stand End but the breakthrough never came.
A thumping Lee Grace header from a 59th minute Jack Byrne right corner brought a fabulous save from Brendan Clarke. Seven minutes earlier Byrne had threaded a phenomenal crossfield ball to Sean Kavanagh, whose low shot was parried by Clarke.
Late on, the lively substitute Thomas Oluwa played in Kavanagh but Clarke was again equal to the left wing back’s effort. Later still, skipper for the night Roberto Lopes’ left foot shot, after a controversial corner, flashed just wide of an upright.
St. Pat’s dominated the early exchanges and might have taken an 11th minute lead. A fierce Lee Desmond shot was tipped away brilliantly by Alan Mannus, diving low to his right.
Kevin Toner went even closer just six minutes later after an impressive move by the Inchicore men, breaking from a corner at the other end. Former Hoop Dave Webster delivered a superb pass down the line to striker Mikey Drennan raiding on the Pat’s left.
Drennan’s slide rule pass found Toner whose stinging drive was parried high in the air by Mannus and a beleaguered Rovers defence cleared the rebound with some difficulty. Aaron Greene might have scored for the home side nineteen minutes in.
Jack Byrne, back from his international cameo at the Aviva, gathered the ball inside his own half after a speculative Lee Desmond shot was charged down.
Byrne quickly transferred the ball to a marauding Greene who left the Pat’s defence in his wake before pulling his shot across Clarke and wide of the upright. Hoops’ fans in the 4,423 know that the last chance saloon beckons on Monday night.
