Stephen O'Donnell's first home game as manager of St. Patrick's Athletic ended in a 0-0 draw with basement side UCD. The O'Donnell era in Inchicore got off to a fairly dull start with Pat's having most of the ball throughout the first half without
Stephen O'Donnell's first home game as manager of St. Patrick's Athletic ended in a 0-0 draw with basement side UCD.
The O'Donnell era in Inchicore got off to a fairly dull start with Pat's having most of the ball throughout the first half without doing too much with it.
They did have the ball in the net on 10 minutes, only for Ronan Hale's effort to be ruled offside. Dean Clarke and Rhys McCabe both had decent efforts before the break but UCD held out to keep it scoreless until the half-time whistle.
In the second half, Saints were left to rue the offside flag on two more occasions. On 52 minutes, Glen McAuley did brilliantly to start and finish an attacking move which saw the ball hit the net.
15 minutes later, substitute Chris Forrester played McAuley in with a sublime through ball before the assistant flagged offside again. With a sense of frustration filling the ground, McAuley should have scored on 72 minutes but shot straight at goalkeeper Conor Kearns when clean through on goal.
As Saints pressed for a winner, there was almost a goal at the other end when Yousef Mahdy unleashed a long-range effort which went just over. With the clock ticking, substitute Gary Shaw came close to breaking the deadlock but his header was saved well by Conor Kearns.
There was still time for UCD'S Jason McClelland to have a shot blocked at the other end, before Shaw came close again with a shot from outside the box. In the end, UCD held out and O'Donnell will have to wait for his first home win in charge.
Next up for Saints in the league, a trip to Shamrock Rovers next Friday with the Students hosting Sligo Rovers on the same night.
