David Webster was the hero as St. Patrick's Athletic came away with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Sligo Rovers at Richmond Park on Friday night. The game took a while to spring into life and the crowd had to wait until the 20th minute for the first
David Webster was the hero as St. Patrick's Athletic came away with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Sligo Rovers at Richmond Park on Friday night. The game took a while to spring into life and the crowd had to wait until the 20th minute for the first chance of note. With his back to goal, Saints forward Gary Shaw turned his defender before hitting a low shot to the left of the Sligo net. For the Bit O' Red, this may have been the wake-up call they needed. Within seconds, Romeo Parkes had a chance on goal which he fired wide. Not to be discouraged, he fired home a minute later after Kris Twardek did well to beat his man before playing a low pass towards his teammate. Parkes made no mistake and Sligo were 1-0 up against the run of play. At the other end, Pat's were clearly attempting to utilise Shaw's aerial abilities, with the forward going close with headers on three occasions towards the end of the first half. The home side came out for the second half with intent and it paid off within six minutes when recent signing Glen McAuley blasted a shot into the net after some calm play in the box. His second goal in a week for his new club after scoring the winner against Bray Wanderers in the FAI Cup last Friday. After the equaliser, Pat's were mostly dominant throughout the second half as the rain poured down at Richmond Park. That being said, they were still guilty of some sloppy defending and Twardek could have regained Sligo's lead had he been more clinical with his finishing on the hour. On 84 minutes, Saints finally found the winner they were looking for when Ian Bermingham's perfectly-delivered free kick found the head of David Webster. The defender made no mistake and Richmond Park was sent into raptures. It was no more than Pat's deserved and thankfully for manager Harry Kenny, they managed to see it through and clinch a hard-fought 2-1 win.
