| St Pat's snatch a point with last gasp equaliser in The Showgrounds |
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| Monday, 03 April 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 A last gasp equaliser by St Pat’s broke the hearts of Sligo Rovers at the Showgrounds tonight just when it looked like the home side were going to come out on top. The Bit O’Red came of age tonight and were more than worth the full three points dominating the game for long periods, but the unbeaten Dubliners got the last laugh with the final kick of the game.
Rovers were without the injured Paul McTiernan and suspended Chris Turner, but they put their stamp on the game, in particular in a second half when they looked every bit the Premier Division side, playing with invention and no little skill and defending stoutly from the front. The first foray into the opposing box for the home side came with a claim for a penalty on eleven minutes when Kudozovic put Foy through but the former Pat’s man penetrating run was ended when he appeared to be brought down in the box by Murphy, but referee, Paul McKeown was having none of it. Rovers were taking the direct approach and Mansaram and Hughes both threatened the Pat’s goal in the early stages but as the game settled down neither side were in a generous mood and chances were at a premium. On thirty five minutes, the phoney war ended and backlines were breached when a Keith Foy cross was headed to Gary Curran who rolled it to Flannery, but the Drumcliffe-man could only stab it over the bar. A minute later, it was the visitors who were on the attack when a Quigley effort from outside the box, was on target but O’Hara put it round the post. The Bit O’Red looked dangerous on the break throughout and as the clock wound down to half time, Mansaram increasingly made himself available, most dangerously when Curran sent a low ball down the middle into the box, forcing Barry Ryan to save at the feet of the target man. The second half opened brightly for Rovers and Mansaram was on the ball immediately, running onto a Kudozovic ball striking low to force a good save from Ryan. A minute later Mansaram got on the end of a Peers cross to set-up Hughes but Ryan got there first. The pressure continued on fifty five minutes when good work on the right by Hughes set up a chance for Curran but his effort went over. A minute later it was Rovers down the left hand side this time Kudozovic cutting in to fire a stinging shot that Ryan was equal to. St Pat’s backs were against the wall for the first thirty minutes of the second half as the home side sought to take advantage of their possession. Most the ball was coming down the right but Rovers were far from one-dimensional with O’Grady and Curran marshalling the centre field, Kudozovic breaking on the left and Mansaram and Flannery working tirelessly up front. It was the former who went off injured on seventy must but Matt Judge continued where he left off. Inevitably the visitors came into it more in the final ten minutes and should have taken the lead when Rovers failed to clear a Reilly free and Vinny Perth scooped it over the bar from inside the six yard box. The Bit O’Red were sprung into action once more and in the eighty ninth minute it looked like the game was won. A Foy cross into the box towards Adam Hughes ended with Hughes on the ground and the referee looking to his assistant to see hwat happened. No need for video replays, as Ciaran Delany signalled a penalty which Foy happily stepped up to slot to Ryans left. The celebrations were short-lived as Pat’s countered immediately piling the pressure on the home side. And with the last kick of the game, the pressure told when a skewed clearance gave the visitors a corner that was scrambled into the net by Perth. Rough justice for Rovers, as they were left to rue their failure to capitalise on their second half dominance. Sligo Rovers John O’Hara, Gavin Peers, Keith Foy, Michael McNamara, Liam Burns, Conor O’Grady, Adam Hughes, Fahrudin Kudozovic, Sean Flannery (Jamie McKenzie 90 min), Gary Curran,Darren Mansaram (Matt Judge, 70 min) Subs not used: Jason McCartney, Richard Brush, Sean Kelly St Patrick’s Athletic Barry Ryan, Alan Murphy, Jon Frost, Stephen Brennan, Darragh McGuire, Dave Mulcahy, Sean O’Connor (Anto Flood 82 min), Michael Foley (Vinny Perth 62 min) Mark Quigley, Trevor Molloy (Alan Reilly, HT), Mark Rutherford Subs not used:Luke Fitzpatrick, Brendan Clarke Referee: Paul McKeown Assistants, Ciaran Delaney, Paul Duddy, Paul Tuite (fourth official) Bookings: Sligo Rovers: Conor O’Grady St Pats: Jon Frost |
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