Liam Buckley: 'We were always going to get a result or two'

Liam Buckley praised his team after they picked up their second league win in succession over Dublin rivals, as they thumped Bohemians 4-0 at Dalymount Park on Friday night.

The Saints had begun the season in worryingly poor form, losing three of their opening five games, including a home tie with Bray Wanderers on the opening night.

However last week's victory over Shamrock Rovers and Friday's win in Phibsborough – a night that was lit up by Conan Byrne's stunning 60-yard striker – has given them much-needed momentum.

For Buckley, it was always a case of when, rather than if, they'd start to string a few results together and, in terms of keeping the fans onside, he could hardly have chosen a better pair of games to win.

“We were always going to get a result or two,” a beaming Buckley told extratime.ie.

The Dubliner, who has won the league and both cups in his latest spell at Richmond Park, cut a noticeably more relaxed figure than he has in recent weeks.

“We done well last week and we've done well again tonight. I felt we outplayed them, which is the important part.

“The more possession you have, the more chances you're going to get. I thought we created quite a few chances apart from the ones we scored.

“As I said to the guys, if you keep good possession of the ball, you're going to create chances. We created quite a few again this evening. We're not the finished article, but we're improving.”

Buckley admitted his side were slow to get into the game, with Bohs having narrowed the pitch in order to stifle the Saints' passing game, but he was pleased with how they adapted.

“They tightened up the pitch here to stop you playing balls out and getting them wide. We still got a bit of width on our game this evening. I thought the lads played well collectively.

“We've passed it better. There is improvement in that, but we're working on it continuously.

“Technically, we've got a good group of players, a fit bunch, so hopefully we can push on. There's a season to play for here.

“I know we started poorly, but we just need to drag ourselves back into contention and see where we go from there.”

Pats welcome Bluebell United to Richmond Park on Tuesday night in the second round of the EA Sports Cup.

A more-or-less full-strength Saints side beat Bluebell 5-0 at St Francis' John Hyland Park in Baldonnel during pre-season, however a sterner test is expected this time around.

Both striker Christy Fagan and his replacement, Josh O'Hanlon, went off injured during the second half in Phibsboro, however Buckley expects both to be available for Tuesday and the visit of managerless Limerick on Friday night.

“Christy just had a slight hamstring [issue] so we didn't take any risks with him.

“Josh was sick yesterday, so there was something slight going on there from that end and he just didn't feel right going on, so we just took him off.

“Bar Darren Dennehy, who has a bit of an ankle thing going on, so we just need to see where he is for next week, but other than that I think we're all OK.”