Midseason Report Card - St Patrick's Athletic

Club: St. Patrick’s Athletic

Manager: Liam Buckley

Stadium: Richmond Park

Highest attendance this season: Shamrock Rovers (2,000 est) (25/03/2017)

Highest league goalscorer: Christy Fagan/Kurtis Byrne (5)

Mid-season position: 11^th

How we thought they would do:

Most at extratime.ie predicted a fifth-place finish, with the Saints pushing for fourth and a European spot. League fans and actual Pats fans themselves would have took a mid-table finish before the season started, particularly after how last year went for the Inchicore club (a seventh place finish).

How they really have done:

Three wins, six draws and eight defeats is the record after 17 games.

The wins were at home to Shamrock Rovers and Drogheda. The solitary away win was against Bohemians at the end of March. There’s been some positive draws though.

Away draws to Sligo, Galway, Derry, Bray and Rovers are not bad points, considering they went a goal down in three of those games.

The most frustrating thing for the Saints though is that their not getting results from games they are expected to.

For example, they were favourites to win away to Finn Harps but went 3-0 down after a half an hour.

A common theme in Pats season is their inability to hang onto leads or seeing a game out. 1-0 up at home to Sligo Rovers and looking comfortable with nine minutes to go, a loss of concentration let Sligo equalise to deny three points. The same happened at Derry and Galway.

The Saints are unable to win the EA Sports Cup three times in a row, as Cork City knocked them out at Turners Cross at the Quarter Final stage.

In the Leinster Senior Cup, they have yet to play Tallaght side Firhouse Clover in the last quarter-final.

Moment of the season so far:

With only three wins so far, positive moments are few and far between.

The clear standout is Conan Byrne’s wonder strike against Bohemians at Dalymount though. The 31-year-old has spent all his career in the League of Ireland, with UCD, Sporting Fingal and Shelbourne and Pats, and before he struck the goal he was on 99 career goals.

To score his 100^th goal, against a team he had never netted against, from inside his own half and in a Dublin Derby makes it a special moment to saviour for Pats fans. The goal was even sweeter as Pats prevailed 0-4 on the night.,

Star Player: Lee Desmond

Probably not the first name on people’s lips, the Donaghmede man is a dream player for any manager. The 22-year-old is just so versatile, with the ability to play centre-half, left-back (where he started out) and, this season, centre midfield

Wherever he’s picked to play, you know he’s going to be on his game and give 100%. He is what you call a 'seven out of ten player every week’ player – very reliable and underrated.

His passing quality is very good. No doubt a bigger club or an English/foreign club will be looking at him in the near future, if he keeps giving decent performances he’s giving weekly.

Surprise star player: Rory Feely.

Bar the Sligo game at home where he individually didn’t put the best of performances, the 20-year-old centre half has put in assured displays in the majority of games, particularly away from home to Bray and Shamrock Rovers as well as netting against Galway.

He’s a no-nonsense-style defender with a decent passing range also, so the Kildare man looks to have a fine future in the game. He was a member of the Kildare minor GAA football team that reached the All-Ireland semi-finals in 2015.

Young player: Darragh Markey

The 20-year-old attacking midfielder has started the majority of Pats games this season. The ex-Cherry Orchard youth player has not been overawed however, with 6/7 out of 10 performances throughout the season and three assists to his name.

Markey is currently on the Saints' scholarship system with Maynooth University. He is in the first team squad for the last two years now and is one of the most promising young players in the squad having featured for the Republic of Ireland’s under-18s.

Although a long way off replicating his career, he is reminiscent of a young Wes Hoolahan. Not just in style of play, but also in stature and height.

Star signing: Kurtis Byrne/Gavin Peers

It's a toss-up between the two. Peers has been injured for a stretch but when he’s fully fit, he brings much experience and stability to the backline, which was apparent when he was missing. The ex-Sligo Rovers centre back only signed at Christmas but has really looked comfortable in Dublin 8 and is looking like a real coup.

Similarly, Byrne was signed at Christmas from Bohemians. He’s the club’s joint-top goalscorer in the league, with five, and nearly all have contributed to points. Away to Derry, the equaliser at bray and the killer second at home to Droghedam and all five goals have been easy on the eye.

What they need to do in the transfer market:

Look at strengthening most areas of the pitch, really.

"We'll have a look and see what's available and see what we can do. One or two from our group may want to go to get games and all that sort of stuff. It's a funny old time of the season, the break, but we'll have a look and see if there's anything we can do," said Buckley after the Rovers game before the two week break.

Buckley is aware he needs fresh faces but he acknowledges that an area of concern is the back line. He is aware that area of the squad needs strengthening, with Michael Barker, Gavin Peers, Rory Feely and Ian Bermingham playing in most of the games so far. With Darren Dennehy still ruled out for another month with an ankle problem, that problem could be addressed sooner rather than later.

"We've only got six defenders in the whole group so that is an area we'll look at to see if we can bring in some bodies to strengthen that up."

Where we see them finishing: 9^th

The general consensus speaking to Pats fans and looking at social media is that the Saints just possess too much quality to go down. Having players like Kurtis Byrne, Conan Byrne and, especially if he continues his form, Christy Fagan, will stand them in good stead for the remainder of the season.

Their away form isn’t that bad for a team that is down the bottom, with previously mentioned away draws at Derry, Bray and Shamrock Rovers happening before the back end of the mid-season break.

The only games where they have been brushed away was against the big two, Dundalk and Cork. All the rest, there wasn’t much in the difference in the scoreline.

If they continue that form away from home, as well as changing their patchy home form, we can see the Saints staying up by the skin of their teeth.