St. Patrick's Athletic -v- Bohemians

• Daire Walsh
• Sat, May 15 2010


The first silverware of the season is on offer at the Tallaght Stadium on Saturday evening when Pat Fenlon's Bohemians can take on current Airtricity Premier Division leaders St. Pat's in the Setanta Cup Final (kick-off 6.30pm).

This game comes just six days before the two sides face each other in a vitally important league encounter, so it will be interesting to see how both teams perform with the game that follows in mind.

The start of the season has been a bit of a struggle for Bohemians, but their form seems to be picking up recently and, with some more silverware firmly in their sights, this game may well be the one that will galvanise their whole season.

The Gypsies will go into this game without their three recent recruits from Derry City, as they are all cup-tied, but none of them would have been available anyway as it turned out with two of them currently suffering from injuries, while Gareth McGlynn is still serving his one month suspension.

Paddy Madden, Ken Oman and Anto Murphy have all been carrying knocks recently, but are expected to be fit in time for the final. Bohemians boss Pat Fenlon is really looking forward to a competitive Dublin Derby on Saturday, and also revealed that he wasn't overly downbeat following their penalty shootout loss to Monaghan in the EA Sports Cup on Tuesday.

“We’re really looking forward to it. It’s a big Dublin derby and there should be a good crowd. St Pat’s have had a great start to the season, so it’s going to be very tough”, said Fenlon.

“I’m not really disappointed to be honest (with the Monaghan defeat), because it wasn’t on the top of our priorities list. I was very happy with some of the young lads who played”.

Some may say that the Setanta Cup wouldn't be that high of a priority either, but Skipper Owen Heary is really pumped up for battle, as he will be looking to win the one trophy that has so far eluded him in his career.

“I need a win on Saturday so that I can say I have won every trophy available. The more I win, the better it is for the club and for those around me. I’m not a nice fella to be around when I lose”, Heary remarked.

Standing in their way in Tallaght will be a St. Patrick's Athletic side that are playing with great confidence under the guidance of Pete Mahon. Not many people expected them to be performing as well as they have been, and it will be interesting to see if they can maintain their current form over the coming months.

For this tie they will be missing Captain Damian Lynch with a hamstring injury, while Brian Cash is cup-tied having played earlier in the competition with his previous club, Sligo Rovers. Other than that, St. Pat's will have a fully-fit team to choose from, and Mahon is looking forward to seeing a strong Inchicore contingent at the match to cheer on his side.

“It’s encouraging to hear that so many fans are coming up to Tallaght. There was a great atmosphere for our last league game with the whole crowd really getting behind the team and lifting them when we were reduced to 10 men”, Mahon said.

“It would be great to build on that level of support for the cup final. I hope the supporters enjoy the day and as a team we will be doing everything we can to ensure they enjoy it even more”.

Should St. Pat's be victorious in this tie, it will be the first time that silverware has graced Richmond Park since their League Cup triumph in 2003, and this should serve as an extra incentive for them to make a big push on the day.

However this is, by now, familiar territory for Bohs, and it might just be enough to get them over the line in the end.

Venue: Tallaght Stadium.
Paddypower.com odds: Bohemians 21/20, St. Pat's 13/5, Draw 11/5.

Bohemians
Injured: None
Doubtful: Paddy Madden, Ken Oman, Anto Murphy.
Suspended: Gareth McGlynn.
Ineligible: Ruaidhri Higgins, Stephen Gray.

St. Patrick's Athletic
Injured: Damian Lynch.
Doubtful: None.
Ineligible: Brian Cash

Extratime prediction: St. Patrick's Athletic 1-2 Bohemians