Shamrock Rovers -v- St. Patrick's Athletic

• Simon O'Gorman
• Thu, Mar 17 2011


Shamrock Rovers take on St Patrick’s Athletic in a Dublin derby at Tallaght on Friday night and will be looking to make it three wins from three in the league, while Pete Mahon’s men will be desperate to wipe out the memory of their collapse against Bray last weekend. (Kick off 8pm)

Tallaght is sure to be packed to the rafters on Friday evening as the St Patrick’s day holiday weekend sees our patron Saint’s namesakes travel the short distance up the M50 to take on their nearest neighbours.

Michael O’Neill has a fully fit squad to choose from as Rovers look to continue their 100% start to 2011. Craig Sives is fit again after a hamstring injury and Stephen O’Donnell is available once more having served a two game suspension. “We have good early momentum in our season”, said O’Neill, “and our aim is to continue that. Not only have we picked up six points out of six so far, but we also did it against two good sides.”

Beating Dundalk and Sligo Rovers so early on certainly sets down a marker and, should St Pats also succumb on Friday night, the Hoops could confidently claim to have beaten three of their strongest challengers.

St Pats’ start has been less emphatic. Good performances were not enough to get them past Cliftonville in the Setanta Cup while an opening day win over Galway United must be seen in the context of that club’s traumatic pre-season, in which they only secured their Premier Division licence at the 11th hour.

Last weekend was one that the Inchicore club will be looking to put behind them as a 2-0 lead against Bray Wanderers was thrown away in the final 20 minutes of the game and the Saints left with nothing. Pete Mahon missed that game for personal reasons but his assistant, John Gill, was not shy in expressing his dis-satisfaction with the performance.

In keeping with the early stages of a long campaign Pats have yet to fully find their feet but everyone at the club will be aware that should the defensive frailties that were displayed in the final stages of the Bray game be repeated, they would likely be severely punished by a Rovers attack that has the potential to run riot, even against the best of defences.

Honour for St Pats was somewhat restored with a 2-0 win at Bray on Monday night in the Leinster Senior Cup and Mahon will have been delighted to see new signing Ian Daly get off the mark with his first competitive goal for the club. However Mahon will be without defender Brian Shortall who is out with an ankle injury and midfielder Paul Crowley who is available after suspension, but laid low with a virus.

"Despite the result last week we're in good shape”, said Mahon. “We have a new squad of players and we're trying to develop a new way of playing. Our training and performances have been good this year and you can see the team gelling as each week goes by.”

Overall, this will be a meeting between two sides who have yet to hit full stride but there is no mistaking the fact that Rovers are further down the road than their visitors.

Shamrock Rovers:
Injured: None.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.

St Patrick’s Athletic:
Injured: Paul Crowley (virus), Brian Shortall (ankle).
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.

Referee: Tom Connolly.
Paddy Power Odds: Shamrock Rovers 4/5 - Draw 9/4 - St Pats 7/2.
Extratime prediction: A 2-0 win for the Hoops.