League Report: St. Patrick's Athletic 0 - 2 Shamrock Rovers

Shamrock Rovers secured their first league win in three games on Friday night as they inflicted a second Dublin Derby loss on St. Patrick’s Athletic in a week. Liam Buckley’s Saint side slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Richmond Park courtesy of a well taken Brandon Miele finish inside the opening half before Gary Shaw wrapped up the three points for the Hoops late on.

The Saints looked absent for a majority of the game as Rovers remained the more dominant side in front of goal in a game filled with the usual intensity of a derby but lacking in goal-scoring opportunities. St. Pat’s have now dropped five points behind Pat Fenlon’s side who draw level with Derry City in third position in the SSE Airtrity League table going into the mid-season break.

Liam Buckley’s side were looking to recover from a disastrous 5-1 loss at the hands of Bohemians at Dalymount Park last Sunday afternoon while Rovers too were looking to bounce back from a disappointing result, in their case a 1-1 draw with Finn Harps at Tallaght Stadium.

The home side began promisingly, if often-times reverting to the repetitive action of crossfield passes in the direction of Conan Byrne on the right wing and Christy Fagan inside the penalty box.

It worked a charm inside the opening fifteen however, with Byrne crossing deep firstly for Billy Dennehy who failed to control the ball at the far post before putting the ball over the bar.

Next was a move more accustomed to Buckley’s branded passing football which saw Graham Kelly and David Cawley combine to release Byrne on the inside wing. Byrne provided a cutting cross that forced Craig Hyland to come and punch clear.

This before the ball spilled to Sam Verdon on the edge of the box, with the attacker skying his effort over the crossbar thanks to a wicked deflection off the back of a Rovers defender in green and white.

But these chances were eclipsed after fifteen minutes when neat footwork from Rovers’ Gary Shaw laid the ball off for Simon Madden running in on the right wing from defence. Madden pulled back a low cross which midfielder Brandon Miele cleverly dribbled past Rory Feely before smashing past Brendan Clarke down the middle of the goal.

The opening half petered out without much purpose, occasional chances coming in the highlight of a Graham Kelly free-kick flying high and over, failing to provide any sort of a fightback from the Saints.

The second half began much the brighter for both teams involved. A corner from St. Pat’s resulted in a well-worked effort from an acute angle from David Cawley before Rovers broke at the other end with Dean Clarke afforded the time and space to offer a long-range punt which Brendan Clarke was forced to save through a low dive to his right.

The introduction of Keith Treacy revitalised the Pat’s midfield in the second half however. The former Ireland international came close to laying the ball on a plate for Christy Fagan with twenty minutes remaining following a clever dispossession of the ball from Patrick Cregg.

Treacy lobbed the ball over and through midfield into the space directly in front of Fagan who could only toe-poke what appeared to be his sides first attempt in the second half on target, under the pressure of Sean Heaney in the centre of defence for Rovers.

St. Pat’s upped the pressure from then on with a chance from Billy Dennehy cutting inside from the right wing serving up a corner which Darren Dennehy looked to have delivered into the back of the net before goalkeeper Hyland tipped the ball away at a stretch.

The home side upped the ante with cross after cross pushing the Rovers defence to its limit but ultimately not offering an equalizer as the clock ticked on.

The game was signed, sealed and delivered by Shaw with a second for Rovers with less than fifteen minutes remaining on the clock. Cregg took hold of possession on halfway and, after exchanging a neat one-two with Gary Shaw, Cregg provided an expert cross with a faint, curling touch which laid the ball on a plate for Shaw to slip home at the near post for his fifth goal in five games.

St. Patrick’s Athletic: Brendan Clarke; Ger O’Brien, Darren Dennehy, Rory Feely, Ian Bermingham; David Cawley (Keith Treacey 56), Graham Kelly, Conan Byrne (Mark Timlin 67); Sam Verdon, Billy Dennehy, Christy Fagan (Jamie McGrath 75)

Subs not used: Patrick Jennings (gk), Michael Barker, Lee Desmond, Dylan McGlade

Bookings: David Cawley (36)

Shamrock Rovers: Craig Hyland; Simon Madden, Sean Heaney, David O’Connor, Robert Cornwall; Killian Brennan, Patrick Cregg, Stephen McPhail, Brandon Miele; Gary Shaw (Aaron Dobbs 77), Dean Clarke (Trevor Clarke 75)

Subs not used: Barry Murphy (gk), Maxime Blanchard, James Doona, Richie Purdy, Danny North

Bookings: Sean Heaney (20)

Referee: Tom Connolly

Attendance: 2,087

ExtraTime.ie Man of the Match: Brandon Miele (Shamrock Rovers)

Photos from the game by Eoin Smith and Laszlo Geczo can be viewed here.