St. Patrick's Athletic -v- Cork City

• Brendan White
• Thu, Sep 24 2009


Pete Mahon takes control of his first match as the new boss at St Patricks Athletic on Friday night as Cork City travel to Inchicore. Kick Off 7.45pm.

Pete Mahon returned to management last week to help guide the Saints away from a relegation battle, after the resignation of Jeff Kenna following the home FAI Cup defeat to 1st Division Waterford United.

St Pats have failed to win in their last six matches. They drew 1-1 with Derry City in the Setanta Cup on Tuesday to end their run of successive defeats; a 2-0 loss to Waterford United in the FAI Cup was followed by a 2-1 away loss to Galway United. Their last victory came seven matches ago, a 1-0 win over Drogheda United.

Garreth ’O Connor (knee), Dave Partridge (hamstring) and Andy Haran (knee) are all out for St Pats. Jamie Harris resumed training on Thursday but is unlikely to be fit in time for the game.

New boss Pete Mahon is happy to be back in the game. “It’s been an intense few days for John and myself but it’s good to be back at the coalface.

We’ve done all we can in a short space of time to prepare for this match. While we have to be positive we know that we’re in for a tough game – playing Cork is never easy.”

“Cork have had their share of problems this year but Paul Doolin and his players have responded well and they’ve set an example to everyone in the League.”

Cork City claimed a 2-2 draw away to Sligo in the Setanta Sports Cup last weekend thanks to a late Paul Deasy equaliser. Cork City’s last league match ended in defeat, as Dundalk claimed all three points. Cork were on a winning run before that however, beating Galway and Drogheda in the league and Cliftonville in the Setanta Cup.

Kevin Long and Neal Horgan returned to training this week, but Horgan is still rated as doubtful. Captain Dan Murray has only a 50-50 chance of being available for the tie. Greg O’Halloran remains doubtful after picking up a knock against Sligo. Stephen O’Donnell is suffering from flu.

“It will be a tough game for us”, Manager Paul Doolin said. “Pats have a very good squad of players, whereas we are down to the bare bones. The players have been fantastic and have shown great resilience and great mental strength. The run in will be tough, but we will be going up there looking to claim a win and if we could qualify for Europe it would be a fantastic achievement.”

Extratime.ie Prediction: 1-1. Pete Mahon will be looking to rejuvenate St Pats, while Cork’s injury crisis continues. An open game to finish in a draw.