Joe Redmond from Kilnamanagh will lead the defensive line for St Patrick’s Athletic (Image: Matthew Lysaght)
Big night for St Pat’s in Europe at Richmond Park
ST PATRICK’S Athletic embark on their European campaign this year on Thursday night as they will host Lithuanian side Hegelmann Litauen at Richmond Park.
The game follows what has been a poor patch of form for St Pats with their last win coming on May 30 in a 1-0 victory over Sligo Rovers.
Still despite the poor run of form and severe lack of goals, their most recent performance against city rivals Bohemians suggests perhaps their fortunes are changing.
A seemingly perfectably viable goal being ruled offside stopping the Saints from picking up three points on that occasion.
Despite the improved performance the drought still remains.
Two goals in their last seven games is simply unacceptable and while the defensive unit led by Joe Redmond appears to be operating well, up front clearly needs to click into another gear.
Aidan Keena and Mason Melia have been the biggest threats for St Pats this season each with six goals apiece.
The majority of Keena’s came towards the beginning of the season and he is only consistently finding his way back into the team now after recovering from injury.
The hope will be that he can kick off and continue his red hot form from the start of the campaign.
St Pat’s manager Stephen Kenny will be looking for a positive start
Elsewhere on the pitch Pats will be hoping that their midfielders can begin contributing more to the attacking play.
Talisman Chris Forrester has been influential this season and has managed to chip in with four goals himself.
Simon Power has looked promising in his debut season and despite not being overly prolific so far, appears to be a player who is capable of causing danger to opposition.
He was very unlucky to be denied against Bohemians via that offside call.
The main threat that Pats are lacking compared to years gone by has to be Jake Mulraney.
The winger has netted six and seven goals in his last two seasons respectively yet so far has failed to find the back of the net this season.
Still, he played well against Bohemians and looked dangerous whenever he was on the ball creating multiple chances on the Pats right hand side. If he can rediscover previous goalscoring form Pats can be well on their way.
Manager Stephen Kenny took over Pats last year and almost brought the side to a Conference league place before ultimately coming up short against Istanbul Basasekhi.
Now despite Pats being favourites to advance against their Lithuanian opposition he warns not to take progression for granted.
“They’re mid-season, and they have players of different nationalities.
‘They were winning their league until a few weeks ago, so they’ve done well. They play on an astro turf pitch, small ground, and we have to adapt to that over there. But first of all is a home game here.
‘Lithuania will always be very competitive, I feel. So we have to put in a strong performance on Thursday night.” – Stephen Kenny
Their opposition currently sit third in the Lithuanian league joint with second and scored five in a 5-2 victory over 4th placed side Šiauliai in their last league game.
