Eoin and Mark Doyle on target in Saints victory over UCD

The dual attacking threat of the Doyles – Eoin and Mark – came up trumps for St Patrick’s Athletic at Richmond Park last night as their goals in each half propelled the Inchicore men towards a 2-0 victory against UCD in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.

Although not related to each other, these namesakes have developed a good rapport since being drafted into the Saints first-team squad in the off-season. It certainly helps that Pat’s manager Tim Clancy was already familiar with the pair, having played with Eoin at Hibernian in Scotland and managed Mark at Drogheda United.

Despite their back-to-back defeats earlier in the campaign to Sligo Rovers and Bohemians, the Saints have now recorded three wins on the bounce and have jumped to the summit of the top-flight table. There are a number of teams behind them with a game in hand, but there is no denying that Clancy’s charges are in good form at the moment.

After keeping clean sheets in recent victories against Shamrock Rovers and Finn Harps, it is clear that as much emphasis is being placed on the Pat’s defensive play as there is on their attacking output.

Nonetheless, the hosts were hunting down their Metropolitan rivals from the word go on Monday, with both Doyles going close to breaking the deadlock early on. The recalled Billy King and Darragh Burns subsequently hit the side-netting, before an opening goal finally arrived on 34 minutes.

Following a fine delivery into the area by Burns, Firhouse native Eoin Doyle chested the ball into the back of the UCD net. The former Preston North End striker had a number of opportunities to add to his tally – he had a header cleared off the line – but Pat’s were firmly in control at the interval nonetheless.

It seemed like only a matter of time until the Saints doubled their lead and they eventually created daylight just shy of the hour mark. After the ball broke into his path on the edge of the area, Mark Doyle clinically fired home to the bottom corner.

Pat’s could well have added to their lead as the second half wore on, but with a tough away assignment to come against Derry City on Friday, it was a satisfying evening on home soil nonetheless.