Late goal secure all three points for St Pat’s against UCD

Joe Redmond was the hero for St Patrick’s Athletic at Belfield this afternoon as his 89th-minute goal earned the Saints a 2-1 victory over UCD in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.

Following a run of four games without a win – two draws and two defeats – since defeating UCD at Richmond Park on March 14, Pat’s looked set to lose further ground after Students striker Colm Whelan and Ben McCormack traded scores. However, there was just enough time for the visitors to force the tie in their favour.

Although Pat’s were on top of possession as expected during the early exchanges, UCD remained relatively compact in defence. Tom Grivosti was close to finding the net on the first-quarter mark, only to see his header from a corner float over the crossbar.

Mark Doyle also fired marginally off-target, before Tunde Owolabi (who took over from Firhouse native Eoin Doyle in attack) was agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock. The opening period was ultimately a scoreless one, however, as UCD dug deep to keep their south Dublin rivals at bay.

Ronan Coughlan was offered a sight of goal shortly after the resumption, but the Inchicore side’s search for a coveted goal continued. Having kept patience as his opposite number Andy Myler introduced a plethora of substitutes, Saints supremo Tim Clancy finally added Eoin Doyle and Darragh Burns to the mix in the 64th-minute.

The former Drogheda United boss was hoping this would add much-needed life to their challenge, but instead it was UCD who opened the scoring through Republic of Ireland U21 international Whelan’s rebound finish just past the third-quarter point.

Pat’s were now staring down the barrel of a fifth league reversal, but they were back on level terms within a matter of minutes. Even though Eoin Doyle’s penalty was turned away by UCD netminder Kian Moore, McCormack fired home after the ball subsequently broke into his path.

The midfielder had only just been introduced off the bench, but his impact was instant. It also presented Pat’s with a fighting chance of emerging with maximum points and the pivotal moment of the contest arrived in the dying embers of the action.

From an enticing corner, centre-half Redmond scrambled to the net to move St Patrick’s Athletic up to third place in the top-flight table.