Saints celebrate double league success
IT HAS been a tremendous week for St Patrick’s Athletic with their Under 15 team capturing the SSE Airtricity League title only a day after their Under 13s had done likewise.
A thrilling 2-1 triumph over neighbouring rivals Shamrock Rovers saw the former complete their march to their respective title while the Under 13s required penalties to eventually see off Bray Wanderers in their decider.
Played in Tallaght Stadium last night, the Under 15 decider saw the Inchicore side take the lead 12 minutes in thanks to a fantastic effort by Jack O’Reilly from just outside the box.
Rovers’ Kevin Zefi went close to an equaliser after half an hour, but his shot was saved by Kian Clements.
And instead, Pat’s doubled their advantage 12 minutes after the half time recess when Dara McGuiness finished well after getting on the end of a lobbed ball into his path by captain Glory Nzingo.
Rovers started to get a foothold on the tie, with Man of the Match Sean Jones Carey’s free kick being tipped over by Clements, but Sam Curtis saw the ball over the line from the resulting corner to give the Tallaght side a lifeline.
The Pat’s netminder was called into action again late on to turn Michael Leddy’s strike around the upright before seeing Kieran Cruise’s effort over the crossbar as the Inchicore side held on for the title.
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This victory came hot on the heels of the club’s 7-6 win on penalties against Bray Wanderers in the Under 13 League title showdown.
The perfectly matched sides remained scoreless after extra time, but ‘keeper Rian Hogan saved in the shootout to clinch the win for the Inchicore outfit.
Pat’s top goalscorer this season, Brian Moore was unlucky not to find the net for the Saints in regulation time, seeing two great strikes saved by Bray’s Derry Moloney in the second half.
St Patrick’s Athletic players celebrate their penalty shoot out victory over Bray Wanderers the SSE Airtricity U13 League Final between Bray Wanderers and St Patrick’s Athletic at Carlisle Grounds in Bray, Co Wicklow. (Image: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile)
Bray forced Hogan to make a smart stop just minutes into extra time, but again it was Pat’s who were stronger and they almost served up a winner when Roland Uzuma struck fractionally too high just as extra time was drawing to a close.
In an almost flawless shootout, there were 13 successful strikes, but in the end, Hogan was the hero for St Pat’s with his crucial stop.
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