Saints welcome back fans with precious victory against Sligo
By Daire Walsh
On the return of supporters to Richmond Park last night, Matty Smith and Ronan Coughlan bagged goals in either half to give St Patrick’s Athletic a 2-0 triumph at the expense of Sligo Rovers in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.
The sight of fans - though they remained low in numbers - at the Inchicore venue was undoubtedly a great motivator for Stephen O’Donnell’s side and the Saints certainly didn’t disappoint.
St Patrick's Athletic's Billy King
Having lost some ground in recent weeks to both Sligo and defending champions Shamrock Rovers, Pat’s are now back in the hunt following yesterday’s success and the previous week’s victory over Longford Town.
Managed by Perrystown’s Liam Buckley, Sligo found themselves at the summit of the top-flight ahead of their game with Drogheda United last Saturday.
However, defeat at the hands of Drogs and his former club St Pat’s puts the Connacht men down to third in the table.
As a consequence of their two-goal win in this encounter, Pat’s are now up to second ahead of Finn Harps’ visit to Inchicore on Monday and are just three points adrift of Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers.
After a period of sustained attacking pressure during the early exchanges, the Saints worked the ball out wide to Matty Smith who calmly side-footed to the Sligo net for a seventh-minute goal.
This was the ideal settler for the hosts and while the Bit O’Red grew into the game, Smith and his fellow Scot Billy King both went close to doubling the Pat’s advantage.
They maintained their control on the proceedings when the action resumed, but with the game still poised at 1-0, Saints searched for the goal that would place the outcome beyond doubt.
This finally arrived on 73 minutes when Coughlan fired home from the penalty spot against the club he played for in 2020 – after Smith was upended inside the area.
It is onwards and upwards now for St Pat’s, who still find themselves dreaming of the Premier Division crown with 16 games played in this year’s league.
