St Pat’s keep up the pressure in league
St Pat’s captain Joe Redmond

St Pat’s keep up the pressure in league

St Patrick’s Athletic made it six wins on the bounce and a third consecutive Dublin Derby victory after a 3-1 win over Bohemians in Dalymount Park on Monday.

The win moves Pats into title contention, just four points off the pace and just two points off Shamrock Rovers and Derry and a potential guaranteed spot in Europe next season.

Pats secured the comfortable victory thanks to a trio of second half goals from Aidan Keena, Jake Mulraney and Joe Redmond, with Dawson Devoy’s late left footed strike acting as mere consolation.

Despite a stellar performance from Stephen Kenny’s side, the home side created the first big chance of the game as Dayle Rooney’s cross found Ross Tierney and his header was cleared off the line by Tom Grivosti.

Bohs continued to press for an early goal and received the perfect opportunity to do so from the penalty spot as Rooney went down under contact.

Dawson Devoy’s penalty was saved by Joseph Anang with the follow up brilliantly cleared off the line as Pats continued to show the steely resolve which has led them on this winning run.

The key moment of the game came at the start of the second half as Ross Tierney left a careless high boot on Chris Forrester to pick up his second yellow card and leave his side with a mountain to climb.

Forrester would be involved once again for the opening goal as his shot from outside the box took a cruel deflection taking it past Kacper Chorazka.

Pats ability to consistently score from set pieces has been a key feature of Kenny’s reign so far and they showcased this again in their victory in Dalymount as first Jak Mulraney pounced on a poor touch to fire the ball into the back of the net from Zak Elbouzedi’s corner.

Then, the Inchicore side found their third once again from an Elbouzedi delivery, this time from a free kick as Joe Redmond’s flicked header made it 3-0 and put the dagger into the Bohemians heart.

A quality strike from Dawson Devoy on 90 minutes gave the home crowd something to shout about, but the loss now makes it four defeats in six for Alan Reynolds side who sit just four points clear of 10th place Drogheda with three games to go.

In stark contrast, after being amidst a potential relegation battle themselves a couple of months ago, Stephen Kenny’s side are now the form side in the division having scored 14 times in their last four league games.

For context, the three sides above them, Shamrock Rovers, Derry City and Shelbourne, have hit the back of the next 13 times altogether in the same number of fixtures.

This is title winning form from a title winning manager, and with three games to go, as we have seen this season, anything could happen.

Pats host Galway next on Friday, with the rest of the title chasing pack also in action.

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