Lethal Benson back to haunt Lilywhites

ROBBIE BENSON returned to his old stomping ground of Oriel Park to deny his former club a winning return to League of Ireland action after the Covid-19 enforced break. Benson enjoyed consistent success in his four years at Dundalk and was a central figure in Ireland’s leading club side over that period. However, the talented 28-year-old decided to move down the road to join Saints last year and is showing he can be equally as effective for the Dubliners under Stephen O’Donnell, his former team-mate with the Lilywhites. Last night, Benson produced a clinical strike to deny the champions three points after they appeared to have seized control of the game following a shaky start. Saints got in the faces of their hosts from the opening whistle and looked the more dangerous outfit until a defensive error after 23 minutes allowed Patrick Hoban a simple tap-in to take the lead against the run of play. It was Hoban’s 100th goal for the club and he can scarcely have scored an easier one, after a poor passback by Pats was seized upon by the impressive Stefan Colovic, who set up Hoban for the simple finish. However, rather than go into their shells and succumb to expected defeat, O’Donnell’s men went straight back on the attack and, after some lovely interplay in the build-up, Benson timed his run superbly to clip the ball past Gary Rogers after a quality cross from Shane Griffin. After the equaliser, the home side increased their intensity and put the visitors under sustained pressure, although Dan Ward was unlucky to see his long-range effort hit the Dundalk post.

The introduction of Daniel Kelly and Patrick McEleney added extra zip to Dundalk’s efforts and Saints were forced into a rearguard action – but even after five minutes of added time, they were able to find the resolve to hold out for a deserved point that will give them confidence as the season cranks up. DUNDALK: G Rogers; D Massey, S Gannon, D Cleary, A Boyle, G Sloggett (J Mountney 85), C Shields, J Flores (P McEleney 53, D McMillan 75), M Duffy (N Oduwa 85), S Colovic (D Kelly 53). P Hoban. Scorer: Hoban 23. ST PAT’S: B Clarke; D Titov, L McNally, R Feely, L Desmond, D Ward, J Lennon, S Griffin, J Gibson, R Benson, C Forrester (J McClelland 67). Scorer: Benson 25. Referee: R Harvey (Dublin).