Dublin rivals fall back in title race after derby draw
NEVER mind any talk of bragging rights, this was a Dublin derby both sides needed to win so they could say they’re still in the title race and keep a straight face. They failed, a 0-0 stalemate at Richmond Park leaving St Patrick’s Athletic 10 points adrift of leaders Dundalk while Shamrock Rovers now trail the champions by eight. Stephen Kenny’s side have set the pace and so far no-one seems capable of keeping up. For the opening 30 minutes here there wasn’t a shot, or passage of play in the final third, worth mentioning. Then, in the space of eight minutes, there could have been three goals as the game finally sparked into life. First, in the 33rd minute, left winger Aaron Green couldn’t direct his close-range header on target after Conan Byrne picked him out from the opposite flank. Pat’s didn’t have time to rue the missed opportunity before Mikey Drennan blazed the best chance of the first half over the bar with the goal at his mercy. Rovers’ top scorer was all alone in the centre of the box but when Gavin Brennan pulled the ball back, the in-form striker couldn’t keep his right-footed effort on target. It was an almost carbon-copy miss to the one that denied him a hat-trick against Dundalk earlier in the season but the Hoops should have been celebrating an opener four minutes before half-time. The levels of abuse directed at the returning Keith Fahey had long since diminished by this point but they would have increased ten- fold had the former Republic of Ireland international not made a woeful connection with his header seven yards from Conor O’Malley’s goal. Simon Madden had spotted his run and delivered the ideal cross on the run from the right wing. Fahey crept in between centre-backs Lee Desmond and Seán Hoare but couldn’t punish them. The rain came in the second half but that much-needed spark in front of goal sadly didn’t. Byrne cut inside early on for the Saints but fired a tame left-footed effort into the welcome hands of Craig Hyland — who has now kept nine clean sheets in 12 games since displacing Barry Murphy as the Rovers’ No 1. The rain lashed for the final 45 minutes, and the wind didn’t help, either, but Rovers almost stole all three points in the final minute of normal time when Luke Byrne missed a close-range header at the back post having met Fahey’s free. A draw was fair, but of no use to anybody.
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC: O’Malley; Chambers, Hoare, Desmond, Bermingham (c); C Byrne, Bolger (McCormack 55), K Brennan, Forrester (Verdon 79), Greene; Kilduff. Booked: Bolger 49, K Brennan 88.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Hyland; Madden, Kenna (c), Blanchard, L Byrne; Miele (North 78), Cregg, McPhail (R Brennan 50), Fahey, G Brennan. (Waters 71); Drennan. Booked: Miele 36, Kenna 51. Referee: D McKeon (Dublin).