Saints battle to stay afloat
ABREATHLESS, thrilling and utterly compelling night ended with everything still to play for in the Premier Division dogfight.
Until this evening, at least. In front of their own supporters, gripped by fear of a first ever relegation, St Patrick’s Athletic fell 2-0 down to newly crowned champions Cork City before staging a scintillating comeback of what could prove to be historic proportions.
Jordi Balk and Billy Dennehy cancelled out Cork’s quick-fire brace before the first half finished and captain Ian Bermingham, the longest serving player at Inchicore who joined in 2010 when Cork were still in the First Division, scored the winner to send Richmond Park into raptures just after the hour mark.
And when Kurtis Byrne headed a fourth 12 minutes from time they knew they had held up their part of the bargain.
Then came the agonising bit as a 25-minute delay in the game between Limerick and their relegation rivals Galway United because of a kit clash meant Saints players and staff were on the pitch checking their phones for updates.
Mixed messages were being passed around before confirmation of Galway’s late equaliser from the penalty spot in Limerick eventually dampened the mood.
It means both Pat’s and Galway could still go down on the final day, unless Sligo Rovers lose to Derry City today.
The Connacht club host Dundalk in their last fixture while the Saints will travel to Buncrana to face the Candystripes.
Everything is all to play for as the season reaches an enthralling climax. It was almost done and dusted for Pat’s here though, after they rallied from an early scare.
First, Ryan Delaney reacted quickest in the box to turn and shoot beyond Lukas Skowron when Pat’s failed to clear a corner. The centre back’s instincts were sharp while all those around him in red were sleeping.
And it seemed as if it took Kieran Sadlier’s absolute belter in the 19th minute, which stripped the paint off the right-hand side post before nestling in the opposite corner, to wake Pat’s up to the severity of the situation.
To their credit, Liam Buckley’s charges rallied admirably and six minutes after going 2-0 down they halved the deficit courtesy of Balk’s header from Conan Byrne’s corner.
It was the result of relentless pressure for five minutes and it continued right until the end of a breathless first half when Dennehy netted a sublime equaliser with his weaker right foot after cutting inside Delaney and calmly lifting the ball beyond Alan Smith in the 42nd minute.
The drama continued after the interval and it was Pat’s who took centre stage, and control of their own destiny with two finely-worked goals.
Bermingham needed a bit of luck to latch on to Christy Fagan’s pass in the 64th minute and the sloppy touch of opposite full back Shane Griffin allowed him to take control and slot a side foot finish past Smith to give Pat’s a deserved lead.
As news of Galway’s goal in Limerick filtered through, the first semblance of clam actually descended on Richmond Park as Kurtis Byrne made a strong connection with Dennehy’s cross, after some excellent work by the winger to make the space, to head into the top corner.
Cork, even with reinforcements Karl Sheppard, Stephen Dooley and Gearoid Morrissey introduced couldn’t muster a comeback.
And after this thrilling one from St Pat’s, they have made sure to fight another day in the Premier Division.