Alex Nolan was the hero again for St Patrick’s Athletic, replicating his crucial goal against champions Shamrock Rovers in early April. This victory marked the first for Stephen Kenny as the manager of St Pat’s. Despite only securing their second win in the previous 11 matches since conquering Rovers, St Pat’s holds the seventh position in the league table. However, for Galway United, it was their inaugural defeat in 10 matches, causing them to slip to fifth place.
The match resurrected rivalries from the previous decade, most notably between Kenny’s Dundalk and John Caulfield’s Cork City. Since then, Caulfield has worked wonders with Galway after moving west.
Shaking up the lineup with three changes from their 2-2 stalemate against Bohemians last week, St Pat’s were initially on the defensive with Galway setting the pace. However, a set-piece from Brandon Kavanagh on the 34th-minute mark against the run of play went unfinished by Galway which St Pat’s capitalised on. Conor Keeley secured the first header before Cian Kavanagh out-leapt Clarke to enable Mason Melia, the promising 16-year-old, to net his third goal this season.
The young sensation continued to pose a threat to Galway with deflected shots leading to corner kicks as the first half wrapped up with St Pat’s gaining momentum.
Opening the second half positively, Galway had an opportunity to equalise on the 62nd minute. However, Karl O’Sullivan’s pass to substitute Fracley Lomboto failed when Lomboto fluffed his kick. Fortunately, Lomboto rectified his earlier miss with a well-deserved equaliser on the 69th minute. McCormack’s quick free kick was received by Al-Amin Kazeem who delivered a flawless cross. Substitute Pat Hickey advanced his header towards the goal, with Lomboto finishing it off.
Maintaining pressure, Galway dominated for a considerable period, but St Pat’s goalkeeper Danny Rogers showcased his skills with an impressive save, denying Rob Slevin. The winning goal was delivered by St Pat’s on the 88th-minute mark with the assistance of Kian Leavy who set up substitute Nolan to deliver the decisive goal.
Galway put up a spirited fight back with Hickey sending a McCormack cross crashing into the crossbar, yet St Pat’s managed to resist the onslaught. The team lineup for St Patrick’s Athletic included Rogers, McLaughlin, Redmond, Keeley, Turner and others such as Lennon and Forrester. Further entries to the field were Melia and Palmer, with Leavy replacing Palmer in the 68th minute and B. Kavanagh making way for Mulraney in the 72nd. C. Kavanagh was also replaced by Nolan in the 82nd minute.
On the opposing side, Galway United’s team comprised of Clarke, Esua, Slevin, Brouder, Kazeem replaced by O’Keeffe in the 86th minute and more. McCormack teamed with Nugent until Hickey took over from Nugent in the 66th minute. O’Sullivan, Hurley, replaced by Buckley on the 66th minute and McCarthy, who was replaced by Lomboto in the 60th minute. The lineup concluded with Walsh giving way to Aouachria in the 86th minute. The match was overseen by referee Gavin Colfer of Wicklow.