St Patrick’s Athletic grabbed a thrilling 3-2 victory against Shelbourne in the Dublin derby at Tolka Park, in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Their English winger, Al-Amin Kazeem, took the spotlight after a heated interaction with Shelbourne boss, Damien Duff. Kazeem emerged from this confrontation to net the winning goal in the last minute of the match.
In the heat of the game, brewing towards an intense draw, Brian Gartland, St Pat’s assistant coach, made his way into Duff’s restricted technical area to deliver last-minute instructions to Kazeem. This sparked a row mainly between Duff and Gartland, before Kazeem secured the victory.
This outcome boosts the standing of St Pat’s who are now in the fifth position, guided by ex-Republic of Ireland manager, Stephen Kenny. They are just two points off earning a place in Europe in 2025.
Shelbourne, the leaders of the league, had been left stunned by goals from Joe Redmond and Brandon Kavanagh. However, goals from Rayhaan Tulloch and Matthew Smith brought a dramatic turnaround, nearly securing a significant draw.
Shelbourne has been under pressure, having not won a title in nearly two decades. Despite going through September without a win in five matches, they still maintain their lead at the top of the table, being four points ahead of rivals Derry City.
The season hasn’t been a classic. However, if Shelbourne secures the final 12 points available, they will end up with 66 points, the weakest total for any champion since the season was extended to 36 matches in 2018.
Due to their diminishing resources, Duff’s squad is running on a shoestring, making it essential to achieve a favourable result against Shamrock Rovers on Sunday.
In stark contrast, St Pat’s have found their rhythm after their European exit in Istanbul last month, displaying Kenny’s continued ability to shape a strong team with ample time and resources. Both Shelbourne and Derry City’s lacklustre performances have paved the way for reigning champions, Shamrock Rovers, to steal the title from under their noses. However, a championship winning team can still be seen by the faithful crowd at Tolka Park.
Redmond showcased his skills by packing in a headed goal with an assist from Brandon Kavanagh’s free-kick on the 22nd-minute mark, this was a knee-jerk reaction from the Shels. Harry Wood and Aiden O’Brien stirred up threats for an equaliser with swift and sharp passing but were unable to capitalise. The crowds’ demand for shots was more audible as the first half winded down. Shels stood by their strategy of recursion-passing until the halftime break was flagged by referee Damien MacGraith. However, the same could not be applied to Aidan Keena. Keena was bestowed with a rare opportunity to start for St Pat’s, replacing the young gun Mason Melia, following the recent trouncing of Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght. He capitalised on the situation by taking two shots on sight, one of which mimicked Pele’s legendary lob at the 1970 World Cup. Despite this, instead of skimming the post like Pele’s shot, Keena’s shot hammered the crossbar before being seized by Conor Kearns. This event being worthy of etching in one’s memory. Similarly, an early second-half shot by St Pat’s winger Jake Mulraney that hit the post is hard to forget. Expectations were sky-high when Duff substituted Boyd and Ali Coote for O’Brien and Liam Burt respectively, yet the anticipated results did not materialise before Kavanagh netted a second for St Pat’s. Their goal was the aftermath of a defensive blunder where Paddy Barrett’s sideways pass in his box offered Zack Elbouzedi the chance to set up Kavanagh for an easy goal. As the silence pervaded following this error, the crowd’s quiet was broken when Tulloch managed to reduce the deficit with 13 minutes left on the clock. Smith’s equaliser that arrived shortly after was sufficient to leave 3,000 throats raspy the following day. The much-required momentum was added by Boyd who selflessly set up Smith, allowing him to find the top corner with a perfect left-footed finish.
The action on the pitch didn’t diminish when Kenny switched up his defence by bringing on Melia and Kazeem, both of whom made decisive contributions. Melia nearly scored with an Elbouzedi cross that hit the post, while Kazeem effectively handled the rebound. Smith, who had been the star of the match, was later sent off with a red card.
The line-up for Shelbourne included Kearns, Gannon, Griffin, who was later substituted with Wilson at 41 minutes, Barrett, and Ledwidge. This was followed by Caffrey, replaced by Martin at 69 minutes, Coyle, Burt with Coote as his replacement at 56mins, Wood who was replaced with Smith at the same time, Tullock, and O’Brien who made way for Boyd at 56 mins as well.
St Patrick’s Athletic team comprised of Anang, Sjoberg, Redmond, Grivosti, and Breslin. Following them were Kavanagh, who was replaced by Kazeem at 87 mins, Lennon, Forrester who switched with Bolger at 62mins. Elbouzedi, Keena who was substituted with Leavy at 77 minutes, and Mulraney who switched with Melia at 77 minutes also formed part of the team.
The match was overseen by Referee Damien MacGraith.