St Patrick’s Athletic celebrated a fantastic win in the Europa Conference League’s third qualifying round, thanks to a superb first-half goal by Romal Palmer, in a match held beneath a light downpour at the Tallaght Stadium. The final scoreline was 1-0, with Sabah falling to defeat. However, the palpable euphoria was undermined slightly by the discontent stemming from missed opportunities; Stephen Kenny’s team were unable to capitalise on numerous second-half opportunities, failing to extend their lead against a 10-man squad. This could have assured an easier second leg in Azerbaijan next week.
One alteration was made in the line-up by Manager Kenny from the last encounter with FC Vaduz, as veteran Aidan Keena replaced the youthful Mason Melia in the offensive line. With a multi-national team comprising players from Slovakia, Morocco, Jamaica and Azerbaijan, the visiting side initiated the game with zest, taking St Patrick’s by surprise from the very first corner.
The game began with intense excitement as Jon Irazabal, a Spanish player, narrowly missed a goal for Sabah with his deflected attempt. Goalkeeper Joseph Anang intervened, touching the ball onto his left-hand post. The home side, however, struggled in a counterattack following their first corner.
St Patrick’s confidence saw a noticeable surge after Jake Mulraney made the game’s initial save from Yusif Imanov. Even though this sparked a sequence of corners yielding no results for the Inchicore side, by the 23rd minute, Sabah was visibly unsettled by a ferocious drive by Zack Elbouzedi, which was superbly tipped over by Imanov.
After the seventh corner was taken by Joe Redmond, St Patrick’s were on the offensive. After a run of steady pressure, the team, on the 35-minute mark, eventually took a well-earned lead with a noteworthy goal. Mulraney was the key player, delivering a striking cross to the near post for Palmer, who cleverly evaded a desperate clearance attempt from Soufiane Chakla to get the ball past Imanov. This marked a smashing repeat for Palmer, scoring goals circumstantially in Europe, he had also struck the second goal for St Patrick’s in their 2-2 stalemate in Liechtenstein last week.
For the second half, Melia was brought in, taking over from the inefficient Keena as St Patrick’s retained primary ball possession. Their pressure game led to a second caution which culminated in a send-off for the Croatian midfielder, Ivan Lepinjica, following a foul on Palmer. Mulraney then forced a saved parry from Imanov with a free kick resulting from this incident.
Basking in the additional room on the field, Forrester crafted an opportunity for himself, capturing a near-miss shot while his team struggled to double their lead. In another move, Forrester sprinted on a long ball from the tireless Lennon but couldn’t provide the decisive touch.
On 76 minutes, Redmond’s header from Elbouzedi’s cross was sadly denied by the goal frame, leaving him dumbfounded. In the very next minute, stretched Sabah’s defence saw Irazabal prevent a goal just inches from the line when Melia subtly intercepted another ball from Elbouzedi. Later, Redmond agonisingly saw his shot whizz over the crossbar and then call upon Imanov for the match’s best save in the closing minute from another header. Regrettably, they failed to secure that much sought-after second goal.
Playing for St Patrick’s Athletic were Anang, Sjoberg, Redmond, Grivosti, Breslin, Lennon (replaced by Bolger at 88), Mulraney (substituted by Leavy at 71), Forrester, Palmer (McClelland substituted at 88), Elbouzedi (exchanged with B. Kavanagh at 79), and Keena who was replaced by himself during half-time.
The match played by FC Sabah FK had Imanov as the goalkeeper. Defence comprised of Seydiyev, Chakla, Irazabal, and Metic. The midfielders were Lepinjica, Sekidika, replaced by Aliyev in the 82nd minute, and Camalov. The match also saw Parris and Mickels, substituted by Dashdamirov and Alaskarov respectively in the 71st minute, featuring alongside Safranko who got swapped with Kupusovic in the 82nd minute. The game was officiated by referee Vilhjalmur Thorarinsson, hailing from Iceland.