St Pat’s looking to build on draw with champs
By Daire Walsh
FOLLOWING last week’s encouraging 1-1 draw against champions Shamrock Rovers, St Patrick’s Athletic will welcome newly-promoted Drogheda United to Richmond Park on Saturday for their first home game of the new Premier Division season (kick-off 4pm).
It will be the first top-flight encounter between the two clubs since July 2017, when a Christy Fagan goal provided Pat’s with all three points at United Park.
The Saints had looked set for a winning start to their 2021 campaign at Tallaght Stadium last Friday evening, after Roberto Lopes inadvertently headed a Robbie Benson cross into his own net on 87 minutes. However, there was enough time for the hosts to fire back through Aaron Greene and thus deny Pat’s a confidence-boosting victory.
Nonetheless, the Inchicore men can take considerable solace from the fact that they have now shared the spoils with the Hoops on no fewer than three occasions since the start of last season.
When you consider Rovers have won 15 of the 19 league games they have played during this period, it highlights how competitive Pat’s have been in these fixtures.
New recruits Vitezslav Jaros, John Mountney, Paddy Barrett, Matty Smith and Ronan Coughlan all made their debuts in last week’s Dublin derby and head coach Stephen O’Donnell will hope they can gel together over the next few weeks.
Drogheda announced their return to the Premier Division with a 1-0 win over Waterford and with Knocklyon’s Dane Massey offering ample experience, Tim Clancy’s men should prove to be stern opposition for Pat’s.