St Patrick’s Athletic lost out to Dundalk at Richmond Park
By Daire Walsh
St Patrick’s Athletic lost further ground in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division title race when falling to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Dundalk in Richmond Park last night.
A Sam Bone own goal and a second half finish from Templeogue native David McMillan were enough to give the Lilywhites all three points and thus consign the Saints to their third league reversal of the season.
This result also leaves the Inchicore men six points behind table-toppers Sligo Rovers – who overcame Finn Harps in the early kick-off on Friday – and two points adrift of champions Shamrock Rovers with a game more played.
Joining McMillan in the Dundalk side were another couple of local faces who are established parts of the furniture within the Co. Louth club. Clondalkin’s Chris Shields captained the side and he was joined in defence by Andy Boyle of Palmerstown.
They were given a reason to rejoice on 36 minutes as McMillan’s miscued effort deflected past the helpless Vítězslav Jaroš off the outstretched foot of Bone.
Pat’s had briefly threatened earlier through Mattie Smith and John Mountney, but were ultimately staring down the barrel of a 1-0 deficit at the interval.
They were subsequently left with a mountain to scale five minutes after the resumption. Shields carried the ball powerfully into midfield and played a pass out wide to Patrick Hoban.
The latter delivered an enticing cross towards McMillan, who was left with a simple finish from in front of the goal. Pat’s pushed hard for a way back into contention, with Paddy Barrett and Alfie Lewis both going close for the hosts.
Yet Dundalk held firm at the back and having won just one of their last six league fixtures, Saints boss Stephen O’Donnell will hope the two-week gap to their next game – a trip to Longford Town on June 12 – will allow him time to get his troops back to the form they had shown at the beginning of the season.