Battling Saints remain in top spot with draw away to Waterford
By Daire Walsh
10-man St Patrick’s Athletic dug deep at the Regional Sports Centre last night to earn a 1-1 draw against Waterford in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.
Either side of Alfie Lewis’ 18th-minute sending off, Matty Smith (Pat’s) and Shane Griffin (Waterford) found the net to ensure a sharing of the spoils.
With champions Shamrock Rovers achieving an identical result at home to Drogheda United, the Saints remain at the summit of the top-flight on goals scored.
In comparison to the Hoops’ convincing march towards the title in 2020, the race for the Premier Division’s top prize is currently wide open.
Should Sligo Rovers get the better of Bohemians at The Showgrounds later this evening, Liam Buckley’s charges will go level on points with both Shamrock Rovers and Pat’s.
Stephen O’Donnell’s Saints came into this game on the back of three successive league wins and made the perfect start to the contest.
Just under eight minutes into the action, Smith finished off a prolonged goalmouth scramble to get the visitors up and running.
Second-from-bottom in advance of this encounter, Waterford looked set to endure another difficult night at the office.
That was until Lewis was dismissed after referee John McLoughlin had adjudged the midfielder to have denied Eric Molloy a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
This meant Pat’s were on the back-foot more than they would have anticipated and Griffin’s close-range finish on 36 minutes left the sides on level terms at the break.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Billy King forced an excellent save out of former Ipswich Town and Portsmouth netminder Brian Murphy 10 minutes after the restart.
On the other hand, Waterford’s Martin was desperately unfortunate to see his looping header rebound off the woodwork inside the final-quarter and Pat’s custodian Vitezslav Jaros was also pressed into action on a couple of occasions.
Under the circumstances, the Saints will have been happy to come away with a point ahead of their mouth-watering Dublin derby against Bohemians at Dalymount Park next Friday.