Saints set to ignite UEFA Conference League campaign
By Daire Walsh
IT HAS been a long wait, but St Patrick’s Athletic will finally get their UEFA Europa Conference League campaign up and running against Mura of Slovenia at Richmond Park this evening (kick-off 7.45pm).
Due to the exclusion of Russia clubs from Europe for the 2022/23 season, the Saints were handed a bye into the second qualifying round of this third-tier competition.
This means they will be the final Irish team to enter the preliminary phase of European football, with Sligo Rovers and Derry City having already competed in the Conference League and their Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers currently busy with UEFA Champions League qualification.
This will be the first of two showdowns Pat’s will have with Mura – they will renew acquaintances in Murska Sobota next Thursday – but Tim Clancy’s men are hoping to come away with a positive result from the sold-out Inchicore venue tonight.
It has been mixed season on the domestic front to date for the Saints, who currently occupy fourth position in the League of Ireland top-flight standings.
They are six points adrift of third-place Dundalk with a game more played, but did deliver a strong display in a 1-1 draw with the Co Louth outfit at Richmond Park on Friday.
Eoin Doyle bagged his 10th goal of the season in that game and Clancy will be hoping his former Hibernian team-mate can produce the goods on his return to European football.
The Firhouse native made two appearances for Sligo Rovers in the UEFA Europa League qualifiers, replacing current Shamrock Rovers attacker Aaron Greene in both legs of their 2-0 aggregate defeat to Ukraine’s Vorskla Poltava.
This will also be the Saints’ first foray into Europe in more than three years and, with this being their first time to compete in the Conference League, they will be looking to make a sizeable impact.