Bucking up their ides
By DAIRE WALSH
LIAM BUCKLEY was pleased to see his St Pat’s side bounce back so emphatically from their defeat to Limerick last week.
Christy Fagan bagged a hat-trick as the reigning champions saw off Derry City 5-2 in Inchicore on Friday night.
And ‘Bucko’ felt the score was a truer reflection of their performance than the 2-0 loss at Thomond Park a week earlier.
After seeing his side climb to third place, Buckley said: “I didn’t think we played too badly in Limerick, bearing in mind the result didn’t go our way.
Crucial
“We passed it quite well without getting the first goal, which would have been crucial in Limerick.
“Against Derry we did well in the first half, coming in with a 3-0 half-time lead.
“I thought the second half was a bit more even. We kind of sat back a wee bit, but overall it’s a great result for us.”
Top scorer Fagan kick-started an exceptional first quarter for the hosts at Richmond Park with a 13th-minute opener.
Buckley added: “It certainly helps to score early but I think, in general, we created quite a few chances apart from ones we scored in the first half.
“We played well, we passed it well, plenty of ball in the box. We got a reasonable return from that.
“The second half, we’d be a little bit disappointed that we let them back in it.
“That said, we’ve got our chances again today and took our fair share of goals.
“It’s an important three points. I see Derry getting better.”
Fagan and Conan Byrne added first-half goals before Sean Hoare made it 4-0.
Michael Duffy then pulled one back for Peter Hutton’s men, but Fagan’s hat-trick goal arrived before Rory Patterson completed the scoring.
Had things worked out differently, Keith Fahey might have been in the Ireland midfield against Italy last night. As it was, he delivered another assured display in the Pat’s engine room 24 hours earlier.
Selfless work by the former Birmingham midfielder paved the way for Fagan’s second, with Buckley adding: “Keith did great for that.
“He closed down quickly. If he’d taken his shot straight away he might have scored himself.”