Super Saints enjoy sweetest of victories

In what has been another week of bad news for the domestic game, St Patrick’s Athletic last night displayed the merits of full-time professional football to progress to the first round proper of the UEFA Cup with a sensational, heart-stopping and, it must be said, thoroughly deserved victory over Elfsborg at a packed and ecstatic Richmond Park.

And, as in the first leg, Pats did it the hard way, coming from behind in the dying moments to secure the 2-1 win — 4-3 on aggregate — which puts them in the pot with the likes of Spurs, Manchester City, AC Milan, Ajax and Valencia for today’s draw in Monaco.

Rarely has the old ground in Inchicore seen such a pulsating night as this, nor one with more potential significance for a club now just one game away from the group stage of one of Europe’s premier competitions.