Pat’s fightback stuns champs
While City sped into the lead through goals from Ryan Delaney and Kieran Sadlier, defensive deficiencies resurfaced and Pat’s capitalised on a rousing night of action.
Goals by Jordi Balk and Billy Dennehy restored parity by the break before captain Ian Bermingham and Kurtis Byrne completed the job.
Fresh from wrapping the title up on Tuesday, and with a view to affording opportunities to earn a spot in the FAI Cup final team on Sunday week, John Caulfield overhauled his starting team.
Only three starters against Derry retained their places and the fringe players didn’t waste time in seizing their chance by sweeping into a two-goal lead within 20 minutes.
Two early chances were spurned by Sadlier and Achille Campion but the breakthrough arrived on 12 minutes following Shane Griffin’s left-wing corner.
When the Saints failed to clear, Campion nodded the ball back into Delaney, who swivelled brilliantly to drill a low shot home from six yards.
That temporarily quietened the raucous home support as Conan Byrne soon had them back on their feet when he ghosted in from the right only for his drive from an acute angle to be turned around the far post by Alan Smith.
Just as Pat’s were regaining a foothold, an individual piece of brilliance on 19 minutes by Sadlier deepened their task. The winger, disappointed to be dropped for the Derry game, received a pass from Jimmy Keohane 25 yards out before jinking past Bermingham and finding the top corner with a delightful curler.
Facing into deep relegation trouble, Saints boss Liam Buckley took drastic action by withdrawing Paul O’Conor three minutes later. On came the bustling Kurtis Byrne and the impact was instant as the hosts cancelled out the lead by the break.
Cork’s defence has already looked shaky in allowing Christy Fagan and Dennehy go close with chances and they were left all at sea from Conan Byrne’s corner on 25 minutes. Smith was left in no-man’s land from the delivery, enabling Dutchman Balk to stoop low and cut the deficit with a header.
With the momentum behind them and an experimental City side under pressure, it was one-way traffic til the break. Former Cork winger Dennehy was in the thick of the action from wide and central areas and he popped up with the vital leveller just as Caulfield thought he’d be able to regroup at the interval with the lead intact.
Once again, it was the impish Fagan to the fore, slipping Dennehy through on 42 minutes and the Kerry native left Delaney for dead before rifling his shot across Smith into the net.
After both teams caught their breath at the break, there was a caginess to the early stages of the second half, with a normal tempo resuming.
Killian Brennan pleaded for a penalty when hauled down on the edge of the box by Sean McLoughlin while, at the other end, Sadlier wasted a run from deep by hitting an effort across goal which was neither a cross or shot.
The next goal would be critical and on a night of supreme strikes, Bermingham bagged a wondrous one on 63 minutes. Starting the move in his own half with Garvan, passes were sifted through Fagan and Kurtis Byrne before the left-back nipped in behind Shane Griffin to latch onto a through-ball and poke the ball beyond Smith at his near post.
Incessant attacks by Buckley’s troops continued and it took a last-ditch goal-line clearance from Conor McCarthy to prevent Conan Byrne from scoring after his low shot from the right had eluded Smith.
Though the enterprising Byrne was forced off injured with 13 minutes remaining to a standing ovation, he soon jumped from the bench as his teammates engineered another goal to settle matters.
Dennehy, whose two-season spell at Pat’s has been pockmarked by inconsistency, maintained his stellar display by picking out Kurtis Byrne with a left-wing cross and the substitute steered his header high into the net.
That was that and the Saints faithful anxiously awaited the outcome of Galway’s delayed game in Limerick.
L Skowron; M Barker, L Desmond, J Balk, I Bermingham; O Garvan (JJ Lunney 90), P O’Conor (K Byrne 22), K Brennan; C Byrne (I Turner 77 inj), C Fagan, B Dennehy.
A Smith; C McCarthy, R Delaney, R Williams (K Sheppard 46), S McLoughlin; G Bolger, J Keohane; K Sadlier, C Ellis (S Dooley 61), S Griffin; A Campion (G Morrissey 76).
R Hennessy (Limerick)
- The game between Finn Harps and Drogheda United, fixed for Finn Park in Ballybofey last night, was postponed as the pitch was was unplayable due to heavy rain.
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