St Pat's revelled in Mura complacency, says Tim Clancy

ALL TO PLAY FOR: St Patrick's Athletic manager Tim Clancy after the UEFA Europa Conference League 2022/23 Second Qualifying Round First Leg match between St Patrick's Athletic and NS Mura at Richmond Park. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Tim Clancy believes St Patrick’s Athletic capitalised on cocky NŠ Mura dismissing his Irish side as an “easy touch”.

Seeded Slovenia powerhouse Mura fully expected to sweep aside the Saints in the first leg of their Europa League Conference second round tie last night and they led at the break.

Still, the hosts flourished in the atmosphere of a limited but sell-out crowd at Inchicore to dominate the second half and secure a merited 1-1 draw through Chris Forrester’s equaliser on the hour.

Mura leant the hard way that they’ll need to give his side due respect on the return in Slovenia next Tuesday, with the ticket into the third round up for grabs.

“They possibly looked at us as an easy touch,” noted Clancy after his first managerial experience in Europe.

“After seeing the fans, atmosphere and performance of our lads over 90 minutes, they’ll will have a different outlook for the second leg.

“The fact that we got a bye through the first qualifying round, they might have thought we didn't deserve to be in this round.

“They went off watching footage of some of the league games and saw that we didn't get the results or performances in those. It's how they approached it but it will be different for the second leg.

“You can't read into this first leg too much. We were on our home patch, our fans were cheering us on and we nullified their threats. We only conceded through a soft goal.” Limerick native Barry Cotter came in for his debut, just days after brokering a loan deal from Shamrock Rovers.

He blazed over a sitter within a minute and was involved in both goals – each from a throw-in. His first back to Harry Brockbank was seized upon by Mirland Daku to bag the 28th minute breakthrough before another pass from his hands set in train the move for Forrester’s leveller.

“I was eager to play minutes to advance my career and although it was last-minute, it gave me the opportunity to make my European debut,” said the former Ipswich Town full-back.

“This was something to build on. It was easy coming into a team of ball players. We’re not intimated by Mura and we’re very much in the tie for the second leg.”