Andy Haran could be the next hotshot striker to emerge for St Patrick's Athletic, according to team-mate Alan Cawley.

The young striker broke his duct when he netted the opener in the 2-1 win over Drogheda United last week and he will be now looking to increase that tally.

With a failed clearance dropping in front of him, Haran didn't think twice as he blasted his effort past keeper Steve Williams to light up the scoreboard and delight the home fans.

That goal was typical of the efforts that he converted whilst on loan with Monaghan United last season and also the brace that he scored in pre-season against Mick Cooke's side.

The Super Saints have a tradition of exciting frontmen and Cawley, who is a recent arrival at Richmond Park, thinks that Haran is next in line to becoming a popular striker with the club's supporters.

"Andy looks to be a special player. He is a natural goalscorer and should have a bright future ahead of him," Cawley told setanta.com of his team-mate.

"He was very lively in pre-season training and took his goals well against Monaghan. I think anyone who saw those goals will agree that he has the natural instinct of a top striker.

"Of course, he is still very raw and will need games to get up to speed in the Premier Division, but he certainly has the talent and the right attitude to succeed at this level.

"We have a lot of good strikers with Mark Quigley, Glen Fitzpatrick, Kyle Moran, Mark Leech, and even Gints Friemanis can play up there, so he has a lot of competition for a place up top.

"The coaching staff believe in him though and if he keeps going the way that he is then I expect him to be pushing for a regular place in the team. He is a goalscorer, a fox-in-the-box type of player, and every team could do with one of those."

Next Fixture

Waterford / April 19th @ 7:45pm
Competition: League
Venue: Richmond Park
  Tweet #stpatsfc

Team	Pld	Pts
Shelbourne	10	21
Derry City	10	16
Shamrock Rovers	9	15
St Patrick's Athletic	10	14
Bohemian FC	9	13
Sligo Rovers	9	12
Waterford FC	10	12
Galway United FC	9	11
Drogheda United	9	8
Dundalk	9	4