General
- Thursday July 1st, 2021 @ 9:52
Preview: Bohemians Vs Saints (02/07/21)
St Patrick's Athletic will be hoping to continue their 100% record against Bohemians this season when the teams continue their Dublin Derby rivalry on Friday evening.
Kick-off is at Dalymount Park is at 7.45pm and the game will be live on LOITV.
The teams have met twice already this campaign, and the games have had plenty of drama!
Ronan Coughlan's header at Dalymount in April was enough to secure all three points is a 1-0 victory in just the third game of the season.
It was the reverse fixture which the drama was plentiful. Matty Smith's low strike put The Super Saints ahead before Dawson Devoy's late penalty looked to have snatched a draw for Bohs, but super sub Robbie Benson responded almost immediately and scored a penalty of his own deep into injury time to secure the points!
St Pat's come into the fixture at the top of the table, level on points with both Sligo Rovers and Shamrock Rovers. All three teams have the exact same goal difference (+13) with St Pat's ahead of goals scored.
Alan Mathews side have netted 30 times in the 18 games so far this season, in the shortened 2020 campaign, they scored just 14 goals in the matches, a 114% increase.
Bohemians sit in 4th, eight points behind The Saints. Having beaten Drogheda United 5-0 and Shamrock Rovers 1-0 in a Dublin Derby, Keith Long's side lost 4-0 to Sligo Rovers in their last outing.
View From The Dugout
Head Coach Stephen O'Donnell has been speaking ahead of Friday's Dalymount derby clash:
"Bohemians are a good team. They probably didn't have the start they were looking for this season, but we have seen with a lot of their results that they can really put teams to the sword.
They've had a couple of really good wins at Dalymount Park and our game against them at Richmond was 50-50 on the balance of it, but they probably had the best of opportunities despite our win.
We are under no illusions, it's going to be a really tough game and one we are looking forward to.
O'Donnell has also been talking about just how tight it is towards the top of the table, with the top three level on points and Bohemians eight points behind:
"There are lots of teams taking points off each other, so any team that goes on a run in the league will find themselves near the top. When you get two top teams against each other, the result can go either way and obviously it's not all one sided. There are teams taking points off each other but that's what happens with top teams going against each other, sometimes it's decided on small margins."
Friday's 1-1 draw in Waterford signalled the halfway point of the season. Matty Smith but The Saints ahead before Alfie Lewis was harshly sent off, Shane Griffin's goal secured a point for Waterford.
St Pat's have won 10, drawn five and lost three of their matches so far and although Manager Alan Mathews is happy with the position and performance, he says there is still plenty of room for improvement:
St Pat's have won 10, drawn five and lost three of their matches so far and although Manager Alan Mathews is happy with the position and performance, he says there is still plenty of room for improvement:
"We are in a good position now but we still need to push on. It's been a very satisfying first half of the season, but nothing is handed out at this stage and there's a lot of work still to be done. The levels of these lads can go up definitely as the season goes on."
Mountney's Thoughts
The experienced John Mountney was on press conference duty this week, speaking to the media virtually on Tuesday, he's looking forward to another big game:
"We all came back in after the mid-season break and were ready to work hard and to get going again. We've got back to action and bounced straight back into it with the points we have picked up.
Friday night will be a tough game going away to Bohemians. It was a tough game there at the start of the year and when we played them last in Richmond.
They are looking to bounce back after their disappointing result against Sligo and we are looking to keep our good form going so it lends itself for a good game.
We are going there full of confidence."
Team-News: Shane Griffin is out (shoulder) while Alfie Lewis will serve a one match suspension after his red card in Waterford. Defender Cian Kelly has returned from injury and has joined First Division Wexford FC on loan for the rest of the season.
Where Can You Watch The Game: The game will be live on LOITV, with kick off at 7.45pm on Friday evening.
Updates: Alternatively, you can also catch updates across all of our social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
Podcast: Episode 8 of our Talking Saints podcast is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. Club legend Conan Byrne joined host Jamie Moore for a chat on his career as a Super Saint, where he scored 77 goals in 251 games.
Photo credit: Inpho Sports
