General
- Thursday April 6th, 2023 @ 12:15
Preview: St Pat's Vs Cork City (07/04/23)
St Patrick's Athletic will host Cork City in the League of Ireland for the first time in over three years this Friday night.
Kick-off at Richmond Park is at 7.45pm as a busy Easter weekend gets underway.
The Main Stand and Patron Stand are sold out, some tickets still remain available for The Camac Terrance, we encourage all supporters to buy these online via our website HERE to avoid disappointment, we're expecting another capacity home crowd in Inchicore.
Those not attending the game will be able to watch it live on LOITV, coverage begins at 7.30pm with Oisin Langan and ex St Pat's, Drogheda United, Blackburn, Burnley, Preston, Sheffield Wednesday and Ireland winger Keith Treacy in the commentary box.
The Saints beat UCD 3-0 last time out, Chris Forrester scored twice with Jake Mulraney also on target as St Pat's followed up their 2-2 draw at Shamrock Rovers just before the international break with an important three points in Inchicore.
Head To Head
St Pat's and Cork City last met in the League in Inchicore on March 6th, 2020, in what turned out to be St Pat's last game in front of full crowds before the lockdown.
Billy King got the only goal after a brilliant team move just after half-time to help The Saints to the three points.
The only other league meeting during the shortened 2020 campaign also went the way of the Inchicore men, that was 2-1 at Turners Cross in October, an Alan Bennett OG and a Jordan Gibson strike proved to be enough for all the points.
Just four St Pat's players remain at the club from those games against Cork in 2020, Jason McClelland, Jamie Lennon, Chris Forrester and Ben McCormack.
The teams did face off in 2021, but that was in the FAI Cup, Pat's won a dramatic penalty shootout 4-1 after a 1-1 draw in the second round, they of course went on the lift the trophy at The Aviva after another shootout win, this time over Bohemians.
McClelland, Forrester and McCormack all scored in that shootout in Cork.
This will be the 105th league match between these two famous clubs, St Pat's have had the upper hand, just about!
The records show The Saints have won 40 time, Cork have had 37 wins and the other 27 meetings ending all square.
Pat's have had a good recent record against The Rebels, winning six of the last ten against them in all competitions, City's last victory came at Turners Cross in April 2018.
Cork City Manager Colin Healy will have good memories of facing tomorrow's opponents, he scored an unbelievable overhead kick in the 88th minute to help his side to a 1-0 win at Turners Cross during the 2014 season.
Healy, who was appointed Cork City Manager ahead of the 2021 season, led the club back to the Premier Division for this season by winning the First Division title in 2022, finishing four points ahead of Waterford.
They've started life back in the top flight with six points from their opening seven matches, winning one, drawing three and losing three so far.
Last time out, Cork drew 1-1 with Drogheda United.
"I'm loving it" - McGrath
Jay McGrath says he's loving life at St Pat's on loan from Championship side Coventry City, the 19-year-old has started the last four games and was nominated for the St Pat's / Manguard Plus Player of the Month for March and got his first Ireland U21 call-up.
He sat down with Jamie Moore ahead of the game, you can watch the full interview on our Youtube channel.
"I'm loving my time at the club so far, I've broken into the team and been getting regular game time over the last few weeks, the gaffer trusts me and has kept me in the team, the fans have been unbelievable with me too.
The draw against Shamrock Rovers was a good result and the 3-0 win against UCD the other night was a good boost so hopefully we can kick on against Cork City tomorrow night."
Manager Tim Clancy will be back on the touchline against Cork, after serving a one match ban for the win over UCD.
He's been reflecting on last weekend's 3-0 win against UCD, assessing Cork City and how he hopes his team can perform well over a busy Easter weekend with a trip to Drogheda United to come on Monday, St Pat's head into the weekend just three points off third spot.
"Cork have come up from the First Division and they've had a few good results so far this season. The last time they were in Dublin they scored four goals against Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght and got a good point.
We watched their game against Drogheda last week, they've got good players and they are going to be very well organised under Colin Healy.
We are expecting a tough game but it's one that we want to go to try and win and build on a good performance and result last week."
Watch Tim's full interview on Youtube.
Team News:
Danny Rogers (thumb), Tom Grivosti (hamstring), Harry Brockbank (calf) are all unavailable for the game, Tim Clancy has an otherwise fully fit squad to choose from.
Image credit: Sportsfile
Be sure to visit the St Pats store and check out our Umbro League of Ireland merchandise.
