General
- Wednesday August 23rd, 2023 @ 14:15
Match Preview: Saints V UCD (25/08/23)
St Patrick's Athletic will look to keep up their momentum as they travel across Dublin to face UCD on Friday evening, in the first game of the last League of Ireland Premier Division series.
Kick-off is at the usual time of 7.45pm in the UCD Bowl.
At the time of writing, there are still a limited number of away tickets available for the game HERE, with a big St Pat's crowd expected in Belfield, all supporters are encouraged to buy their tickets online to avoid disappointment.
The match will be available to watch on LOITV for those unable to attend.
The Saints come into this game after what was a memorable Sunday evening as the club knocked out reigning FAI Cup champions Derry City on penalties after the game finished 0-0 AET.
Chris Forrester, Alex Nolan and Kian Leavy all tucked away their kicks before 15-year-old Mason Melia stepped up to the plate and drilled his penalty into the bottom right corner, in what eventually turned out to be the winner, it finished 4-3 in the shootout.
The 1/4 final draw took place on Tuesday afternoon, a trip to Ballybofey awaits against Finn Harps for a place in the semi-finals, the game will take place on the week ending September 17th, with exact details to be confirmed ASAP.
OPPOSITION WATCH / RECENT MEETINGS
St Pat's have had an excellent domestic record of late, with just one loss in their last 13 games, and nine wins across that period.
Jon Daly's men have won all three of their games against UCD this season.
Last time out was a 7-0 victory at Richmond Park back in late June. Mason Melia became the youngest ever League of Ireland goal scorer for the club that night (aged 15), along with an OG and goals from Chris Forrester, Sam Curtis, Tommy Lonergan (2) and Jason McClelland.
The first meeting between the sides ended in a 3-0 win at Richmond Park in March. Chris Forrester scored either side of a Jake Mulraney finish to give The Saints all three points.
The last game at The UCD Bowl was 3-1 victory for the Inchicore side at the start of June. Conor Carty opened the scoring in the 7th minute of play before a Noah Lewis double finished the scoring for St Pat's, all three goals were set pieces from Ben McCormack.
UCD are currently in bottom spot in the Premier Division table with 10 points from their 26 games.
Their last outing was a 5-1 defeat to Galway United in the FAI Cup on Monday in Belfield.
JON DALY: "We have to take one game at a time"
Manager Jon Daly has built a great relationship with the Saints fans since he took over as Manager in May.
With only four points separating his side and top spot and just nine games to go, the Dubliner knows the significance of what’s to come in the final stretch of the season:
"It's very close in the table, it's going to be the team who are the most consistent over the final part of the season that will get where they need to get. That starts on Friday for us.
It's important that we focus on that game and do what we've done throughout the season. We don't want to look too far ahead, we have to take one game at a time.
UCD don't have as many points on the board as they probably should. They're a decent side with some very good players in their team that can hurt you. One thing about them is that they never stop and never give up.
It's important to focus on ourselves and go there and play to our full capabilities and hope that that's enough on the night."
Captain Joe Redmond spoke to the media at Virgin Media Studios on Wednesday, as St Patrick Athletic's home game against Dundalk on Friday September 22nd was announced as part of three more live TV games on Virgin Media Sport over the coming weeks.
The Saints have kept three clean sheets since Joe's return and the 23-year-old is hoping to keep the good run going:
"It was a great result on Sunday for us, it's important that we put that behind now and get our focus back on the league and the UCD game on Friday. We know there are no easy games in this league and but like all games, we'll be looking to go out, play well and try to pick up the three points.
There is a great feeling and a great buzz around the team and the whole club at the minute and we'd like to keep that going.
We've been playing well and picking up good results, especially in the league since Jon has taken over, but that run is only important if we keep it going, starting on Friday, we need to go out with the right mindset and the right attitude to do the right things and hopefully we can get the three points in front of another big away crowd."
TEAM NEWS:
Tom Grivosti (knee) and Axel Sjoberg (hamstring) will miss the game.
TICKETS:
There are still a limited number of away tickets available for the game HERE, with a big St Pat's crowd expected in Belfield, all supporters are encouraged to buy their tickets online to avoid disappointment.
LOITV
The match will be available to watch on LOITV via the season pass or match pass for those unable to attend.
UPDATES:
As always, updates can be found on the Official St Pat's FC App - available now on both the App Store and Play Store, there will also be a live fan chat during the game.
Updates will also be available across all the club's social media channels.
Image credit: Inpho Sports
