General
- Monday May 20th, 2024 @ 10:00
Preview: Saints V Shelbourne (20/05/2024)
The Saints will play their second game in four days this Monday evening as they face an important Dublin Derby against Shelbourne in Inchicore.
St Pat's come into this game off the back of a 1-0 loss at home to Derry City at Richmond Park on Friday, in Stephen Kenny's first game in charge.
Despite some good play from Pat's, Derry's winner came from Paul McMullan in the 76th minute.
The Saints have got 19 points from their opening 17 Premier Division games and currently sit in 7th position in the table, five points behind 4th placed Galway United.
OPPOSITION WATCH:
This Monday's fixture will be our 149th league meeting with Shelbourne and the tale of the tape is a close call.
St Pat's have won 55, there have been 25 draws and Shelbourne have won 58 times.
The Reds are top of the Premier Division, with 31 points from their 17 games.
Damien Duff's side began the season with a nine match unbeaten run.
The last game between these sides was on April 26th in Tolka Park and Shels ran out 1-0 winners on the night, thanks to a goal from John Martin.
The first meeting of this season was a close encounter, with Shels winning 2-1 at Richmond Park on March 15th.
A second half Will Jarvis double put the Drumcondra men 2-0 up, before Jake Mulraney pulled a goal back with a clever header from Brandon Kavanagh's free-kick.
Despite a strong second half showing, Pat's couldn't find an equaliser.
These sides faced off four times in the league in 2023, with three wins for Pat's (all 1-0) and one victory for Shels.
The last encounter of 2023, was a 2-1 victory for Shels last September.
Skipper Joe Redmond had given his side the lead before goals from Euclides Cabral and former Saint Paddy Barrett earned the home side all three points in a last minute win.
All three of Pat's wins were courtesy of set piece goals from Eoin Doyle (in February), Sam Curtis (in May) and Jake Mulraney (in June).
Curtis scored his first goal in senior football to separate the sides in front of packed away end to give his team the 1-0 win the last time Pat's won at Tolka.
Manager Stephen Kenny said:
"The players gave everything against Derry and did well overall. We want to improve. We've got the dust ourselves down, bounce back and be ready. Shelbourne are at the top of the league and are having a fine season, so we'll need to be at our best tomorrow night to get a positive result."
Danny Rogers is excited of another big Dublin Derby at a packed Richmond Park:
"The Manager and the staff have had a little more time with us to implement a game plan. We know it will be a tough match but we are ready for it. We're looking forward to it in front of another big home crowd at Richmond Park."
TEAM NEWS:
Tom Grivosti played 45 minutes for our U20s on Saturday as he recovers from his injury, Axel Sjoberg continues his progression too.
TICKETS / TV / UPDATES
There are a limited number of home tickets available HERE
The game will be live Virgin Media TV and the Virgin Media Player.
As always, updates can be found on the Official St Pat's FC App - available now on both the App Store and Play Store.
Updates will also be available across all the club's social media channels and WhatsApp.
