Preview: Shelbourne Vs Saints (09/05/25)

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Thursday May 8th, 2025 @ 12:30

Preview: Shelbourne Vs Saints (09/05/25)

The Dublin Derby takes centre stage on Friday night as St Patrick's Athletic make the short trip across the river to Tolka Park.

THE MATCH

It's one of the biggest rivalries in Irish football as Shelbourne host St Pat's.

Three points separate The Saints and The Reds heading into this huge Dublin Derby.

A sold out away end is ready to cheer their side on on Richmond Road.

SAINTS SCENE

St Pat's some into Friday evening in 4th place in the League of Ireland Premier Division, two points off top of the table Drogheda United.

They have 22 points from their 14 matches so far.

It's been a busy period for the squad, tomorrow night will be their eighth game in the last month.

Pat's were 2-0 winners at home to Galway United last Friday with Kian Leavy and Zack Elbouzedi on target in Inchicore.

LAST TIME OUT

St Pat's narrowly lost out by the odd goal in a 1-0 defeat in Derry on Bank Holiday Monday.

Jake Mulraney and Zack Elbouzedi both had the ball in the net in the first-half, but both goals were ruled out for offside, replays show both Mulraney and Elbouzedi were onside.

Danny Mullen's goal in the 48th minute secured the points for The Candystripes.

MOST RECENT MEETING:

04/04/25 - These sides played out a scoreless draw a month ago at Richmond Park.

STAT ATTACK:

Tomorrow's meting will be the 152nd League of Ireland clash of these famous Dublin clubs.

The Saints have won 56 of them, with Shelbourne winning 59 and 26 draws.

Pat's have won five of the last ten league meetings, Shelbourne have come out of top in four with the other, the most recent game last month, ending all squad.

MAGIC MOMENT:

The teams last faced off at Tolka Park last September in one of the most dramatic matches of the season, Pat's led 2-0 through Joe Redmond and Brandon Kavanagh goals before Shels levelled things up thanks to crackers from Ray Tulloch and Matty Smith, Al-Amin Kazeem popped up with a 90th minute winner in front of a sold out away end to seal the points for Stephen Kenny's men.

OPPOSITION WATCH:

2024 Champions Shelbourne lost 1-0 at home to Waterford on Bank Holiday Monday.

They are 7th in the table on 19 points, three behind St Pat's.

Damien Duff's squad contains a number of former Saints, with the likes of Conor Kearns, Sean Gannon, Paddy Barrett, Sam Bone, JJ Lunney and John Martin having plied their trade at Richmond Park previously.

FROM THE DUG OUT:

Manager Stephen Kenny said: "We've got to dust ourselves down after being in Derry to face Shelbourne. Obviously St Pat's against Shelbourne is a great rivalry and they are the League Champions. There's not much in it between a lot of the teams at the top. We found ourselves top last week, and found ourselves on the wrong side of a 1-0 in Derry on Monday and moved down a few places so we've got the bounce back with a strong performance."

Watch our full chat with Stephen on YouTube below.

PLAYER VIEW:
Joseph Anang: "We are looking forward to the derby and having a sold out away end there with us. Pat's v Shels is always a big one. We drew a tight game against them at home last month a few weeks ago and had a fantastic win in the last minute at Tolka Park last time, Let's Go!."