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St Patrick's Athletic vs Sabah

St Patrick's Athletic will take a slender lead to Azerbaijan next week but rather than travel in the comfort their dominant performance deserved, this UEFA Conference League third qualifying round tie hangs in the balance.

Romal Palmer's first half finish sent the home fans into delirium but that became second half frustration and, after the full time whistle sounded, it's arguable that the 1-0 scoreline is a better result for Sabah who lived a charmed life while defending their goal for most of the second half with ten men.

Stephen Kenny tasted the heady heights of group stage football with Dundalk in 2016 and he took another step towards achieving the same feat with St Pat's on his first European foray in Tallaght in eight years.

Palmer turned home Mulraney's superb cross ten minutes from the break but despite countless opportunities, Pat's couldn't find a crucial second goal and their first European win in Tallaght may be tinged with regret.

Azerbaijan club side Sabah looked to be in control early on with Saints stopper Joseph Anang on alert to brilliantly claw a Jon Irazabal flick off his goalline in the third minute.

Sabah's healthy financial backing means they boast a sprinkling of international players including nine cap Jamaica winger Kaheem Parris who blazed over with the goal at his mercy after a swift counter attack.

Kenny has always had a preference for natural wingers in his side and one of the early success stories of his reign is the rejuvenation of Mulraney who is enjoying his best spell for Pat's and he inspired his side by tearing the Sabah backline to shreds.

Despite forcing a flurry of corners, eight in all, Pat's were reluctant to deliver into the box but threatened from second balls.

Yusif Imanov pulled off a brace of spectacular saves to deny Mulraney and Zach Elbouzedi before Joe Redmond glanced another corner narrowly wide.

Eager to make their pressure count, Mulraney danced inside Joy-Lance Mickels and whipped a magnificent cross into Palmer who darted across the front post and finished.

Palmer's song rang out throughout the break and the Saints fans were in chorus six minutes after the restart when the midfielder drew a foul on the edge of the area that saw Ivan Lepinjica dismissed for a second yellow card.

Mulraney, looking to repeat his Vaduz heroics, stung the palms of Ismanov, before Forrester flashed wide after an amazing piece of skill.

Sabah, who seemed quite slick early in the game, now looked devoid of any ideas of how to throw a punch at Pat's who peppered the opposition goal with a series of threatening crosses while Mulraney and Forrester went close.

Tallaght Stadium gasped in disbelief when substitute Mason Melia was denied twice in a matter of seconds. The 16-year-old headed Elbouzedi's cross against the far post which trickled agonizingly along the goalline before a glancing header was hooked off the line by Irazabal.

Joe Redmond headed over from point blank range with the game ticking towards the 90 and he was denied moments later by another superb save from Ismanov who has kept his side in this tie.

© rte.ie

Date	Competition	Home Team		Away Team
August, 22nd 2024	UefaConferenceLeague	St Patrick's Athletic	0	Basaksehir	0	REPORT
August, 8th 2024	UefaConferenceLeague	St Patrick's Athletic	1	Sabah	0	REPORT
May, 10th 2024	League	Shamrock Rovers	2	St Patrick's Athletic	2	REPORT
February, 9th 2024	PresidentsCup	Shamrock Rovers	3	St Patrick's Athletic	1	REPORT
May, 15th 2023	League	Shamrock Rovers	3	St Patrick's Athletic	2	REPORT
March, 17th 2023	League	Shamrock Rovers	2	St Patrick's Athletic	2	REPORT
October, 21st 2022	League	Shamrock Rovers	4	St Patrick's Athletic	1	REPORT
August, 11th 2022	EuropaConferenceLeague	St Patrick's Athletic	0	CSKA Sofia	2	REPORT
April, 15th 2022	League	Shamrock Rovers	1	St Patrick's Athletic	0	REPORT
February, 11th 2022	PresidentsCup	Shamrock Rovers	1	St Patrick's Athletic	1	REPORT

Date	Competition	Home Team		Away Team
September, 5th 2024	League	Dundalk	1	St Patrick's Athletic	2	REPORT
August, 28th 2024	UefaConferenceLeague	Basaksehir	2	St Patrick's Athletic	0	REPORT
August, 15th 2024	UefaConferenceLeague	Sabah	0	St Patrick's Athletic	1	REPORT
August, 11th 2024	League	Galway United	1	St Patrick's Athletic	1	REPORT
August, 1st 2024	UefaConferenceLeague	Vaduz	2	St Patrick's Athletic	2	REPORT
July, 21st 2024	FaiCup	Derry City	3	St Patrick's Athletic	0	REPORT
July, 4th 2024	League	Waterford	1	St Patrick's Athletic	0	REPORT
June, 7th 2024	League	Drogheda United	0	St Patrick's Athletic	0	REPORT
May, 27th 2024	LeinsterSnrCup	Bray Wanderers	0	St Patrick's Athletic	3	REPORT
May, 24th 2024	League	Bohemians	2	St Patrick's Athletic	2	REPORT

Date	Competition	Home Team		Away Team
August, 15th 2024	UefaConferenceLeague	Sabah	0	St Patrick's Athletic	1	REPORT
August, 8th 2024	UefaConferenceLeague	St Patrick's Athletic	1	Sabah	0	REPORT

Date	Competition	Home Team		Away Team
August, 28th 2024	UefaConferenceLeague	Basaksehir	2	St Patrick's Athletic	0	REPORT
August, 22nd 2024	UefaConferenceLeague	St Patrick's Athletic	0	Basaksehir	0	REPORT
August, 15th 2024	UefaConferenceLeague	Sabah	0	St Patrick's Athletic	1	REPORT
August, 8th 2024	UefaConferenceLeague	St Patrick's Athletic	1	Sabah	0	REPORT
August, 1st 2024	UefaConferenceLeague	Vaduz	2	St Patrick's Athletic	2	REPORT
July, 25th 2024	UefaConferenceLeague	St Patrick's Athletic	3	Vaduz	1	REPORT

Match Info

Date: 08/08/2024
Time: 7:45pm
Competition: UEFA Conference League
Venue: Tallaght Stadium

Officials

Referee: Vilhjalmur Thorarinsson (ISL)
Assistant referees: Gylfi Mar Sigurdsson (ISL) and Birkir Sigurdarson (ISL)
Fourth official: Helgi Mikael Jonasson (ISL)
Video Assistant Referee: Darren England (ENG)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Neil Davies (ENG)

St Patrick's Athletic FC

Founded in 1929 the 'Saints' are the current FAI Cup holders and play in the Premier Division of the SSE Airtricity League at Richmond Park, in Inchicore Dublin 8, Ireland.

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125 Emmet Road, Inchicore, Dublin 8, D08 E0Y7, Ireland

(+353) 1 454 6332
(+353) 1 454 6211

info@stpatsfc.com
www.stpatsfc.com

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St Patrick's Athletic vs Sabah

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