Ucd (1) - St Patrick's Athletic (2)

UCD 1 - St Patrick's Athletic 2

St Patrick's Athletic left it late, but Joe Redmond's 90th minute winner was the difference as The Saints overcame a brave UCD challenge to claim all three points at The Bowl on Monday evening.

Colm Whelan had put the students ahead in the 69th minute when he pounced on a Joseph Annang save to bury the ball home. The Saints responded immediately and six minutes later, they were level when Ben McCormack fired to the net when a saved Eoin Doyle penalty fell at his feet.

The game was set up for a grandstand finish and in the end it was Joe Redmond who was the hero when he directed a Ben McCormack corner home and into the back of the net.

There were five changes on the St Pats team from Friday's defeat in Tallaght. Ian Bermingham, Mark Doyle, Ronan Coughlan, Tundi Owolabi and Jack Scott all came in to the side to face the students.

The Saints came into the game on the back of defeat in Friday night's Dublin derby and they looked a lot sharper in the opening exchanges as they looked to create an early opportunity for themselves.

With the sun belting down on The Bowl in the opening 30 minutes, the game itself wasn't as bright. St Pats did enjoy the majority of possession but they struggled to create any decent opportunities for themselves. Darragh Burns went closest, but he dragged two of his shots well wide of the target.

The game was extremely quiet and both sides failed to trouble their opposition goalkeeper. Tunde Owolabi did go close to nudging The Saints in front one minute before the break when he rose highest to head a deflected Ian Bermingham cross, but Owolabi was unable to find the target as the ball trickled just wide of the goal.

The chance was the closest in finding a breakthrough goal as the sides went in level at Damien MacGraith's half time whistle.

The second half was much the same, with The Inchicore outfit enjoying the majority of possession but once again struggling to break down the UCD defence. Tunde Owolabi's headed effort which drifted over the bar from a Jay McClelland cross was the closest The Saints went in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

Disaster struck for St Pats in the 69th minute. Dylan Duffy picked the ball up on the edge of the area and he shot from distance. Joseph Annang did well to get down and save the initial shot, but the rebound fell straight into the path of Colm Whelan who dispatched from close range to give the students the lead.

Their response was immediate and they were level just six minutes later. Ben McCormack went down in the area after a challenge from Liam Kerrigan and the referee pointed straight to the spot. Eoin Doyle stepped up and his penalty was well saved by Kian Moore but the rebound fell back out to McCormack who coolly slotted past a number of bodies and into the far corner to level the game with 15 minutes left to play.

Billy King almost put them ahead moments later, and his shot had Moore beaten, but was unable to beat the crossbar as his shot cannoned off the woodwork and out of danger.

With just two minutes of normal time remaing, The Saints got a well deserved winner. Ben McCormack's header caused problems for the UCD defence and they failed to deal with the danger with the ball eventually falling to the feet of Joe Redmond who did enough to direct the ball goalwards and into the back of the net.

With four minutes of injury time, UCD fought back and they almost equalised but for an excellent Joseph Annang save. Chris Forrester's clearance from the resultant corner proved to be the final action of the game as St Pats held on for a priceless three point.

It's another quick turn around on Friday night with a home fixture against Finn Harps at Richmond Park, with kick off scheduled for 7.45pm.

Match Report

UCD 1 - St Patrick's Athletic 2

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