St Patrick's Athletic (0) - Galway United (3)

St Patrick's Athletic 0 - Galway United 3

Galway United stunned St Patrick's Athletic with a polished performance at Richmond Park writes Mark Cummins.

Pat's gave league debuts to seven of their close-season signings, but the side didn't gel at all, and Galway deservedly took advantage and went back west with the points.

Former Pat's midfielder Derek O'Brien netted the first on 17 minutes when he got a foot on the end of a Jay O'Shea free-kick.

O'Brien put Vinny Faherty through for the second on 49 minutes and then secured the win on 52 with his second of the night, a fantastic, powerful drive that gave Gary Rogers in the Pat's goal no chance.

There was a fairly entertaining opening to the game with both sides seeing plenty of the ball. As the action developed, the visitors appeared to take the upper hand, and it was no surprise when they took the lead on 17 minutes.

This came about when O'Brien pounced on an O'Shea free-kick from the left and shot past Rogers and into the bottom right corner of the Inchicore-end goal. Garry Breen went close to making it two, minutes later but sent his powerful header into the side netting.

Pat's then enjoyed a period of sustained pressure which included several excellent crosses into the box from the right wing from Darragh Ryan. However, Ian Foster's Galway defence was well organised and dealt well with the threat. Damian Lynch had a chance for Pat's on 40 minutes when he broke free on the right but blasted his shot high over Barry Ryan's crossbar.

Pat's boss Jeff Kenna made changes for the second half, bringing on Ryan Guy and Kyle Moran but it was to no avail and two further goals for Galway inside the first seven minutes of the second half secured the points.

Firstly, on 49 minutes, O'Brien found Faherty with a neat pass to the left of the area and the former Salthill Devon man made no mistake with his shot past Rogers. O'Brien then stunned Pat's with a third goal for the Tribesmen on 52 minutes. It was a truly magnificent strike that gave Rogers no chance whatsoever.

Former Pat's netminder Barry Ryan made his competitive debut for
Galway and had a fairly quite night. He was first called into serious action on the hour mark to deny Moran after Guy's initial shot was blocked by the defence and then made a fine save from Mark Leech on 61. Pat's pushed on but never looked like getting anything from the game.

© rte.ie

Match Report

St Patrick's Athletic 0 - Galway United 3

Match Info

Home Team

Away Team

Officials

Goalscorers

Yellow Cards

Red Cards

St Patrick's Athletic FC

Latest Posts

Conor Carty Is Back at St Pat's

Sean Hoare Returns To The Saints

Patron Saints Support New Community Officer

Useful Links

Contact Us