St patrick's Athletic - 1 Cork City - 1:FAI Premier Division: Denis Behan provided Pat Dolan with a happy return to Richmond Park. Trailing to Tony Bird's seventh-minute penalty, Behan finally gave Cork some cheer when levelling four minutes into stoppage time.
A standing ovation greeted former St Patrick's manager Dolan on his arrival in the visitors's dugout, but that was as good as it got for Cork for much of the night as they searched for what would have been a first win in six games.
Cork found out before the match they had lost out on the UEFA Fair Play draw for FC Lens of France and an as yet unknown Danish club were drawn to play in the UEFA Cup next season.
Seven minutes into the match the tidings were no better as Cork conceded a sloppy penalty to allow St Patrick's to take the lead.Charles Mbabazi Livingstone was taken down clumsily by Kevin Doyle near the end line and Bird found the bottom right corner of Michael Devine's net. That goal, his sixth of the season, capped a lively start by Bird who had come close to scoring minutes earlier.
While St. Patrick's may had had the edge, Cork were well in the game and Doyle, who headed wide, and George O'Callaghan came close to equalising.
A defensive mistake presented Cork with their best chance in the first half on 26 minutes when Karim El Khebir lost possession and Chris Adamson had to react well to parry away Alan Carey's powerfully struck drive.
The home side came close to increasing their lead with two quick chances three minutes later. Devine had to make a reflex save at his left post from Bird's shot after Keith Fahy's cross wasn't cleared. Another delivery from Fahy's corner put the ball on a plate for Colm Foley but he planted his free header well wide. Doyle did likewise at the other end two minutes before the break from O'Callaghan's corner.
A good save from Devine and a linesman's flag deprived St Patrick's of extending their lead within six minutes of the restart. Devine tipped Fahy's well struck shot over his crossbar while Bird had the ball in the net only for it to be ruled offside.
Chances for Bird, Livingstone and substitute Anthony Murphy to finish off Cork went abegging before Behan struck four minutes into stoppage time. It came very much out of nothing as St Patrick's failed to clear their lines from Greg O'Halloran's diagonal ball into their area and Behan found the bottom right hand corner of Adamson's net with a stunning volley from 25 yards.
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Adamson; Prenderville, Maguire, Foley, El Khebir; Fahy, Donnelly, Osam (Murphy 63 mins), Mbabazi (Casey 81 mins); Bird, Dunne (Freeman 51 mins).
CORK CITY: Devine; Carey, Bennett, Murray, Woods; Doyle (CP O'Brien 68 (Buckley 90 mins), CT O'Brien, O'Halloran, Hedderman (Nolan 81 mins); O' Callaghan, Behan.
Referee: E Barr (Dublin).
