The point they scarcely deserved made it a more-than-worthwhile trip to Richmond Park for Cork City last night, even if the shine was taken off the outing for the southerners by Mark Herrick's dismissal late on for a reckless challenge on Robbie Griffin.
City were forced to scrap their way back into the contest after Liam Kelly's sixth goal in seven games had given the locals the lead. And scrap they did, narrowly surviving a succession of goalmouth scares before grabbing a point through James Mulligan.
For quite a while, though, City simply looked ill-equipped to chase a game they looked determined to hand to their hosts. Consistently during those early exchanges the southerners lacked any sort of composure on or off the ball.
And they paid the price promptly enough when Paul Byrne swung in a corner after seven minutes from the left, and Gavin Doyle convinced at least some of his team-mates that he had, untroubled by defenders, squeezed the ball over the line and Kelly left absolutely no room for doubt with the follow-up.
There was no shortage of opportunities to build on the lead as the home side moved the ball about more effectively and with a far greater sense of purpose.
After being caught shorthanded at the back once too often, however, Derek Mountfield's side gradually started to strike a balance between their fight to get something out of the game and their need not to fall any further behind. Showing a bit of patience in the second half of what was a fast moving and entertaining game throughout, their build-up started to look more threatening and the equaliser, when it came in the 76th minute, involved a memorable finish by Mulligan after good work by Neale Horgan and Steve Gaughen.
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Kelly; Croly, Foley, Maguire, K Doyle; Byrne, R McGuinness (Russell, 65 mins), Griffin, G Doyle (McNevin, 72 mins); McCarthy, Kelly (Harris, 86 mins).
CORK CITY: Devine; Horgan, Daly, Coughlan, O'Donoghue; O'Halloran (Caulfield, half-time), Herrick, Gaughen, Cahill; Mulligan, Morley.
Referee: J Feighery (Dublin).
