IBV 2 St Patrick's Ath 1: After extra time. 1-0 after 90 mins. St Pat's win on away goalsIT WASN'T pretty but St Patrick's Athletic got the job done against IBV on the volcanic island of Vestmannaeyjar last night to march on in the Europa League.
When playing on home turf, Liam Buckley’s men are renowned for their break-neck counter-attacking but this performance was all about their lesser-hailed defensive qualities.
Stephen O’Flynn’s finish in extra-time sealed their passage into the second qualifying round to meet Siroki Brijeg of Bosnia-Herzegovina after Matt Garner and Eythor Birgisson scored for IBV.
Holding a one-goal lead from last week’s first leg, the Saints were confident but cautious going into this game and the early exchanges suggested that they were right to.
The Icelandic hosts dominated possession and looked the more likely to open the scoring. On 10 minutes, Danish striker Christian Olsen threatened to get the goal that they craved when he broke through the Saints defence, but Brendan Clarke was out quick to deny him. The assistant referee’s flag was raised, although it served as a warning to Buckley’s men.
While the back four dealt well with most things, Clarke was called on a few times in the first half to save their blushes, like on 24 minutes when he denied Olsen again. Although his best was yet to come as the Dubliner reacted superbly to stop Olsen for a third time after the home striker fired from close range following a short free-kick from Ian Jeffs.
Once more Clarke showed his shot-stopping excellence when saving well from defender Brynar Gudjonsson. A foul was called but the Saints keeper still made the save. Two headers from Anthony Flood, starting in place of the injured Chris Fagan, never really tested keeper Abel Dhaira, while James Chambers screwed a shot wide from distance.
Substitute Jake Kelly should have done better when he broke clear, but IBV finally got the goal that they deserved when Garner fired in from close range – only after Clarke had saved twice.
With the game now into extra-time, the home team thought that they had secured victory when substitute Birgisson fired in on 97 minutes when afforded too much space to shoot. But O’Flynn quickly hit back when he slotted in Kelly’s cross as Dhaira stormed off his line to try and stop the bulky striker. And that sent them into the next round.
IBV: Dhaira; Olafsson (T Gudmundsson 52), Gudjonsson, Christiansen, Garner; Baldock, Thoarinsson, Valdimarsson; Jeffs (G Gudmundsson 65), Olsen (Birgisson 81), Mawejje. Yellow Cards: Garner, Birgisson.
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Clarke; O'Brien, Kenna, Browne, Bermingham; Forrester (Carroll 81), Chambers, Bolger; Meenan (J Kelly 58), Flood (O'Flynn 69), O'Connor. Yellow Cards: Browne 44, Forrester 75.
Referee: Aleksandrs Anufrijevs (Latvia).
