Soccer

St Pat’s put five past depleted champions Dundalk

Stephen Kenny makes a number of changes as Lilywhites get blown away in first half

Dundalk’s Michael O’Connor with Sean Hoare during St Pat’s 5-2 win over the champions. Photogrpah: Inpho
Tue Oct 25 2016 - 21:55

St Patrick’s Athletic 5 Dundalk 2

Conan Byrne scored twice to move to within one goal of a century of league strikes as St Patrick’s took out their season of league frustration on newly crowned champions Dundalk at Richmond Park.

While it marked the heaviest defeat of Stephen Kenny’s four years in charge of Dundalk, as expected following Sunday’s clinching of three-in-a-row league titles, he did make a host of changes with nine personnel switches in his starting eleven, including a league debut for winger Keith Dalton and first league starts for Georgie Poynton and Michael O’Connor.

The now traditional guard of honour from their hosts to welcome the champions onto the pitch was as good as it got for Kenny’s makeshift side as St Pat’s blew them away before half-time.

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Having earlier shot wide, Christy Fagan couldn’t really miss as he put the home side ahead on 19 minutes.

Byrne skipped past Dundalk’s substitute left-back Carlton Ubaezuono, on the pitch scarcely a minute for his league debut, to the end line to pull the ball back to present Fagan with a close range tap-in.

Fagan returned the compliment for a delightful second goal seven minutes later.

Jonathan Lunney, on his full debut, was involved on the right with his pass inside to Fagan weighted perfectly into the path of Byrne who beat Gary Rogers with a crisp shot to the bottom corner.

Byrne was in again from Fagan’s through ball to shoot home off a post to make it 3-0 on 36 minutes.

And there was no let up as St Pat’s added a fourth three minutes after that. Byrne was instrumental again on the right flank, his low cross running right to the far post for the in-rushing Ian Bermingham to blast the ball to the roof of the net.

Kenny took 18-year-old Ubaezuono off at half-time, bringing in Brian Gartland to shore up his side’s defence.

It also had an immediate effect at the other end of the pitch as Dean Shiels pulled a goal back two minutes in when taking the ball into the area from the right before poking to the net from 10 yards out.

Dundalk then made it interesting when scoring again on 62 minutes. Sean Gannon’s cross from the left found Michael O’Connor whose effort trickled past Brendan Clarke and over the line.

But it was St Patrick’s who added to their winning margin five minutes from time with a sublime 25-yard strike from impressive teenager Lunney.

St Patrick’s Athletic: Clarke; O’Brien, Hoare, Feely, Birmingham (C. Kelly, 87); Verdon, Lunney; Byrne, G. Kelly (McGrath, 68), Kinsella; Fagan.

Dundalk: Rogers; Gannon, Barrett, Keane, Grimes (Ubaezuono, 18; Gartland, h-t)); Poynton; Dalton (Mountney, 71), Shiels, Benson, C. O’Connor; M. O’Connor.

Referee: Rob Harvey (Dublin).