FAI Cup finalists St. Patrick's Athletic secured European football for next season with a huge win at home to struggling Sligo Rovers.
A first half cracker from Kian Leavy meant that, not only did the three points stay in Inchicore, but the victory also kept their faint title hopes alive ahead of Friday nights mouth-watering Dublin Derby with four-in-a-row chasing Shamrock Rovers - whose manager Stephen Bradley watched on keenly from the stands.
As Storm Babet battered the country 72-hours previously, the pair were fortunate to get on the pitch on Friday at all, Pat's dispatching city rivals Bohemians, while Sligo were beaten by Dundalk. The weather was barely any more hospitable tonight as a powerful pre-game deluge battered Richmond Park.
Jon Daly somewhat surprisingly named the same starting side that triumphed in brutal conditions at Dalymount but his troops showed no signs of fatigue with a high tempo start.
Man-of-the-match Leavy was desperately unlucky to see his 25-yard thunderbolt narrowly miss the target with just a couple of minutes played.
Ironically, Sligo Rovers' last victory on the road came in Inchicore back in May - a win that ended Tim Clancy’s tenure - and were hoping for a repeat performance to boost confidence following Friday night's reversal against the Lilywhite. They promptly hit back with a double chance of their own.
Dean Lyness continued his excellent form with an incredible stop to deny Fabrice Hartmann sharply with his feet. Moments later, Bit O’ Red skipper David Cawley was in the wrong place at the wrong time, accidentally blocking teammate Garry Buckley’s powerful downward header off the line.
The gloves were off as both sides went at each other. Conor Carty had the best chance to break the deadlock turning Garry Buckley on a six-pence before racing through on goal, smashing low only to be denied bravely by the veteran, Richard Brush.
The 38-year old was called into action again minutes later as Kian Leavy ran a three versus two break, slipping the ball to his right to Jason McClelland who powered a strike towards the far corner, only for Brush to show cat-like reflexes to get down and save.
Unfortunately for Brush and the visitors, they could do nothing about what was to come next when Leavy cut inside from the left and, via a slight deflection, found the top corner with an unstoppable strike - his first for the Saints.
The hosts dominated much of the second half but failed to add to their lead. But with just the one goal advantage, their position was slightly precarious.
With a quarter of an hour remaining, John Russell shuffled his pack and it almost paid dividends when a hopeful set-piece from deep, not collected by Lyness, fell to the feet of Kailin Barlow who, after taking a touch to settle himself, could only poke the ball towards the target in a crowded area before being cleared to safety.
Despite huffing and puffing, the visitors failed to muster up a clear cut chance on goal as time ticked away, and The Athletic saw out the last few minutes relatively comfortably to secure European football yet again.
St. Patrick’s Athletic: Dean Lyness; Sam Curtis, David Norman, Joe Redmond, Anto Breslin; Jason McClelland (Alex Nolan, 78’), Kian Leavy (Adam Murphy, 73’) Jamie Lennon, Mark Doyle; Chris Forrester, Conor Carty (Tommy Lonergan, 73’)
Sligo Rovers: Richard Brush; Johan Brannefalk, John Mahon, Garry Buckley, Nando Pijnaker; Karl O’Sullivan, Niall Morahan, David Cawley (Frank Liivak, 68’) , Kailin Barlow; Fabrice Hartmann (Stefan Radosavljevic, 73’), William Fitzgerald (Pedro Alves Correia, 68’)
Referee: Eoghan O’Shea
