St Patrick's Athletic manager Stephen Kenny hailed the battling qualities of his side as they edged to a 1-0 UEFA Conference League victory over Lithuanian side Hegelmann, singling out teenage forward Mason Melia for his grit.
Substitute Aidan Keena fired home a late penalty after first Melia and then Barry Baggley were taken down in the box with nine minutes remaining of a first leg dominated by the Saints at Richmond Park.
The goal was just reward for the Saints who controlled the game and created chances but until the penalty, were unable to make them count.
Melia in particular had several opportunities to put his side in front but while his shooting was wayward, Kenny was impressed with how the Tottenham-bound youngster kept plugging away, especially in the face of some heavy challenges from the visitors.
" He keeps coming back, Mason," Kenny told RTÉ Sport's Tony O'Donoghue. "I spoke to the fourth official after the centre-back fouled him four times and the referee didn’t give him any yellow card.
"He said they weren’t leading to goal scoring opportunities, but it was persistent fouling.
"Mason shipped a bit of treatment but he kept coming back for more and he doesn’t hide. He keeps his head high and even though he missed a couple of chances he’s coming back and getting in the box again.
"Then he ultimately got taken out for the penalty."
Kenny believes his side were full value for the win and while they’ve found the net just once from open play in their last seven games, he’s confident that they can rediscover their scoring touch and win the second-leg away from home.
He added: " I think we more than deserved it, and our performances at home over the last couple of weeks have been very good against Derry, Bohemians and the second half against Shelbourne.
"The players are given everything, they’re playing some terrific football but we're snatching at chances and that’s running through the team, which is something you don't want.
"But the players been giving everything and I think tonight they were very good overall.
"We missed some good chances, particularly early on. We had a feeling we would create those 4 v 3 situations and Brandon Kavanagh’s slide-rule passing was good. Mason was in a couple of times but we got the goal in the end.
"We know we face a difficult game in Lithuania and we have to brace ourselves for that. We know it’s a difficult venue and they will be better at home but we do believe that we can score over there and we have to go and try to win the game over there."
Defender Tom Grivosti echoed his manager's sentiments, lamenting some missed chances while praising the general performance.
He was also full of praise for Melia, saying: "I was thinking there near the end, he must have got fouled close to ten times. It was unbelievable how the centre-half only got a booking in the 70th minute.
"It was a physical game. I don't know wat the weather is over there, I imagine it's going to be hot and another physical game but listen, we went to these places last year and won so we're hoping we can take the experience of that and go on a run this year as well.
"I thought we played really well. We know next week will be a diffifcult game. They're obviously still in the tie and we need to go over there with full belief that we can get the job done."
