St Patrick's Athletic boss Stephen Kenny heaped praise on both sets of players after his side progressed to the semi-finals of the Sports Direct Men's FAI Cup after a 3-1 extra-time victory over Galway United.
A slow burner at Richmond Park exploded into life late on, with Jake Mulraney's goal for the hosts cancelled out by a deflected David Hurley volley at the end of normal time.
Chris Forrester's dead-ball prowess saw Saints edge ahead in extra time, with the veteran's free-kick followed by an assist for Jordon Garrick to guarantee a place in the last four of this year's competition.
A trip to Leeside to face Cork City lies in wait for Kenny's charges, with the winning manager keen to highlight Galway's efforts in the wake of the untimely death of former assistant manager Ollie Horgan.
St Pat's manager Stephen Kenny reacts to the FAI Cup semi-final draw and his own side's extra time win over Galway United
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 14, 2025
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"Huge credit to Galway. From what they've been through over the last few weeks, it's been a very, very tough period for the players and staff, so they deserve all the credit, really," the former Republic of Ireland manager told RTÉ Sport.
"They put in a tremendous performance and they pushed us to the pin of our collar.
"We thought we'd won it when Jake got that goal and then they scored in the 91st minute.
"Once it goes to extra time, it's anyone's.
"Thankfully, we managed to score the three goals and win 3-1.
"My players were brilliant, but Galway deserve so much credit for the performance they left out there tonight, considering everything they've gone through.
"They're a credit to themselves."
Reflecting further on the manner of a hard-fought victory, Kenny added: "It was end to end. We didn't start well at all.
"We were a bit apprehensive – I don't know if fellas wanted it too much – we certainly needed to settle down and play our passing game and play ourselves into the game.
"We needed Joseph Anang to make a couple of saves to give us a platform to do that.
"He did and our players really gave everything, the whole squad. We've quite a few missing through injury."
"Chaos wasn't it?"
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 14, 2025
St Pat's Player of the Match Kian Leavy sums up the quarter-final win over Galway United w/@Corktod
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Man of the match Kian Leavy succinctly summed up that action on the banks of the Camac: "It was chaos, wasn't it? But that's the type of game you expect when you play Galway.
They're just going to keep putting the ball down your throat... and thankfully two moments of magic with Chris Forrester and Jake Mulraney to win it for us."
The midfielder added: "First 20 minutes, they were probably the better team. They came out and pinned us back, but we just had to stay patient.
"We know that's their game plan and that's what they're going to do, but we just had to hang in there."
