St. Patrick’s Athletic 4
Sligo Rovers 1
St. Patrick’s Athletic head top of the league after convincing domination over Sligo Rovers condemning the Bit O’ Red to their fourth successive defeat
St. Pat’s continued their impressive unbeaten home record to begin the season with a comfortable 4-1 victory over Sligo Rovers. The Bit O’ Red knew coming into the game that stopping the slide of losing three straight games would be crucial in their potential relegation scrap however a trip to the leagues in form side, and to a stadium they have not won in since May of 2023 was too much to ask for.
For Stephen Kenny’s men, winning today meant confirming their title aspirations after early season form and due to Bohemians slip up away to Drogheda United, St Pat’s claimed top spot with four separate goal scorers adding to the most potent offense of the season so far.
St. Pat’s buoyed by their recent run of form at home looked to start brightly but it was Sligo Rovers who struck first minutes into the game when Darragh Nugent turned the ball over in midfield to Sebastien Quirk who slotted Archie Meekison away down the left, the ex Bohs man chipped a delicate cross which looped off Joe Redmond over Joey Anang in the Pat’s goal to open the scoring.
Pat’s responded immediately with a flurry of chances, Jason McClelland came closes when he latched onto Barry Baggley’s deflected cross, the Saints winger took a touch before firing a half volley towards goal that Sam Sergeant expertly tipped wide.
The equaliser did finally come after constant Pat’s pressure, Kian Leavy found himself in behind the left flank of The Bit O’ Red’s defence, Leavy picked his head up and found Romal Palmer free in the box who powered a bullet header into the top left corner leaving Sargeant hopeless in goal.
Counter attacking frantic football was the theme of the opening twenty minutes and that continued with Kian Leavy picking the ball up and driving forward before playing Ryan Edmundson through on goal, Sargeant made the save and after the resulting corner kick, Sligo had their turn at a fast break with ex Pat’s winger Alex Nolan forcing Anang to make a smart stop.
After the frantic opening St. Pat’s gained control and came close to taking the lead ten minutes from halftime, Anto Breslin who was an early Pat’s substitute for McClelland set up Ryan Edmundson in the box who had his effort plucked out of the top corner from Sargeant. On the following play Pat’s livewire Kian Leavy slotted Baggley down the wing who fired a loss cross to the feet of Edmundson who tapped home to give Pat’s a deserved lead.
The Saints had a chance to kill the game minutes later when Leavy broke away down the right wing, the silky winger cut back to Romal Palmer who in turn slid in Baggley who composed himself before firing a right footed effort just wide of the near post.
Continuing on from their impressive end to the first half the visitors would extend their lead five minutes into the second period when Romal Palmer drifted through Sligo’s midfield and fed substitute Anto Breslin who rounded Sargeant before rolling the ball into an open net. Straight after sloppy defending from Jeannot Esua for the visitors allowed Breslin the chance to curl a left footed shot, luckily for Esua, Sargeant spared his blushes with a comfortable stop.
Although a poor start to the second half from Sligo, their bright spark throughout the match Will Fitzgerald drove forward constantly all night and in the 62nd minute the Limerick native forced Anang into his first save of the second half with a low angled drive towards the bottom right corner.
Sam Sargeant continued to impress in goal for Rovers when Fitzgerald’s lose defensive header fell to Luke Turner who curled a shot from the top of the box which the aforementioned Sargeant tipped over the bar.
Pat’s added a fourth goal fifteen minutes from time after a calamitous mistake from Alex Nolan who had his switch of play deflected by his own teammate Ollie Denham, luckily for Darragh Nugent he was on hand to slide the ball past Sargeant to score his first goal for St. Pat’s and rub salt into an already wounded Sligo side.
After Pat’s fourth goal it was damage limitation for Sligo who sat back and allowed Pat’s control the ball, Sargeant would be forced into one final save in injury time when Aidan Keena looked to add his name to the score sheet with a low drive into the near post tipped wide by the impressive Sargeant.
Man of the Match: Barry Baggley
Barry Baggley was instrumental to how Pat’s dominated in midfield with clever passing play allowing his side to gain composure after the early goal from Sligo. Baggley’s superb low cross set up the game winning goal from Edmundson and the midfielder played a crucial part in three of Pat’s four goals.
St. Patricks Athletic: Joey Anang, Luke Turner, Sean Hoare, Joe Redmond, James Brown, Darragh Nugent, Barry Baggley, Romal Palmer, Kian Leavy, Jason McClelland, Ryan Edmondson Subs: Anto Breslin for Jason McClelland (14′), Aidan Keena for Kian Leavy (72′), Tom Grivosti for Sean Hoare (72′), Jamie Lennon for Ryan Edmundson (73′), Max Mata for Romal Palmer (78′)
Sligo Rovers: Sam Sargeant, Will Fitzgerald, Gareth McElroy, Ollie Denham, Jeannot Esua, Carl McHugh, James McManus, Archie Meekison, Sebastien Quirk, Alex Nolan, Mai Traore Subs: Kyle McDonagh for Carl McHugh (46′), Daire Patton for James McManus (64′), Callum Lynch for Alex Nolan (78′)
Referee: Kevin O’Sullivan
Attendance: 4,485