Stephen Kenny described Sean Hoare’s red card as “absolutely unacceptable” after St Patrick’s Athletic fell to a 1-0 defeat against Shelbourne on Friday night.
Pats suffered another defeat at Richmond Park in a game overshadowed by controversy, with Hoare dismissed late on as Shelbourne held on for all three points.
Speaking after the match, Kenny branded the decision to send off Hoare as “nonsense” and argued his side should also have been awarded multiple penalties throughout the contest.
“You can’t just hold people and drag them down,If you’re going to do it right, they are penalties.”
The former Ireland manager claimed his players were repeatedly “manhandled” inside the area and believed the officials failed to deal with persistent fouling by the Shelbourne defence.
Daniel Kelly has opened the scoring at Richmond Park, to give Shelbourne the lead!
What a vital goal this could be. pic.twitter.com/dRpxT8hVY0
— League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) May 15, 2026
Despite his frustrations with the refereeing, Kenny admitted St Pat’s did not perform at their usual level in possession.
“For all the possession we had, we didn’t create enough,” he admitted.
Pats enjoyed long spells on the ball but struggled to break down a disciplined Shelbourne side, with their best chance arriving late on when Luke Turner rattled the crossbar.
Kenny also pointed towards inconsistency in his side’s passing and creativity, acknowledging that the Inchicore outfit lacked the sharpness they have shown in recent weeks.
Still, the Saints boss felt his side deserved at least a point from the encounter.
“We had periods where we were on top, so did Shels,” he said. “I’m not sitting here saying we should’ve won the game, but it was careless of us to lose it.”
Stephen Kenny’s side must shake the defeat off and go again next Friday against Derry City in Celtic Park.