St Pat’s beat Shelbourne in thriller to leave title race wide open

League of Ireland Premier Division: Shelbourne 2 St Patrick’s Athletic 3 [Tulloch 77, Smith 81; Redmond 22, Kavanagh 63, Kazeem 89]
Al-Amin Kazeem went from a minor role in verbals with Shelbourne manager Damien Duff to scoring the winner for St Patrick’s Athletic in the Dublin derby at Tolka Park.
As the game edged towards a tempestuous draw, St Pat’s assistant coach Brian Gartland came into Duff’s, albeit narrow, technical area to impart some last second instructions to Kazeem.
A schmozzle ensued, mainly between Duff and Gartland, before the English winger came on and scored in the 89th minute.
The result means that St Pat’s, under the guiding hand of former Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny, move to fifth in the Premier Division, two points off qualifying for Europe in 2025.
Goals from Joe Redmond and Brandon Kavanagh left league leaders Shelbourne reeling until a dramatic recovery, thanks to Rayhaan Tulloch and Matthew Smith strikes, almost snatched a valuable point.
Maybe Shels are feeling the weight of 19 years since last winning a title. Duff’s charges just went the entire month of September without a victory, from five matches, yet somehow they remain top of the table, four points clear of Derry City.
It has not been a vintage season. If Shelbourne hang on, by gathering the final 12 points on offer, they will finish with 66 points which is the worst tally for champions since the season went to 36 matches in 2018.
Not that 66 points would come close to winning the league when it only ran for 33 matches.
It is well established that Duff’s depleted squad is living off fumes. They simply must get a positive result against Shamrock Rovers on Sunday.
St Pat’s are the total opposite, finding a groove since their removal from European competition in Istanbul last month, winning five straight to prove that Kenny still has a talent for shaping a team if given enough time and resources.
After weeks of poor performances from both Shelbourne and Derry City, the defending champions Shamrock Rovers have been invited to snatch the title from under them.
And still, the bones of a title winning side are visible to the Tolka Park faithful.
But it took a headed goal from Redmond, who stole an inch off Kameron Ledwidge to finish an inswinging Brandon Kavanagh free-kick on 22 minutes, before Shels reacted.
Plenty of short, sharp passing from Harry Wood and Aiden O’Brien threatened an equaliser without an end product.
The howls of “shoot, shoot!” from the main stand grew louder as the first-half wore on. Shels stuck to their principles, never panicking, yet passing, passing, passing until referee Damien MacGraith’s whistle sounded for the break.
The same cannot be said of Aidan Keena. The striker got a rare start for St Pat’s, ahead of teenager Mason Melia, following the quick turnaround since Friday’s 3-0 defeat of Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght.
Twice Keena looked up and shot on sight. The first effort stung the hands of Conor Kearns. The second was reminiscent of Pele trying a lob against Czech goalkeeper Ivo Viktor from inside his own half at the 1970 World Cup.
The only difference was the Brazilian maestro’s shot skimmed the outside of the post while Keena’s hit the underside of the crossbar before the retreating Kearns gathered.
Almost unforgettable.
Same goes for St Pat’s winger Jake Mulraney curling a shot off the post early in the second-half.
Eventually, Duff replaced O’Brien with Sean Boyd while Ali Coote came in for Liam Burt. Their immediate impact was greatly anticipated by the Tolka crowd but nothing came off before St Pat’s scored a second through Kavanagh.
The goal came directly from a defensive error as Paddy Barrett’s attempt to pass the ball sideways in his box, invited Zack Elbouzedi to tee up Kavanagh for a tap-in.
Nobody appeared to leave the stadium, but it went awfully quiet until Tulloch pulled one back with 13 minutes to go.
Smith’s equaliser, moments later, was followed by the sound needed to cause 3,000 hoarse throats this morning. Boyd played his part, nodding down for Smith to switch on to his left foot and nail his finish into the top corner.
Kenny did not take the shift in momentum lying down, sending on Melia and Kazeem who both delivered, with Melia hitting the post from an Elbouzedi cross before Kazeem finished off the rebound.
Smith went from hero to the dressingroom for an even later red card.
Shelbourne: Kearns; Gannon, Griffin (Wilson 41), Barrett, Ledwidge; Caffrey (Martin 69), Coyle; Burt (Coote 56), Wood (Smith 69), Tullock; O’Brien (Boyd 56).
St Patrick’s Athletic: Anang; Sjoberg, Redmond, Grivosti, Breslin; Kavanagh (Kazeem 87), Lennon, Forrester (Bolger 62); Elbouzedi, Keena (Leavy 77), Mulraney (Melia 77).
Referee: Damien MacGraith.