Details

Date Time League Season
12 November 2023 3:00 pm FAI Cup 2023

Match Report

Pat’s Win FAI Cup Infront Of Record Crowd

For the second time in three years, St. Patrick’s Athletic overcame the challenge of Bohemians to lift the Sports Direct FAI Cup, beating their Dublin rivals 3-1 at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon.

An early Jonathan Afolabi penalty was erased before half time by a glancing header by Mark Doyle while an own goal from Kristian Nowak after the restart and a late strike from substitute Tommy Lonergan sealed the victory for the Saints in a repeat result of the 2021 final.

The game also set a new attendance record of 43,881, surpassing the previous record of 41,238 set back in 1945 when Shamrock Rovers beat Bohemians in Dalymount Park.

It only took eight minutes for the game to have its first major talking point as Bohemians were awarded a penalty for a foul on their lone striker, Jonathan Afolabi. 

Danny Grant tried to pick out Adam McDonnell just outside the box but a tackle from Jake Mulraney knocked the ball against the Bohemians midfielder and into the path of Afolabi.

Former Bohs man, Anthony Breslin, tried to nip in front of Afloabi but the 23-year-old cleverly shielded the ball. Contact was minimal but Afolabi knew the contact was coming and was awarded a penalty. The Bohemians number nine stepped up and calmly slotted the penalty home past Dean Lyness.

Bohemians held their lead until the 23rd minute when Mark Doyle’s glancing header levelled proceedings.

A cheap free-kick conceded by Bohemians through Adam McDonnell’s unnecessary push on Mulraney gave the men from Inchicore the opportunity to fill the Bohs box. Mulraney whipped the ball in right onto the head of Doyle, who had managed to slip between Bart Kukulowicz and Kristian Nowak to head the ball past a helpless James Talbot.

Bohemians almost took the lead again after five minutes after surrendering it when Dylan Connolly played a low searching ball towards the back post. The ball almost found its way to Grant running in but some intelligent defending from teenager Sam Curtis kept the game level.

The trend of the Gypsies being unable to defend from set pieces continued in the second half and the men in red and black were punished three minutes into the second half thanks to another Mulraney delivery.

The Saints winger whipped the ball to the back post where club captain Joe Redmond had made a powerful run. His presence was a huge distraction for Kristian Nowak who put the ball into his own net in an attempt to intercept the delivery.

Declan Devine’s side struggled as they tried to fight their way back into the game after going a goal behind and had numerous chances in the second half to draw level. Having said this, it took until the 73rd minute to give the Saints fans a real scare.

Afolabi was caught late by David Norman 30 yards from goal and Jordan Flores stepped up to take the set piece. A curling effort against the outside of the left stick was as close as the men from Dalymount came to getting a second for the rest of the game.

As the clock ticked towards the end of regulation, there was time for Jon Daly’s men to apply the icing on the cake as Tommy Lonergan latched onto a poor touch from Flores to race towards Talbot before cooly finishing past him to secure the Saints second cup in three seasons.

The win also means that Bohemians miss out on European football for next season, with Shelbourne taking the final spot through finishing fourth in the league.

Bohemians were undermanned without Keith Buckely and Kacper Radkowski, and were unable to defend from set pieces. St. Pat’s punished this fatal failing in Bohemians make-up and were able to bring strong players off the bench.

Bohemians

1James Talbot Goalkeeper
2Bartlomiej Kukulowicz Defender
4Krystian Nowak Defender 47'
6Jordan Flores Midfielder
9Jonathan Afolabi Forward 9'
10Dylan Connolly Forward
12Danny Grant 8 Midfielder
14James McManus 3 Midfielder 47'
15James Clarke Midfielder
17Adam McDonnell 18 Midfielder
24Cian Byrne Defender
25Luke Dennison Goalkeeper
3Paddy Kirk 14 Defender
5Louie Holzman Defender
7Declan McDaid Midfielder
8Ali Coote 12 Midfielder
11James Akintunde Forward
18John O’Sullivan 17 Midfielder
22Dean Williams Forward
23Kris Twardek Midfielder

St. Pat's Ath

36Dean Lyness Goalkeeper
3Anto Breslin Defender
4Joe Redmond Defender
6Jamie Lennon Midfielder
8Chris Forrester 24 Midfielder
13David Norman Jr Defender
14Mark Doyle 41 Forward 23'
15Conor Carty 19 Forward
17Kian Leavy 10 Midfielder
20Jake Mulraney 11 Midfielder
22Sam Curtis Defender
1Danny Rogers Goalkeeper
10Tommy Lonergan 17 Midfielder 87'
87'
11Jason McClelland 20 Forward
18Ben McCormack Midfielder
19Alex Nolan 15 Forward
24Adam Murphy 8 Midfielder
25Thijs Timmermans Midfielder
26Jay McGrath Defender
41Mason Melia 14 Forward
  • 98'

    FULL TIME: Bohemians 1-3 St. Patrick's Athletic

  • 93'

    Kukulowicz is booked for trying to retrieve the ball from Mason Melia in an overly aggressive fashion.

  • 90'

    There will be SEVEN minutes of additional time.

  • 87'

    LONERGAN SEALS IT FOR THE SAINTS! Flores doesn't control the ball well on his chest and gives Lonergan a straight path to the goal. The substitute makes no mistake slotting home to seal the win for there Saints.

  • 84'

    O'Sullivan replaces McDonnell for Bohemians.

  • 79'

    Byrne defends well against Nolan whose cross gets deflected out for a corner kick

  • 73'

    Nolan and Lonergan replace Carty and Leavy

  • 73'

    OFF THE POST! Flores takes a long-ranged free kick and curls it into the outside of the right post with Lyness scrambling across his goal line.

  • 68'

    Coote replaces Grant for Bohs. Murphy and McClelland replace Forrester and Mulraney.

  • 67'

    St. Pat's are using their experience to their advantage as a number of players simultaneously go down with cramp.

  • 63'

    Afolabi again has a good chance to hit the target as Clarke sets him up inside the box, but again he fails to hit the target as his shot sailed high over the bar.

  • 61'

    Afolabi tries to get a deft header on the ball from a corner kick but the touch is too deft and bounces wide of the post.

  • 56'

    Melia comes on in place of Doyle.

  • 54'

    Doyle almost gets in at the back post from a cross that Nowak inexplicably lets drop in his own penalty area. The Saints winger throws himself at the ball but makes no contact and seems to have injured himself in the process.

  • 52'

    Flores immediately gets a shot away after his position change but Lyness saves well. Corner for Bohs.

  • 51'

    Paddy Kirk replaces McManus, Flores will move into midfield.

  • 47'

    ST. PAT'S TAKE THE LEAD! Bohemians have not dealt with set plays well today at all and the free-kick from the McManus foul leads to the goal. The ball is whipped into the box towards Redmond at the back post, but the final touch on the ball as it trickled past Talbot was by the foot of Nowak, putting the ball into his own net.

  • 47'

    James McManus picks up the game\'s first yellow card after a pull on Leavy.

  • 46'

    Bohemians tip-off to get the second half started here at the Aviva Stadium.

  • 45'

    HALF TIME: Bohemians 1-1 St. Patrick's Athletic

  • 45'

    Leavy wins a corner for Pat's with a minute of the half to play.

  • 45'

    Carty fights off the challenge of Byrne to get a pretty tame shot away. Byrne was caught by the flailing arm of Carty and hit the deck. The two players have been battling all first half.

  • 45'

    There will be five minutes of additional time.

  • 43'

    Forrester is given space to run into and winds up for a shot. His effort is just over the bar but Talbot was scrambling to make sure it didn't sneak over his head.

  • 38'

    St. Pat's have caused Bohemians problems from their limited number of set plays in the opening 38 minutes. This time a corner is whipped in from the right which drops almost in the six-yard box. Bohs are not dealing with crosses into the box well.

  • 31'

    Clarke tries his luck from range but his left-footed shot is dragged well wide.

  • 28'

    Connolly fires a low cross towards the back post which almost finds Grant charging in. Excellent reading of the situation by Curtis prevents a certain goal at the expense of a corner.

  • 23'

    ST. PAT'S LEVEL THE GAME! Mulraney takes the free-kick and finds Doyle, who had slipped between Nowak and Kukulowicz for a glancing header past Talbot.

  • 22'

    Mulraney wins a cheap free kick off McDonnell after an ill-advised push from the Bohemians midfielder.

  • 20'

    Another swift attack from Bohs sees Grant causing Curtis some issues before setting up Clarke whose shot misses the target again.

  • 19'

    Grant gets a low cross into the box that looks like an easy delivery to deal with, but Lennon skews his clearance over the bar for a Bohs corner. After a short corner routine, Afolabi takes a shot on the turn but it flies well over the bar.

  • 12'

    Pat's finally have the chance to restart the game as the kick-off again.

  • 10'

    The restart of the match is delayed due to more pyrotechnics being thrown on the pitch.

  • 9'

    Afolabi steps up and... GOAL! The ball is calmly slotted into the bottom corner to open the score in the cup final.

  • 8'

    PENALTY TO BOHS! Afolabi latches onto a ricochet from McDonnell and is clipped from behind by the former Bohs man Breslin.

  • 4'

    An early opportunity for Jonathan Afolabi to get an attack going after an airball in midfield, but the young striker's pass was intercepted by Norman in the St. Pat's box.

  • 1'

    St. Pats get the FAI Cup Final underway through the haze from the pyrotechnics

Past Meetings

(Round 34)
0 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic FC

(Round 27)
0 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic FC 0-0 Bohemian FC

(Round 10)
2 - 3
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC 2-3 St. Patrick's Athletic FC

(Round 5)
0 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic FC 0-2 Bohemian FC

(Round 33)
3 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic 3-1 Bohemian FC

(Round 25)
1 - 3
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC 1-3 St. Patrick's Athletic

(Round 17)
3 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic v Bohemian FC

(Round 3)
1 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic

(Final)
1 - 1
FAI Cup
Aviva Stadium

Bohemians v St. Pat's Ath.

(Series 30)
2 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic v Bohemian FC

(Series 19)
3 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic

(Series 12)
2 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic v Bohemian FC

(Series 3)
0 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic

(Series 18)
1 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic v Bohemian FC

(Series 9)
2 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic

0 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic FC v Bohemian FC

3 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic FC

1 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic FC v Bohemian FC

1 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic FC

1 - 3
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic FC v Bohemian FC

1 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic FC

2 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic FC v Bohemian FC

0 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic FC

3 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic FC

1 - 3
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic FC v Bohemian FC

0 - 4
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic FC

1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic FC v Bohemian FC

5 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic FC

3
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic FC v Bohemian FC

2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic FC

3 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic FC v Bohemian FC

1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic FC

3 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic FC v Bohemian FC

1 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Dalymount Park

Bohemian FC v St. Patrick's Athletic FC

3 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Richmond Park

St. Patrick’s Athletic FC v Bohemian FC

Ground

Dalymount Park
Dalymount Park, Connaught Street, Phibsborough, Cabra East A ED, Dublin, County Dublin, Leinster, D07 XH2D, Ireland

Conor Cantwell is a freelance sports journalist based in Co. Meath. Conor has been covering club football in Ireland and England since 2022. Conor has a keen interest in soccer, Gaelic games, rugby, tennis and basketball and has been writing blogs about the Premier League and the NBA since 2022.