St. Pat’s finished the double game week in style with a deserved 2-nil win away to Finn Harps, courtesy of Billy King and Matty Smith’s goals at Finn Park Stadium.
The sides were dead-locked in the opening 30 minutes, before the visitors opened the scoring with a terrific goal from Billy King.
In the second half, Harps pushed forward, but struggled to find decent avenues up front, and got themselves lost after seeing Matty Smith beat the hosts’ goalkeeper Mark McGinley in the 61st minute.
Stephen O’Donnell’s boys were once again solidly organised at the back, as their major weapon to confirm all three points, holding the fourth clean sheet of the season, allied to two clinical finishes.
Harps were aggressive in the early stages, in need of bouncing back from the turbulence of recent results; but lost their way after conceding the first goal.
The search for their compass took too long, as the Saints sealed the game passing the hour mark.
It just took this game 15 minutes to settle in, as both teams were moving the ball back and forward; a delightful show from two clubs looking to put their name on the scoreboard early in the game.
Will Seymore came up with the first attempt with a long-range shot going wide off Vitezslav Jaros’s bar. Sam Bone brought a serious reply moments after with a free header as he couldn’t find the target.
Karl O’Sullivan managed to find space inside Saint’s box in the 22nd minute but this was still not enough to pull out a save from Jaros. Ian Bermingham made it better facing McGinley, with his shot going inches off the right post.
The Dublin-based side took the lead with 30 minutes on the clock; Billy King with a lovely turn on the edge of Harps box, before he finished it in the back of the net. The brilliant individual play from the Scotsman turned out to be a game-changer, as the hosts struggled to find solutions before the break.
Ollie Horgan’s speech in the dressing room at the interval, found the desired effect; as the blue jerseys came back with an encouraging start, showing their opponents plenty of heat, with several attacking plays putting Pat’s wall under pressure.
However, their hopes came down to zero at the hour mark; Ronan Coghlan lifted the ball with a lovely clip, as Matty Smith headed it in and the visitors led 2-nil.
The comfort in the score allowed Pat’s to drop the lines for the rest of the game and close gaps between sectors.
Harps came forward in the final minutes looking to get back in the game, but Jaros stood carefree.
The final whistle confirmed the fifth win so far for St. Pat’s in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division, as they go marching on with another good win on the road.
Finn Harps have been dropping down since their loss against Sligo Rovers, and are now six points away from the top of the table.
Bernardo Santos
With previous experience on a top-tier sports newspaper and a media department of a former European Champion club, Bernardo also collaborates as a sports journalist and media editor at St. Patrick's Athletic.