Three years ago the end of Pete Mahon's short-lived managerial stint in these parts was precipitated by his inability to call the shots in the Richmond Park dressing-room. Last night, there might not have been any doubt regarding his authority within the visiting side's set up but getting things to go the way he intended at Richmond Park, well, that was still turning out to be a challenge.
Even by the standards of the capital's endless derby games, the pace of this encounter was hectic with both sides throwing themselves into an attacking game that consistently stretched opposing defences, but, for long stretches, posed surprisingly little threat to either goalkeeper.
The home side did come close to hitting the target a couple of times early on, most notably when Trevor Croly had the time to line up a long-range effort that skimmed the outside of the angle .
Overall, there was little to separate the two sides over the course of the first period and it seemed fair enough that, after one defensive error had gifted Glen Crowe his sixth league goal of the season, another handed an injury-time equaliser to Paul Osam, his third in just six games.
To the dismay of the home support, who had already witnessed their side go a seemingly unprecedented run of set-pieces around the an opposition box without scoring, the Bohemians goal came, at least in part, from the running of Old Inchicorian Trevor Molloy.
A St Patrick's throw deep inside the Bohemians half should have posed a threat at the other end, but possession was lazily surrendered and Brian Shelley's ball for Molloy down the right had the home side on the back foot.
Darragh Maguire was Molloy's marker and having misjudged his initial intervention, the centre back tried desperately to prevent his man breaking clear only to see his over-hit ball dart past his team-mates and into the path of Crowe who weighted his options nicely before slipping the ball past the onrushing Shay Kelly.
The goal might have marked a real turning point, but St Patrick's kept their heads down and their spirit up, Mbabazi giving the first hint that a quick equaliser might be on the cards within six minutes when he turned a Maguire cross just the wrong side of the post.
Almost inevitably, it was from a set-piece that Pat Dolan's side did manage to draw level. Some firm defending through the rest of the half by Tony O'Connor and Avery John had gone a long way towards protecting their goalkeeper from the problems most visiting keepers are faced with when Martin Russell floats balls into the area but both were caught napping in the dying seconds of the half when Osam rose virtually unchallenged to meet a corner from the right and his header went in by way of a defender's arm.
Finally, one of the sides seemed to gain an upper hand when Bohemians settled into a more comfortable rhythm during the early stages of the second half. Still, they found it difficult to test Kelly, though, and when it looked like they had a decent penalty claim in the 65th minute, Molloy was instead booked for diving by Aidan O'Regan who was very well placed to make the call.
On the break, St Patrick's moved the ball as sweetly and swiftly as they did for spells against Bray last weekend and with 19 minutes to play their Ugandan international Mbabazi almost scored a replica of the stunning 25 yard goal he knocked in against Pat Devlin's side.
However, Welshman Wayne Russell's lunging save ensured that, after a frantic finish during which Bohemians again had a shout for a spot-kick - this time for handball - both sides took away the point they deserved.
ST PATRICK'S: Kelly; Croly, Foley, Maguire, Burke; Mannion (Marney, 68 mins), Russell, Osam; Mbabazi, Kelly (McGuinness, 86 mins), Griffin (McCarthy, 58 mins).
BOHEMIANS: Russell; Shelley, O'Connor, John, Hill; Morrison, Caffrey, Harkin, Webb; Molloy, Crowe.
Referee: A O'Regan (Cork).
