Shamrock Rovers 1 St Patrick’s Athletic 3
A sublime goal and an assist from Jamie McGrath saw holders St Patrick’s Athletic come from behind at Tallaght Stadium to book their place in the final of the EA Sports Cup. Liam Buckley’s side meet Limerick in the final on September 17th.
Rovers, with 18-year-olds Trevor Clarke, Shane Hanney and Sean Boyd impressing, were rewarded for a strong start with a goal on 34 minutes. Boyd’s industry saw him win possession to put Dean Clarke in the clear. The striker ran on to turn Darren Dennehy before drilling a shot through the keeper’s hands.
St Pat’s finally threatened for the first time on 43 minutes when Christy Fagan’s header was deflected for a corner. Rovers were then left kicking themselves as a third successive corner resulted in Dennehy levelling two minutes into added time.
In the second half, poor defending cost Rovers a second goal on 57 minutes. Lee Desmond was allowed to surge through from midfield before deftly slipping the ball to 19-year-old McGrath to score.
McGrath then threaded a pass through for the run of Christy Fagan who rounded Murphy before rolling the ball into the net for the clinching third goal on 79 minutes.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Murphy; Hanney (Madden, 64), Webster, O'Connor, T Clarke; Cregg, McCabe; G Brennan (Doona, 76), Miele; Boyd, D Clarke (Shaw, 64).
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: O'Malley; Barker, Feely, D Dennehy, Bermingham; Verdon (Kelly, 11), Barker; Kinsella (Byrne, 78), Timlin (B Dennehy, 89), McGrath; Fagan. Referee: Dave McKeon (Dublin).
