St Patrick's Athletic came back from the dead to secure a precious point in a highly entertaining Dublin derby game with Bohemians at Dalymount Park last night.
The match looked over as a contest when in-form striker Glen Crowe was on target twice within the opening 32 minutes. That brought his season's tally to a remarkable 18 goals.
But St Patrick's Athletic dug deep into their reserves of courage and commitment and second-half goals from Liam Kelly and Ger McCarthy sent the Inchicore men home happy.
Crowe, who had a shot deflected into the side-netting after just two minutes, wasted no time in firing home his first goal with a spectacular 35-yard volley just 60 seconds later.
It seemed a harmless situation after Stephen McGuinness had headed clear out of defence. But Crowe was quickest to react, giving goalkeeper Seamus Kelly no chance.
The ex-Wolverhampton striker added a second goal on 32 minutes after he latched on to a long, hopeful ball out of defence by veteran defender Tony O'Connor. The bounce of the ball completely deceived the St Patrick's defence and the alert Crowe was on hand to head home from 15 yards.
St Patrick's should really have been level just prior to the interval only for Ger McCarthy to screw his shot wide of the upright after clever work by Colm Foley.
St Patrick's came out with all guns blazing in the second half. First, Colm Foley saw a header rebound off the angle of crossbar and upright.
They eventually reduced the deficit on 57 minutes when the normally reliable Bohemians goalkeeper, Wayne Russell, allowed the ball to slip out of his grasp following a corner by Gavin Doyle on the right. Striker Liam Kelly made no mistake with a close-range header.
Just three minutes later, St Patrick's were level following a Paul Byrne corner on the left, which allowed Ger McCarthy to send in a powerful header. In an attempt to clear his line, O'Connor could only deflect the ball into his own net.
Both teams had late chances of a winner, with McCarthy again heading against the upright. Then Crowe was denied a hat-trick by an excellent save from Kelly. A draw was probably the right result on a night of total commitment and no little skill.
BOHEMIANS: Russell; O'Connor, Quigley, Maher, Webb; O'Keeffe, Hunt, Hopper, O'Neill; Molloy, Crowe. Subs: Shelley for Quigley (63), Markey for O'Neill (66).
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: S Kelly; Croly, S McGuinness, Maguire, Burke; Byrne, R McGuinness, Foley, Griffin; L Kelly, McCarthy. Subs: Doyle for S McGuinness (45), Holt for L Kelly (82).
Referee: John Feighery (Dublin).
