Shelbourne 0 St Patrick’s Athletic 1
Sam Curtis is not long for this league. Nor is fellow teenager Adam Murphy. Summer nights in Tolka Park will soon fade from the memory of two talented players gifted to domestic soccer by Brexit laws.
Murphy continues to show well in the St Patrick’s Athletic midfield but Curtis, reshaped as a centre back in the absence of club captain Joe Redmond, secured three away points with a 58th-minute header from Jake Mulraney’s slick corner.
The 17-year-old’s finish disrupted this zero-sum-game with a goal that puts St Pat’s back on course to qualify for European football next year, which is an impressive achievement considering the club sacked manager Tim Clancy earlier this month.
They rise to fourth in the table as Shelbourne slip to sixth.
The result softens Shels’ cough after recent sturdy defensive displays from Damien Duff’s improving outfit. But they remain a club in touching distance of multi-million-euro investment by Hull City owner Acun Ilicali. An injection of quality players is needed next to enhance a 3-4-2-1 approach that is increasingly difficult to crack from open play.
However, on this night, Curtis escaped the attentions of John Ross Wilson for a free header at the back post. Veteran striker Eoin Doyle probably should have scored the initial chance, only for Shane Farrell to deflect the ball out for Mulraney’s lofted assist.
Clancy may be gone but the St Pat’s coaching ticket, led by Jon Daly, earned their wages with a tactical switch after half-time. Changing to a three-man defence allowed Mulraney to cause havoc at wing back while Chris Forrester got closer to Doyle.
Forrester almost delivered his now perennial goal of the season contender before the break; a screamer in the first minute skimmed Conor Kearns’s crossbar before he tried an audacious 50-yard lob.
Duff made a raft of tactical changes to salvage a point, with Kyle Robinson coming closest down the home straight, but Shels could not unlock a St Pat’s team in desperate need of victory.
SHELBOURNE: Kearns; Wilson, Byrne (Ledwidge, 85), Griffin; Farrell, Lunney, Coyle (McManus, 66), Wilson (Robinson, 84); Caffrey, Smith; Moylan.
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC: Lyness; Sjoberg (McGrath, 78), Grivosti, Curtis, Breslin; Lennon, Forrester, Murphy (M Doyle, 71); McCormack (Timmermans, 70), Mulraney (McClelland, 86); E Doyle (Carty, 86).
Referee: Paul McLaughlin.
