Premier Division: St Patrick’s Athletic 3 (Mulraney 49, Melia 56, 60) Sligo Rovers 0
Mason Melia scored a striker’s brace inside five minutes as St Patrick’s Athletic put their European disappointment firmly behind them.
While the 17-year-old Tottenham Hotspur-bound striker was central to most of the game’s highlights, Sligo were rightly livid at Patrick McClean’s sending off just before half-time which ruined what had been a competitive game.
All but out of Europe ahead of the second leg following their 4-1 home defeat to Turkish giants Besiktas last Thursday, St Pat’s got their quest for European qualification next year back on track here.
Stephen Kenny’s side remain sixth in the table but are now just five points away from second-placed Bohemians.
READ MORE
Back-to-back defeats for Sligo sees them remain in trouble second bottom of the table.
The chief talking point of a pretty uninspiring first half arrived on 42 minutes when Sligo were astonished in being reduced to 10 men.
Centre-back McClean, who was having a very solid game, certainly tripped Melia as the teenager tried to skip by him.
But despite there being obvious cover there from Sebastian Quirk, referee Damien MacGraith incensed Sligo by brandishing a straight red card to McClean for a last-man challenge in what looked an horrendous decision.
“I think everyone in the ground, bar the man in the middle, could see it was never a red card,” said Sligo manager John Russell of the decision. “There was a covering defender. That changes the game, there is no doubt about it.
“It ruined it. It’s very frustrating, we’ve come up here to try and get a result.
“We are fighting for our lives and it has changed the game, and we have ended up coming down the road with a 3-0 defeat.”
The manager added that he spoke to MacGraith afterwards.
“I did, just briefly, at the very end of the game and he said, ‘I’ll have to have a look back, but for me it was a red’.”
Having recently had a decision regards Sam Sargeant overturned on appeal, Sligo will do the same again.
“Yes, we have to,” said Russell. “Thankfully we did get one overturned last week.
“But it’s hard as a manager because you don’t want to be complaining all the time about decisions.
“You want the game to be played in the right manner, and we want to play the right way and Pat’s want to play the right way. But the game was spoiled by the decision.
“You are coming up here this time last year we conceded a penalty in the 97th minute, and it was never a penalty and we ended up losing the game 4-3.
“It was a year to this day or something. But you are coming up today thinking, hopefully it will turn for us and we might get decisions, and then this happens. It’s hugely frustrating.”
Sargeant would rescue Sligo from Brandon Kavanagh’s resultant free kick with a stunning save to tip the effort on to the crossbar.
But the night got worse for Sligo within four minutes of the restart when St Pat’s took the lead.
Sargeant was guilty of racing too far off his line from a Chris Forrester ball over the top.
The goalkeeper never got there ahead of Jake Mulraney, who walked the ball into the net as Sergeant collided with his captain Will Fitzgerald for a really soft goal.
Sligo were then at sixes-and-sevens as they somehow survived conceding a second goal on the double.
First Sargeant saved well from Melia who had nicked the ball a little too easily off Sean Stewart. Simon Power looked set to score from the rebound but for a terrific goal-line clearance by Ollie Denham.
But there was no such reprieve a minute later when St Pat’s did extend their lead with another soft goal. Kavanagh’s floated corner was met by the totally unmarked Melia who found the bottom corner with a downward header.
Murlaney shot wide when he should have found the net before Melia added a brilliant solo goal.
Sligo lost the ball cheaply with Kavanagh threading it through for Melia.
Accelerating past Denham, the teen sensation nonchalantly rolled the ball with his stud beyond Sargeant before casually side-footing to the net for his ninth league goal of the season.
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC: Anang; Sjoberg, Redmond, Turner, McClelland; Lennon (Baggley, h-t), Forrester (Robinson, 79); Mulraney (Leavy, 79), Kavanagh, Power (Garrick, 71); Melia (Carty, 71).
SLIGO ROVERS: Sargeant; Quirk, Denham, McClean, Stewart; Harkin (Wolfe, 65), McManus; Fitzgerald, Elding (Manning, 80), O’Kane; Waweru (Kavanagh, h-t).
Referee: Damien MacGraith (Mayo).
Attendance: 3,190.
