The Cork City defenders seemed intimidated by Mason Melia on Monday night at Richmond Park. Freddie Anderson, the son of former England international Viv Anderson, was tormented by his fellow 18-year-old throughout the first-half.
Then, in the 57th minute, Melia dispossessed Rory Feely only for his shot to loop into the terrace behind Conor Brann’s goal. Inside a minute, Feely gifted Melia another chance. This time he kept it simple, finishing under Brann to make it 3-0.
“I have been drilling it home to him,” said St Patrick’s Athletic manager Stephen Kenny. “He can get frustrated and you have to say, ‘Listen, all of the best strikers miss chances – it’s how you handle it’.
“You can’t let it overtake your emotional state. It’s important you eliminate that from your mindset and go again, score the next one. And he did that.”
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After the 4-0 win, Kenny pushed Melia towards the loudest section of the Richmond Park crowd to make sure he remembered his 18th birthday. The season is in its closing stretch and the young forward could be forgiven for having one eye on January, when he completes a €1.9 million move to Tottenham Hotspur.
The two goals against Cork City brought his tally for St Pat’s to 14 for the season, including a phenomenal individual effort against Hagelmann in Lithuania. Melia has been equally effective for the Ireland under-21s, scoring both goals in a 2-1 Euro 2027 victory away to Moldova in early September.
“He only has two games left at Richmond Park as a St Pat’s player, [against] Rovers and Waterford,” Kenny added. “He’s not been our penalty taker this year so they were all from play.
“He got one in Europe and a big goal against Shels in the cup as well. He’s had to manage injuries coming into the season, missing preseason. If he was fully fit across the season he’d have done a lot more damage.”
Still, six goals and two assists in the Saints’ last six games has helped the team climb to fourth in the Premier Division. Qualifying for Europe remains a firm target.
“I feel I’m getting better,” said Melia. “I’m getting more goals now.”
In time, the 2,612 attendance at Richmond Park on Monday might mushroom as people fondly remember the Wicklow striker’s time as a Saint.
By then, Brexit will either be seen as a curse or the jolt that created a soccer industry in Ireland. The rewritten employment law in the UK means that Irish teenagers cannot join a British club until they turn 18.
Brexit’s unforeseen consequence has Melia lagging behind the development of the elite Ireland forwards who came before him. By 18, Evan Ferguson had scored a Premier League hat-trick for Brighton while Robbie Keane was lighting up the First Division at Wolves.
To make up for lost time, Melia intends to hit the ground running at Tottenham.
“I have people looking after me. There are people from Tottenham and Pat’s working on [accommodation etc]. I have my agent, Clive. Both clubs just want me to concentrate on football.”
Clive is Clive Clarke, his uncle, agent and the former Stoke and Ireland left-back.
“It’s too early for me to think about Tottenham really. Because there’s a possibility of playing in a cup final now and really ending [my] Pat’s days with as high a level as you possibly can in Ireland.”
St Pat’s can secure a place in next year’s Europa League qualifiers by winning the FAI Cup. All they have to do is beat Cork City in the semi-final on Sunday week at Turners Cross and overcome Shamrock Rovers or Kerry FC at the Aviva Stadium on November 9th.
“It’s going to be a full circle moment for me if we make it,” he said, having come off the bench as a 16-year-old in the 2023 final when St Pat’s beat Bohemians 3-1 at the Aviva.
Another all-Dublin cup decider would be a fitting farewell to Melia’s memorable period in the League of Ireland. At any other time in the history of Irish football – past and possibly in the future – a teenager with his technique and size would have left the country before St Pat’s could promote him to their first team at 15.
“[Kenny] kept trusting me since he came in,” he said. “He told me I just had to believe. It’s brought me to the best level I can be at the moment, and I can get better.”
Five days after the cup final, he faces Lee Carsley’s England under-21s. After that, he will be rerouted to training in north London alongside Richarlison, Randal Kolo Muani and Xavi Simons.
