An improved performance was the positive St Patrick’s Athletic manager Liam Buckley had to be content to take from a frustrating Saturday afternoon at Richmond Park.

Buckley’s champions utterly dominated the second half after taking the lead through Christy Fagan. But despite hitting the crossbar and forcing Barry Ryan into the save of the match amid a plethora of corners, St Pat’s couldn’t seal the win. Limerick then stunned the home side to snatch a point with a 77th minute goal from James McGrath.

“From where we are, we have to take the positives out of the game,” said Buckley. “We’re disappointed we didn’t pick up three points, but overall it’s a better performance, I would have felt, bearing in mind UCD last week and Cork the previous week.

“We do need to get the performance better and if we get that better we’ll win more matches.

“But we’re still working on it. When you look at the group, there were five new players into that team from last year. So there’s a bit of bedding in and getting used to the way we’re trying to play. We’re working hard to get it right.”

St Pat’s had a penalty appeal declined by referee Tomas Connolly after McGrath appeared to take down Conor McCormack in the first half.

“I thought it was a well-earned point, to be honest,” said Limerick manager Stuart Taylor. “I’m really proud of the players. I thought it was a fantastic performance. It was pleasing for us as a backroom staff because they showed us the qualities that they’ve got in different aspects of the game.”