St Pat's enter title discussions after big win over Bohemians

St Pat's are just four points off top with three games to go while Bohemians sit one place ahead of Drogheda.

Bohemians 1-3 St Patrick's Athletic

Three months after being in a relegation battle, St Pat’s last night became the unlikeliest contenders for a League of Ireland title in the history of the competition.

While it remains a long shot - their entry into this year’s race came via a long shot - struck on 59 minutes by Chris Forrester, which ended up in the Bohs net via deflection off Jake Carroll.

And with that Pat’s were on their way to a sixth win in a row and all the momentum you need at this time of the season.

More to the point, no one else has it. Neither Shels nor Derry have won any of their last five league games and while Shamrock Rovers have picked up three wins in that timeframe, the gap between them and St Pat’s is now down to just two.

All it takes then is for Pat’s to keep winning and everyone else to continue panicking and a miracle will occur. Don’t rule it out.

You would have done so at half-time, though, as Bohs ended the half in the driving seat, playing better football, controlling possession.

But the match changed four minutes after the restart when Ross Tierney was harshly sent off for a second bookable offence, robbing Bohs of their playmaker and the knowledge that it is tough enough taking on St Pat’s these days with 11 men, never mind 10.

Sure enough they were soon made to suffer. First, Forrester hit a low shot on 59 minutes that was deflected past Kacper Chorazka. 1-0, Pat’s.

Next to score was Jake Mulraney, a thunderous attempt that left Chorazka with no chance of saving it. 2-0, St Pat’s, 16 minutes remaining.

And then, nine minutes from time, came the third, Joe Redmond with this one, a glancing header from a set-piece which meant three points as well as three goals were heading back to Inchicore.

As far as Bohs are concerned, they’ll wonder how it all slipped away, because the strange thing about the first half was how the pattern of the game changed on a penalty decision.

Until then, Pat’s were edging things but when Bohs were awarded the spot kick, after Axel Sjoberg had mistimed his challenge on Dayle Rooney, their confidence soared.

The ironic thing is that the penalty was missed, Dawson Devoy seeing his kick saved by Joseph Anang. Worse again from the home side’s perspective, James Clarke’s rebound was hacked off the line by Anto Breslin.

Yet rather than deflate Bohs, the moment resulted in them growing into the game, their belief levels rising from the fact they had managed to put a few moves together to pressurise the St Pat’s defence.

One chance led to another. There was a great run down the left by Dayle Rooney which deserved a goal; a shot from Tierney which would have resulted in one only for Breslin’s brave block and another header from Tierney that was cleared off the line by Grivosti.

Suddenly they were doing so many things right, Tierney’s busy nature complemented by the subtle switches in play by Clarke, who has excelled in recent weeks despite being forced to play out of position.

Unlucky not to be ahead at the break, Bohs can also be credited for their resilience in the opening 20 minutes when they were clearly outplayed, Mulraney buzzing down the left flank, Zack Elbouzedi offering a similar threat down the right.

But that resilience was absolutely nowhere to be seen in the second half - even allowing for the late consolation goal scored by Devoy on 89 minutes.

Now they are the ones in the relegation fight. St Pat’s decisively won that scrap in August and September. Now look at them.

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