St Patricks Ath (0) 1 - North 69'  

Rovers (1) 1 - O'Donnell 18'            
 

Airtricity League - Richmond Park - Monday 12th September 2011

Hoops Line out
16 Ryan Thompson
23 Sean Gannon  
3 Enda Stevens
4 Craig Sives
5 Dan Murray (c)
7 Gary McCabe
8 Stephen O'Donnell
22 Conor McCormack
21 Billy Dennehy
9 Gary Twigg
11 Ciaran Kilduff

Substitutes
14 Rohan Ricketts
for McCabe 77'
21 Ronan Finn
for Dennehy 77'
10 Karl Sheppard
6 Stephen Rice
13 Jim Paterson
19 Gary O'Neill
1 Richard Brush

A very entertaining Dublin derby played in very blustery conditions saw both sides take a point each with Stephen O'Donnell's wonderful strike cancelled out in the second-half by Danny North.

The Hoops started the game with the wind at their backs but it was the home side that were quick off the mark with Murphy flashing a shot across goal after 6 minutes and Bradley forced Thompson into a good save from a free-kick two minutes later.

Gary Twigg tried his luck with a wind assisted strike from 25 yards on 12 minutes but Rogers saved comfortably. A couple of minutes later a long ball from Gannon saw Dennehy get a head to the ball in the box but Rogers was on hand to claim.

Dan Murray made a fine defensive header from O’Connor’s cross on 15 minutes before the Hoops took the lead in the 18th minute when Gary McCabe’s corner failed to beat the first defender and the clearance fell to O’Donnell 25 yards out from goal and his fine low strike went through a crowd of players and into the left-hand corner of Rogers net.

Rovers were on top now and Billy Dennehy’s free-kick saw Kilduff just fail to get a connection. On 33 minutes a Dennehy corner was met at the back post by Sives and his header found Dan Murray 8 yards out but the Captains turn and shot went over the bar.

Good running from Gary McCabe forced the Pats defence to loose the ball and Dennehy’s deflected strike from 25 yards forced Rogers to make a great save down to his left.

On 42 minutes a Dennehy cross saw Rogers palm the ball down and Twigg almost got to the dropping ball before the ’keeper recovered to clear. A McCabe cross saw McMillan head just over his own cross-bar and a long throw-in from Murphy just before the break caused problems for the Hoops defence before the ball was cleared.

St Pats now had the wind at their backs and stared the second-half brightly and an early chance saw Murphy bundle the ball just wide of the Hoops goal following a cross from the left.

Rogers saved Gary McCabe’s shot from 20 yards out on 50 minutes and a good move five minutes later saw Twigg cross deep but Dennehy couldn’t get a connection on the ball.

Conor McCormack, making a welcome return for Rovers, combined with McCabe to cross into the box and Kilduff played a one-two with Twigg before firing his shot wide. Just on the hour Kavanagh played ex-Hoop Sean O’Connor into the box but he shot over the bar.

Danny North was introduced for the Saints and he shot into the Hoops side-netting following a cross from Mulcahy.

Rovers almost extended their lead on 67 minutes when McCormack won a corner and McCabe’s kick was met by the head of Sives but Rogers made a brilliant one-handed save.

The sides were level two minutes later when a cross from the left was miss-judged by Enda Stevens and North capitalised to shoot low past Thompson for the equaliser.
Kavanagh then saw his curling shot deflected just over Thompson’s cross-bar.  

Both sides went looking for the winner and Ricketts and Finn were introduced in the 77th minute but a free-kick a minute later from O’Donnell saw Murray head the ball into the area but the home defence scrambled the ball clear.
A great run by Ricketts in the 80th minute saw him shoot low but again Rogers dived full-length to his right to tip the ball away. Gannon and McCormack then sent crosses into the box but both were cleared. Ronan Finn then smashed a shot off the cross-bar from 20 yards out as the Pats goal led a charmed life.

However in the 84th minute Danny North was played in behind the Hoops defence on the left and he bore down on goal only to shoot wide under pressure from Sives. McMillan then headed wide from a Bradley corner while at the other end Ricketts almost played Twigg in on goal but a defender got a saving touch.

With a minute remaining North raced clear of Stevens and cut in from the right into the box but fortunately Thompson got down well to save his low shot. Twigg and Finn sent in crosses in the dying minutes but despite calls for handball the Pats defence survived.

The final chance fell to the home side after McCormack was harshly adjudged to have fouled just outside the area and ex-Hoop Stephen Bradley stepped up but his shot went high and over the bar and both sides had to settle for a point.