It was a perfect ten for the Lilywhites before 1,760 at Richmond Park. Three second half goals gave the league leaders a tenth win in a row after a 3-1 away success over a battling St. Patrick’s Athletic. Industrious midfielder Chris Shields netted
It was a perfect ten for the Lilywhites before 1,760 at Richmond Park. Three second half goals gave the league leaders a tenth win in a row after a 3-1 away success over a battling St. Patrick’s Athletic.
Industrious midfielder Chris Shields netted the vital second goal, a strike which was sandwiched by two more from top scorer Patrick Hoban, to turn the match around and secure a vital three points.
“(It was) a good time to get it as well. I’ll take it all day long,” said Shields of his 58th minute angled shot, which gave Dundalk the lead.
“One or two of us get it in the neck and rightly,” laughed Shields of Stephen Kenny’s half-time team talk (‘rocket!’)as his team trailed 1-0 to Jake Keegan’s opener. “We knew ourselves we made sloppy mistakes. It’s tough to come here. The team took it on board and showed great character in the second half.”
“He’s on form all year. It’s not a purple patch from him. It’s a purple season nearly. I can’t see him stopping. He’s a great focal point for us,” is Shields’ assessment of the league’s top marksman Patrick Hoban.
“Aim for the far post and see what happens and it went in,” said Shields of his second goal of the season – the first time since 2012 he’s netted more than once in a campaign. “Micky’s done all the hard work. It’s another assist for him,” said Shields of Michael Duffy, whose amazing run from inside his own half set up Shields strike having also laid on Hoban’s equaliser.
Chris Shields celebrated Dundalk’s crucial win on the night he made his 200th appearance for the Lilywhites. “Long may it continue. I enjoy playing here. Why would you play anywhere else?”
“We’ll do our homework during the week and then be ready for Thursday”, said Shields of Dundalk’s upcoming Europa League assignment against Levadia Tallinn.
By contrast, St. Patrick’s slumped to a seventh league defeat in succession. But their performance belied the result in many ways. Boss Liam Buckley cut a frustrated figure afterwards. “We were leading 1-0 at half time. We’ve given a sloppy goal away to let them back in the tie. They got a bit of momentum from that.
"At 2-1, we were still well in in the game. I felt we certainly deserved to get something out of it. In the 94th minute, we just piled everybody forward. They got a break on us. It flattered them from a scoreline point of view.”
