Richmond Park (Dublin) Friday, July 20th, 2018 k/o 20:00   sse airtricity league Attendance: 1,682         St Patricks Athletic 2-1 Limerick
2018 /19

Comments :

Finally got a game in here at the second time of asking after the disasterous attempt over the St Patricks day weekend when their game against Sligo was called off due to bad weather with me already on the ferry. Lots of people had called me crazy for this day trip from Holyhead as my plans include Tranmere''s pre season friendly against Fleetwood today before returning to Ireland on Sunday! Arriving in the city centre around 1pm as usual football was my main focus and I had no other plans(apart from trying unsuccessfully to track down McGraths ales for my Uncle which appears to be brewed in the North but i''d hoped to find it in Dublins off licences). So I generally mulled around the city centre with seven hours until kick off, whilst I knew the 40 and 13 buses would get me to the ground I decided to pass some time with the 45minute walk and once at the ground I was allowed into the ground with an escort to take some pictures before heading outside and into the club pub. As usual I met some friendly people inside curious to hear my story and was bought a pint of Guinness which was greatly appreciated although it did throw me off a bit with my usual pre game routine and once in the ground I found it hard to settle, with posts partially obscuring the view from the main stand I went to the open side terrace near the halfway line. St patricks were mid table but Limerick were second bottom struggling alongside Bray with financial offfield problems and threats to strike so I expected a home win, the game was being broadcast live by eir which made it a hattrick of televised games from my three top flight games, I presume it was a late booking as the kick off time on the programme still states a 19.45 kick off in contrast to the 20.00 time shown on the match ticket. As for the game it was a game of two halves Limerick looked sharper and hungrier whilst ST Pats looked jaded after their friendly against Newcastle on Tuesday. A soft and what appeared controversial penalty gifted the away side a half time lead scored by Dennehy and a few more debatable decisions had the home fans calling for blood(irionically the sponser on the officials sleeves) and I particularly felt for the referees assistant who got dogs abuse from the moment the ref gave the penalty. The halftime interlude was spent in the large programme hut before I wrongly decided to switch to watching the second half from the seats behind the goal. Limerick seemed to have rested on their laurels whilst Pats must of had a rocket and created numerous chances before equalising from the penalty spot from halftime supersub Byrne unhappy with my choice of stand I began making my way back to the side and was just passing behind the goal when Bryne headed in his second and what proved to be the winner, not before a late scare though as Limerick hit the bar and maybe put the rebound in, I couldn''t quite tell however the linesman raised his flag and the last threat had gone. After the game I had toyed with returning to the club bar for more banter and to buy my pre match benefactor a pint but whilst I had hours to kill before my return ferry it would involve a fair bit of travel by bus, luas and a long walk so I erred on the side of caution and headed off for the gruelling ferry journey home getting back to North Wales at 6am.