{"id":381583,"date":"2026-04-04T12:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T12:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/381583\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T12:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T12:01:11","slug":"statement-wins-for-galway-dundalk-and-st-patricks-athletic-as-league-of-ireland-returns-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/381583\/","title":{"rendered":"Statement wins for Galway, Dundalk and St Patrick\u2019s Athletic as League of Ireland returns \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scintillating St Pat\u2019s move top of the league<\/p>\n

With each passing week, St Patrick\u2019s Athletic<\/a> look more and more the outstanding side in the League of Ireland<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Six wins in seven have propelled Saints to the top of the table, and while nearest rivals Bohemians are struggling to find goals of late, Stephen Kenny\u2019s side are plucking them from everywhere. <\/p>\n

Kian Leavy and Romal Palmer have emerged as the spearheads of the league\u2019s sharpest attack, both relishing the space and runners around them in Kenny\u2019s evolved system. They had ample room on Friday against a sorry Sligo Rovers, who couldn\u2019t live with the movement and quality on show in Inchicore. <\/p>\n

What may excite home fans most is their strength in depth. Aidan Keena, Max Mata and Jamie Lennon all contributed from the bench on Friday. Chris Forrester didn\u2019t play a part at all. The fund of options within Shamrock Rovers\u2019 squad is rightly mentioned as reason to bet on the champions retaining their title, but Pat\u2019s are showing they may have the league\u2019s next best talent pool. <\/p>\n

As a double act, Leavy and Palmer tick many boxes. The former is constant \u2013 twisting and wriggling through gaps in midfield, his powerful left foot hovering menacingly over the ball as he shifts it. This season, Leavy is making the right decisions, understanding the pitch better and realising his own strengths.<\/p>\n

He called it perfectly for the Pat\u2019s equaliser, clipping a ball delicately onto Palmer\u2019s head when the more obvious choice might have been a low fizz across the face of goal. <\/p>\n

Palmer is less busy than Leavy, though he often attracts more attention. His goal was emphatic, but the assist for Saints\u2019 third may have been sweeter. Drifting left and dragging three Sligo defenders into his orbit, Palmer slid an underlapping Anto Breslin into a now vacant penalty area. Breslin\u2019s finish was brilliant, but the shape of the game had been sundered by the Englishman. <\/p>\n

Pat\u2019s travel to Dundalk on Monday for what will be a meeting of the league\u2019s two in-form sides.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0League of Ireland: St Patrick\u2019s Athletic go top after comfortable win over Sligo RoversOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\"GalwayGalway United’s David Hurley. Photograph: Evan Treacy\/Inpho <\/p>\n

A tale of two transfer windows at Eamonn Deacy Park<\/p>\n

A cloud of vulnerability hung over Derry City going into Friday night\u2019s fixtures, with big players missing and concerns mounting around an ambitious but now seemingly misguided transfer window. <\/p>\n

Galway United<\/a> conducted a similar volume of business in the off-season, more out of necessity than desire given the exodus of a host of their most important players. Both sides have confounded expectations; where Derry\u2019s great expectations are dwindling, Galway\u2019s initial fears look unduly pessimistic.<\/p>\n

Whatever about the injured McClean brothers, whose names are at the heart of questions posed around Derry\u2019s transfer policy, the absence of Michael Duffy for the first time in 57 games was poorly timed for a side lacking confidence. Galway smelled blood, pummelling Derry in the first half and looking the more competitive side throughout. <\/p>\n

There were reasons to admire each of the night\u2019s three goals, but David Hurley\u2019s opener stood out. Having blasted a 30-yard free kick straight into the wall, the Cork native opted for a volley in anger as the ball looped back towards him. On his weaker right foot, Hurley\u2019s strike was pure and past Eddie Beach in an instant. <\/p>\n

Post-match, he reduced the moment to \u201ca bit of frustration more than anything\u201d. \u201cIt\u2019s probably just that I\u2019ve connected with the free kick so badly … that I\u2019ve swung the right foot at it,\u201d Hurley explained. <\/p>\n

The game was epitomised by a clash between Stephen Walsh and Rob Slevin late on. As a ball broke loose between the pair, Walsh showed no hesitation in thundering through his former teammate, leaving him in a heap and bursting forward untroubled in search of a winner. <\/p>\n

Perhaps Slevin hadn\u2019t fully recovered moments later, when he appealed hopefully for an offside instead of closing down the advancing Frantz Pierrot, who had time and space just inside the box to pick out the far corner and choreograph a celebratory dance in front of the travelling Derry fans. <\/p>\n

Pierrot, perhaps the biggest name added to Galway\u2019s roster this season, is yet to start a game. On Friday night\u2019s evidence, he is benefiting from a patient approach and the absence of a harsh spotlight \u2013 some of Derry\u2019s new men may look on with envy. Title ambitions voiced before a ball was kicked are beginning to look damaging. <\/p>\n

This sort of victory, meanwhile, has been in the post for Galway. The Tribesmen have made a strong start to the season despite conceding a slew of late goals. Feigned injuries in the dying minutes at Eamonn Deacy Park ensured they wouldn\u2019t suffer the same fate here. <\/p>\n

They were aided by their largest and loudest attendance of the season, with children from amateur clubs around the county invited to attend the game for free. <\/p>\n

Shelbourne gamble reaps goals but Dundalk edge stretched thriller<\/p>\n

\"Dundalk'sDundalk’s Eoin Kenny and Gbemi Arubi celebrate after their win against Shelbourne. Photograph: Inpho\/Dan Clohessy <\/p>\n

An early blitz from Dundalk was the catalyst for an end-to-end second half at Tolka Park on Friday night, as Shelbourne found some attacking rhythm but left empty-handed.<\/p>\n

Gbemi Arubi and Bobby Burns had made it 2-0 in a first half dominated by the Lilywhites. They pressed hard and outworked Shels, who fell into lethargic patterns of possession in comfortable, ineffective areas, rarely able to pierce their opponents\u2019 defensive line.<\/p>\n

Joey O\u2019Brien responded with three changes at the break, switching to a back four in the hope of jolting his side into life. It worked, and goals from Zeno Ibsen Rossi and John Martin drew the game level. <\/p>\n

Chances were coming at both ends. Arubi was magnetic leading the line for Dundalk, too fast and wiry for the adjusted Shels defence. With shape abandoned, flurries of chances and pinball possession mini-games took place inside the Shelbourne penalty area \u2013 a part of the pitch Dundalk were happy to flood at will. <\/p>\n

Ibsen Rossi proved the decisive figure, turning the ball into his own net with four minutes to go after excellent wing play from substitute Eoin Kenny. It was an unfortunate winner, but a deserved one for Ciar\u00e1n Kilduff\u2019s side, who have now taken three points in three of their last four games.<\/p>\n

\"ShamrockShamrock Rovers player Graham Burke scores a penalty against Waterford. Photograph: Inpho <\/p>\n

Shelbourne, meanwhile, can take positives from the fluidity of their attack in the second half, but the loose nature of the game in its closing stages will concern O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Shamrock Rovers rescued a point through a late Graham Burke penalty in Waterford, and Bohemians relinquished top spot as they played out a 0-0 draw in Drogheda. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0St Pat\u2019s striker Ryan Edmondson on how he benefited from the \u2018strange genius\u2019 of Marcelo BielsaOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scintillating St Pat\u2019s move top of the league With each passing week, St Patrick\u2019s Athletic look more and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3407,23531,61,60,2539,43,11113,25201],"class_list":{"0":"post-381583","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-bohemians","9":"tag-damien-duff","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-league-of-ireland","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-shamrock-rovers","15":"tag-shelbourne"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}