Saints botch their big opportunity as Shelbourne come from behind to stun Inchicore faithful

LOI Premier Division St Patrick's Athletic 1 - 2 Shelbourne On the evening that Shamrock Rovers left the title door open for St Patrick's Athletic, Stephen Kenny's Saints failed to walk through it. Their full-time anguish was a product of regrets over wasted chances and fury with aspects of the officiating. Yet when everything is said and done, the Inchicore club will reflect on this derby as an evening when they somehow found a way to lose. With a one-goal lead and the meanest defence in the league, the Saints were in a glorious position at the halfway point, their supporters dreaming of a plausible scenario where they could go top of the table on Monday night in Derry. The collapse that followed means they realistically need to win there to save their season. With a delayed kick-off for TV purposes, there was no avoiding the updates from Galway. John Caulfield's side were ahead before the sides emerged from the tunnel, with a giddiness creeping through Richmond Park. Read more Galway United secure first league win over Shamrock Rovers in 20 years to open door in title race They began with purpose, dominating the opening exchanges against a Shels side with nothing to play for bar the pleasure of denying a club that most of their supporters dislike. The players looked off it early doors, with the title chasers operating with real purpose, creating chances by putting pressure on Shels in their own half. Kian Leavy's return was one positive aspect of the unpopular 27-day break between fixtures, and he was prominent as a support act to Aidan Keena and Anthony Olusanya that forced mistakes from the guests. Two Leavy runs into the box ended with the Ardee man on the ground. The first time around assistant Emmett Dynan appeared to overturn Paul Norton's call to point to the spot after a tackle from James Norris. When Leavy went down again under pressure from Kameron Ledwidge, the appeals were less vocal but the officials were on the same page and the foul was awarded. Keena stepped up but leaned back and his effort struck the bar. There were chances either side of that, including a fine Eddie Beach stop to deny Olusanya, but the tempo dropped following the setback. Word of another Galway goal lifted the punters and the Saints forged ahead before the interval. Shels were leaving three men up for corner-kicks, thus reducing the number of bodies in the area. But it backfired as a delivery was cleared and Jamie Lennon reacted quicker than Seán Moore, bursting forward to invite a simple pass from Barry Baggley into space at the edge of the area with his right-footer creeping through the legs of both new Austrian recruit Marco Untergrabner and Beach before finding the bottom corner. Regular Position Team P G W D L GD 1 Shamrock Rovers 65 34 19 8 7 +19 2 Bohemians 62 34 18 8 8 +19 3 St. Patrick's Athletic 59 33 17 8 8 +26 4 Shelbourne 46 34 11 13 10 +2 5 Derry City 41 33 9 14 10 +1 6 Galway United 41 33 10 11 12 -4 7 Dundalk 41 33 10 11 12 -5 8 Drogheda United 37 34 9 10 15 -13 9 Waterford 34 33 7 13 13 -11 10 Sligo Rovers 23 33 5 8 20 -34 It made the second half a test of Pat's composure. Their defensive record would have given them confidence about seeing it out, but control was lost in the aftermath of a glorious chance to go two up when Olusanya scuffed a present after a deflected Zack Elbouzedi cross fell his way. The miss grew in significance when Shels found an easy route to an equaliser, with Daniel Kelly given space to turn and thread a through ball for Moore who slipped in between Joe Redmond and Seán Hoare and silenced the Saints faithful after driving the ball under Joseph Anang. Territorial dominance followed for Pat's, but it kept breaking down in the final third. Perhaps the closure of a portion of the main stand due to bad behaviour contributed to the relatively subdued atmosphere entering the final quarter, yet there was anxiety creeping in too. Frustration at bad decisions in promising situations. Kenny worked his bench in search of a turnaround with Ryan Sheridan, Chris Forrester and Ryan Edmondson introduced initially. A double sub that saw Romal Palmer and James Brown come in was the last throw of the dice, but it would have the wrong kind of impact. Shelbourne's Kameron Ledwidge gestures to fans after his victory over St Patrick's Athletic © Ben McShane/Sportsfile Palmer's appeals for a free just outside the penalty area were waved away, and Shels broke with intent to find themselves in a 3 v 2 situation. Kelly used his teammates as decoys by seizing possession and picking his spot in the bottom corner. John Russell and his bench celebrated like they were the ones in search of a trophy. Pat's couldn't recover from the gut punch, even when Ali Coote was red-carded for a rash challenge on Sheridan before the five minutes of stoppage time. A point would have salvaged something from the exercise, if not removing the feeling of a missed opportunity. Coming away with nothing feels like a terminal failure.