Pats held by Bohs battlers

Cormac Byrne

St Patrick's Athletic missed out on the chance to close the gap at the top of the Airtricity League after failing to break down a spirited nine-man Bohemians.

In a highly entertaining game at Richmond Park, both sides had their chances to steal all three points but neither outfit deserved to lose.

The Gypsies looked to have handed the initiative to the Saints just before the interval when Christy Fagan was sent off for a second bookable offence after catching Evan McMillan with a late challenge in a moment of madness.

Ten-man Bohs took the lead through Liam Burns but he would go from hero to villain as he was sent off for handling the ball on the line, and Pats equalised when Bradley scored the resultant penalty.

Pats peppered the Bohs goal in the final 20 minutes but could not force a way past Barry Murphy, almost certainly ending both sides' title ambitions for this season.

Pats manager Pete Mahon was happy with his team's performance and felt his side created enough to take all three points.

"I'm disappointed with the result but not the performance," he said. "We played well, created some good chances.

"To come from a goal down against 10 and then play against nine, there was a lot of panic to our play, a lot of nervousness, but we had some great opportunities to win that match."

The first opportunity of the game fell to Killian Brennan from a 30-yard free-kick, which Gary Rogers fumbled but no one was on hand to capitalise.

Anthony Murphy had a pile driver of a shot saved by Murphy in response for Pats and Daryl Kavanagh was next to have a go but Murphy dived low to his right to deny him.

Derek Doyle had a goalbound volley pushed away as the Saints continued to dominate possession and territory.

Bohs finally lifted the siege and Flood shot straight at Rogers from a difficult angle on 20 minutes as Bohs began to get a foothold in the game.

POSITIVE

Pat Fenlon sent his side out for the second half in positive mood and they scored on 52 minutes.

Liam Burns struck after Brennan put in a free-kick, which forced a fine save from Rogers, only for Flood to bicycle kick the ball back into the danger area for Burns to apply the finish.

David Mulcahy, Doyle and Bradley all had chances to restore parity for Pats, and they equalised on 67 minutes after Burns got his marching orders.

Mahon introduced Ian Daly and Shane McFaul as Pats went in search of a winner but, after several attempts, Bohs held on for a point.