St Patrick’s Athletic 3
Bohemians 1
Rory Merriman
Securing a third FAI Cup title in the space of a decade, St Patricks Athletic successfully concluded their season in front of a record-breaking crowd of 48,000 in the FAI Cup final in the Aviva on Sunday.
Coming into the game just shy of 20 goals this season, lone striker Jonathan Afolabi of Tallaght represented the Gypsies upfront.
It wouldn’t be a Dublin Derby final if the game wasn’t delayed a few minutes before kick-off with the interruption of Pyro flares thrown on to the pitch by fans.
The game got underway shortly after 3PM amid a misty cloud of red pyro smoke.
Posing as a formidable threat upfront as always, St Pats left back, Anto Breslin took Afolabi down in the box for a 9th minute penalty.
To no surprise, the Tallaght striker converted and secured his 20th goal of the season.
Bohemians lead for just 14 minutes before Dublin 8’s Jake Mulraney swung in a curling pass from a free kick that met the head of Skerries winger Mark Doyle to level the scoring.
Equal at the interval, it was impossible to predict who would nab the title.
James Talbot was relentlessly tested in the second half, stretching and diving to keep the ball out of the Bohs net.
Krystian Nowak got his foot to the end of yet another relentlessly dangerous ball in from Jake Mulraney in an effort to defend the Gypsie goal but ultimately rewarded Pat’s with an own goal.
Substitute Tommy Lonergan furthered the lead with a third for the saints, putting the game to bed.
With nine league titles to their name, St Patrick’s conclude their victory with Bohs and seal their fifth FAI Cup title.
St Pat’s celebrate with the FAI Cup in the dressing room while (inset) Mark Doyle embraces Jake Mulraney. Pics: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
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