St Patrick's Athletic manager Stephen Kenny hailed the role played by his captain Joe Redmond after the in-form Saints prevailed 3-2 against Shelbourne in a thrilling Tolka Park encounter that could ultimately decide where the league title ends up.
St Pat's have now won five on the bounce, with Kenny's road warriors accounting for both Shels and Shamrock Rovers on their most recent travels.
Substitute Al-Amin Kazeem proved the St Pat's hero, bagging the 88-th minute winner in a 3-2 victory in a move that had seen the nascent talent that is Mason Melia strike the post after good work by Zack Elbouzedi.
Shelbourne and St Pat's both have four league encounters remaining, with the latter trailing Damien Duff's side in the title race by seven points, not that Kenny is countenancing a league crown.
"Unfortunately, there aren't enough games," the Saints supremo said of an outcome that is mathematically possible, but improbable.
"If you said before the weekend - Shamrock Rovers away, Shelbourne away - that you're going to take six points and score six goals... but we've been averaging that in all our recent games.
"The players were brilliant, I thought Shelbourne were very good, they were excellent, to come back from 2-0 to 2-2, two excellent goals from their point of view. They were very good.
"But away from home, being on the receiving end of throwing a two-goal lead away and then you come back and get the winner, that speaks volumes for the group.
"There was a lot of good play, Zac down the right for Mason, brilliant, done it on his left foot, and then Al-Amin scoring the goal. It was a great way to win it."
Captain Joe Redmond's primary role may be in defence, but he has proven himself adept at popping up with important goals and grabbed another on Monday night.
"He's a real captain and such a young captain.
"He's been absolutely excellent and I think his performance levels have gone up over the last few weeks really to a high level," his manager enthused.
If St Pat's continue their winning ways, European football next term looks likely, but their manager is keen to keep a lid on expectations and added of that eventuality: "We still have a lot of work to do. I'm not sure it is.
"From our point of view, we've just got to keep winning matches and playing with the freedom that the players are playing with."
Shelbourne v St Patrick's Athletic was a joy to watch, but also a joy to play in, with Saints man of the match Jamie Lennon delighted to come out on top. pic.twitter.com/xv16nXZSaO
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 30, 2024
Jamie Lennon, who scooped the man-of-the-match gong, said afterwards: "It was some game. Two-nil up, I thought we were quite comfortable.
"It was a really even first half, both teams had chances. Once we went two-nil up, we kept the ball for a bit and then, you know, Shels are a good team.
"They found a way to get two goals back, two great goals to be fair to them.
"To win it like that makes it even sweeter."
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
