St. Patrick’s Athletic left it late to take their second win of the season last night, with Christy Fagan netting a 92nd minute winner in a 3-2 victory over UCD at Richmond Park.
Conan Byrne had the champions ahead on 25 minutes but a first half double from Chris Mulhall had the students ahead going into the break.
It was Byrne who struck again to bring the sides level on 64 minutes, shortly after Keith Fahey left the field with an injury.
The students looked set to hang on for a hard earned point but Fagan drove home a close range finish at the back post in the 92nd minute to earn the champions their first win of the league season.
Athlone welcomed Premier Division football back to Lissywoolen last night but any mood of celebration was quickly dampened by Shamrock Rovers, as the Hoops left with a 4-1 win.
Rovers dominated throughout and were 2-0 up at the break thanks to goals from Ciaran Kilduff and Gary McCabe. Kilduff added a second shortly after the break and Eamon Zayed added the finishing touch in the 90th minute. The sizeable home crowd was given a minor moment to cheer in stoppage time when Alan Byrne got a consolation goal in the 93rd minute.
Sligo Rovers suffered their first setback of the year at the Carlisle Grounds, losing 1-0 to Bray Wanderers.
A poor game was livened up only by Ciaran Byrne’s goal less than 2 minutes into the second half. Sligo pushed for an equaliser in the final stages of the game but Bray held on for their first win of the season.
Bohemians saw a second league win of the season snatched away by a Gary O’Neill double at Dalymount. The Drogs striker – recently returned from a battle with testicular cancer – scored in the final minute of normal time, completing the task of cancelling out Dinny Corcoran’s two first half strikes.
Dundalk bounced back from last week’s Louth derby humiliation with a 2-1 win over Limerick, at Oriel Park. Dundalk had to come from behind for the win, having fallen behind to a 14th minute Shane Tracey goal. Goals from Pat Hoban, late in the first half, and Kurtis Byrne, midway through the second half, gave Stephen Kenny’s side their first league points of the season.
