Touchline Sport
The League of Ireland title race looked like it was starting to head for the exit. St Patrick’s Athletic have dragged it back inside.
A 2-0 win over Shamrock Rovers at Richmond Park on Friday night has cut a gap that was 10 points only five weeks ago to three. Six games left and, all of a sudden, Rovers have a proper title race on their hands again.
Jay McClelland settled a few early nerves by putting Pat’s ahead after four minutes, before Aidan Keena doubled it before the break. Plenty went right for Stephen Kenny’s side, but the 17-year-old making his first Premier Division start on the right was hard to ignore.
Ryan Sheridan looked completely at home.
There are probably gentler introductions to senior football than a Dublin derby against the champions with your title challenge hanging off the result. Sheridan didn’t seem overly concerned.
He was straight into the action too. Sheridan linked up with Jamie Lennon in the build-up to the opener, with Lennon then finding McClelland at the back post. Not long after Keena made it 2-0, Sheridan nearly got in on the act himself. Roberto Lopes made a mess of things, Sheridan was suddenly through on goal, and only Ed McGinty stopped his first league start getting even better.
Sheridan eventually came off after 72 minutes. For a first league start, he’d packed plenty into it.
It hasn’t come completely out of nowhere. Sheridan was named the League of Ireland Academy MU17 Player of the Year for 2025, has represented the Republic of Ireland at U17 level and had already made an impact against Rovers this season.
He came from the bench in August as Pat’s recovered from 2-0 down to knock them out of the FAI Cup, helping in the move that ended with fellow 17-year-old Sam Rooney scoring the extra-time winner.
Young players stepping into senior football is becoming a fairly familiar sight around Inchicore.
Pat’s U15s won three consecutive League of Ireland titles between 2023 and 2025, while the U17s completed a league-and-cup double last season. Mason Melia developed through the academy before his January move to Tottenham Hotspur for what Pat’s confirmed was a League of Ireland record transfer fee, while Sam Curtis made 60 senior appearances before joining Sheffield United.
Pat’s haven’t had every one of those players since they were six, and there’s no need to pretend they have. They’ve become very good at finding talented young players, improving them and then trusting them in senior football.
Sheridan wasn’t getting a quiet ten minutes with Pat’s three goals up either. Kenny started him against Shamrock Rovers in a Dublin derby that Pat’s badly needed to win.
And he was good.
Rovers had beaten Pat’s in all three previous Premier Division meetings this season. Five weeks ago, they were 10 points clear of Kenny’s side.
Now it’s three.
Shamrock Rovers remain top, with St Pat’s and Bohemians both three points behind. Pat’s travel to Oriel Park to face Dundalk on Monday knowing another win would move them above Rovers on goal difference, although the champions would still have a game in hand.
The title race can probably cancel the taxi for another week.
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