Premier Division: Shelbourne 0 St Patrick’s Athletic 0
Shelbourne denied St Patrick’s Athletic a potential place in the Uefa Conference League next year by securing a scoreless draw at a packed Tolka Park on the final day of the Premier Division campaign. Really, on the run of play, Shels deserved all three points.
A tense spectacle throughout, it was the stream of live updates from other games that eventually landed a crushing blow for St Pat’s as Bohemians squeezed into fourth spot by beating Drogheda United 4-1 in Louth.
Bohs are almost home. Alan Reynolds’s side will claim the final European place if Shamrock Rovers beat Cork City in next Sunday’s FAI Cup final. If Cork beat Rovers at the Aviva Stadium, Ger Nash’s relegated squad enter the Europa League qualifiers in 2026 and Derry City will be bumped down to the Conference League instead of Bohs.
As it stands, Rovers will represent Irish football in the 2026/27 Champions League, Derry City are provisionally in the Europa League, with Shelbourne definitely in the Conference League and Bohemians almost there.
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At half-time, Tolka Park was the only goalless ground across the Premier Division.
At 0-0, Shelbourne would finish third behind Derry with St Pat’s fifth if Bohs held on to a 2-1 lead in Drogheda.
[ Premier Division final tableOpens in new window ]
With every game either impacting European qualification or the relegation playoff, Podge Amond’s equaliser for Waterford at home to Galway United kept the struggling clubs locked on 39 points.
Amond’s 14th goal of the season edged out Mason Melia to be the Premier Division’s top scorer, just as Galway eased out of relegation trouble due to their superior goal difference.
Waterford face the winners of Treaty United and Bray Wanderers in a relegation playoff next Friday.
Amond, now 37, scored his first League of Ireland goal for Shamrock Rovers the week before Melia was born in September 2007. The teenager departs for Tottenham Hotspur with 25 goals in 98 appearances since his debut for St Pat’s as a 15-year-old in January 2023.
It would have been 26 goals for the 18-year-old only Kian Leavy failed to see him unmarked on the penalty spot late on as Kenny’s men failed to salvage something from a middling campaign.
Shelbourne’s hardmen Kerr McInroy and Paddy Barrett sent Melia to London with a few bruises. As usual, the teenager took his punishment without complaint, causing panic in the opposing ranks every time he sped on to Chris Forrester’s probing balls.
Referee Robert Harvey allowed plenty of physicality. Nor were the match officials awarding any early corners for St Pat’s when Leavy’s shot was headed out by Shels defender Kameron Ledwidge and Milan Mbeng’s last-ditch tackle on Simon Power forced the St Pat’s winger into the dressingroom with a head injury.
The opening 45 minutes summed up both clubs in 2025; St Pat’s were defensively solid without producing enough chances for Melia, while Shelbourne’s waves of attacks and individual quality, namely Harry Wood and Evan Caffrey, failed to yield a goal.
Granted, this had a lot to do with the reflexes of St Pat’s Ghanian goalkeeper Joseph Anang.
Wood almost claimed all three points for Shels with a late shot that shaded Anang’s far post.
McInroy matched the Englishman for commitment with an injury-time block denying Melia a spectacular winner.
St Pat’s are done for 2025 and their young striker is away to Spurs.
In stark contrast, Shelbourne continue their Conference League campaign with Drita from Kosovo at Tallaght Stadium next Thursday and another three ties remaining, including a trip to Troy Parrott’s Dutch club AZ Alkmaar on November 27th and the visit of Crystal Palace on December 11th.
SHELBOURNE: Speel; Mbeng (Roche, 72), Barrett (Temple, 61), Ledwidge, Norris (Kelly, 46); Coyle (Gannon, 86), McInroy; Caffrey (Henry-Francis, 61), Wood, Coote; Martin (Odubeko, 61).
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC: Anang; Sjoberg, Redmond, Turner, McClelland (Robinson, 83); Forrester, Lennon (Garrick, 83), Baggley (Keena, 60); Power (Mulraney, 16), Melia, Leavy (Kavanagh, 74).
Referee: Robert Harvey.
