General
- Tuesday January 23rd, 2024 @ 15:14
LSC Report: Usher Celtic 3-3 Saints
A youthful St Patrick's Athletic began the 2024 Leinster Senior Cup with a 3-3 draw against Usher Celtic in front of a good crowd in Grangegorman.
The Saints went ahead in the 41st minute, Chris Forrester scored on the rebound after his penalty was saved by Karl Lynam.
The home side were level at the break though thanks to Gary Gannon's close range finish, Danny Rogers had earlier denied Gannon with an excellent one-on-one save.
St Pat's hit the front again just two minutes after the re-start, sub Cian Kavanagh netted from the spot after being fouled just a minute after his half-time introduction.
Mason Melia then made it 3-1 in the 63rd minute after good play from Kavanagh and Anto Dodd, the 16-year-old almost scored again minutes later after a brilliant individual run.
It was Usher striker Gary Gannon who stole the headlines in the end, scoring two penalties to grab a hat-trick and secure a point for the LSL side as it ended 3-3.
It was a good workout for The Saints as Manager Jon Daly handed debuts to new boys Alfie Taylor, Aaron Bolger and Cian Kavanagh, while a number of Saints Academy U20s made their first senior competitive appearances for the club.
With the Leinster Senior Cup running as a group stage this year, the Inchicore men have two more ties to come, against UCD AFC and St Mochtas, both of those matches will take place early next month.
Report by Jamie Moore
Photos by Eoghan Connolly
