SOCCER:IT'S AN unlikely fortress, hidden as it is behind a row of terraced houses that once left a bewildered Terry Venables to ask a passer by on Emmet Road if they knew where the football ground was, but St Patrick's Athletic will take confidence as they return to Richmond Park this evening from the fact it is now nine games and more than a decade since they were beaten in European competition on home turf.
The record is skewed somewhat by the fact their two biggest European outings in that time had to be shifted across town to the RDS, but Gent, Odense, Elfsborg and Krylia Sovetov are amongst the teams to have left Inchicore with less than they needed and tonight, with the tie finely balanced after the first leg at 2-1 in favour of the visitors, a single goal for the Dubliners could be enough to add Shakhter Karagandy to the list.
Most unusually this season, Pete Mahon has a full squad to choose from as he aims to strike a balance between getting the goal needed to progress and not making life more challenging by conceding.
Danny North and Dave Mulcahy certainly look to be in contention to start, while Conor Kenna seems less likely to after sitting on the sidelines since the opening weeks of the season.
Given North’s cautious assessment earlier in the week of his own chances of being involved from the start, perhaps David McMillan, whose goal in the first leg has given his side a real shout of progressing to the third round, where Karpaty Lvov await, could feature from the outset too if Mahon is inclined to play with a second striker. But North seems more likely to prompt a reshuffle by Mahon if he is reckoned capable of getting through 90 minutes, given how productive his partnership with Daryl Kavanagh has been in recent months.
Paul Crowley, Shane McFaul or Anto Murphy are most likely to lose out, particularly if Mahon does bring Mulcahy back.
Mahon will at least know what he’s up against this time. After a DVD he had been promised ahead of the away leg failed to materialise the night before, his players effectively went into the game blind and so their opponents’ threat from frees, corners and long throw ins around the box all came as something of a surprise.
Both Nikola Vasiljevic’s goals came from set-pieces and a great deal of effort will go into not giving the visitors cheap opportunities.
The Kazakhs will be without captain Andrei Finonchenko, whose booking last Thursday was his second in this year’s competition, but there is plenty of talent and physical strength running through the side. Nonetheless goalkeeper Gary Rogers remains confident the home side can succeed.
“We know after playing them last week what a good side they are,” he says, “but the encouraging thing from out point of view is the number of chances we created over there. They’re capable of getting another goal and we’ll have to work very hard to guard against that but we certainly believe we can score.”
