Mason Melia signs off from Richmond Park with goal, but St Pat’s held to draw by battling Waterford

Matt Lawlor’s side will be pleased with their night’s work in Dublin, a 1-1 draw thanks to a Ryan Burke goal which cancelled out the opener from Melia, potentially valuable in their bid to stay up.

But it will be frustration for the Saints who happened to find Waterford’s Northern Ireland goalkeeper Stephen McMullan in fine form, denying Pat’s with a series of saves. Saints’ supporters will feel this is a game they should really have had sewn up.

With a top-three finish now out of their reach, Pat’s need to win away to Shelbourne and rely on a favour from the FAI Cup final to get fourth and a possible ticket to Europe as a return of just two wins from the last seven league games was just not enough.

With six defeats in their last seven, Waterford came to Inchicore knowing they’d need four points, if not six, from the final two games of the season to stay ahead of their relegation play-off rivals down at the bottom.

And even though they had to absorb pressure for long spells the Blues were coping pretty well with the Saints’ gameplan.

For much of the first half, play was dominated by two men, Pat’s attacker Kian Leavy who was the architect of almost all of their attacks and giving full-back Burke a rough night, and McMullan in the Waterford goal, who was their pivotal player.

St Pat’s had prodded and poked at Waterford until the 21st minute when they had a first clear sight of goal, a slide rule pass from Chris Forrester into Melia, and McMullan came up with a superb save to deny the striker.

Four minutes later it was the same duo, Melia with the shot from inside the box with McMullan getting his palm to it to send it out for a corner and a minute later McMullan was there again, with a save to deny Simon Power.

Leavy was having a superb game but he saw his powerful run into the box on the half-hour mark stopped by a solid Burke tackle, and on 37 minutes it was Power with the effort from the home side and another save from McMullan.

On 39 minutes Pat’s were at last ahead, patient play out from the back setting Jay McClelland scampering down the left, Melia timed his run perfectly to meet McClelland’s cross, Melia’s feint deceived McMullan and the teenager slid the ball home, his last game at Richmond Park though – he hoped – not his final goal.

Pat’s are proud of their clean sheet record this season but they surrendered that cheaply in first-half injury time as Conan Noonan swung in a corner kick and Burke was left unmarked to head home, the first goal of the season from the defender.

The second-half initially followed the same pattern as the first 45 minutes, lots of possession from Stephen Kenny’s men but a mixture of poor finishing and the form of keeper McMullan was a frustration, with Leavy firing well over the bar before Melia again forced a save from the Blues keeper on 51 minutes.

Waterford were content to play on the counter as a point would have suited their needs, but they had chances to win it as the second-half opened up, Joe Anang making a save from Tommy Lonergan on the hour mark when the striker should really have scored, and soon after that Conan Noonan also went close for the Blues.

Kenny looked to his bench to conjure up the win, with an outing for Romal Palmer for his first appearance since he was struck down by a knee injury in June and more game time for another player just released from sick bay, Aidan Keena.

But Matt Lawlor had his Waterford side well drilled to meet that challenge in the second half, though they will wonder why James Olayinka sent a rushed shot well wide on 80 minutes when he had time to pick his spot.

With so many attackers in their side for the last 10 minutes, Pat’s fans hoped their team could deliver another goal but that Blues defence, with Kacper Radkowski in superb form, stood firm, as Melia failed to make the most of his effort on the counter-attack with five minutes left.

St Patrick’s Athletic: Anang; McLaughlin, Redmond, Grivosti, McClelland; Lennon, Forrester ((Palmer 69); Power (Garrick 58), Baggley (Mulraney 68), Leavy (Keena 82); Melia.

Waterford: McMullan; Bakboord (Smith 63), Radkowski, Leahy, Burke; Glenfield (McMenamy 69), Olayinka, Noonan, Dempsey (White 63); Amond, Lonergan (Coyle 82).

Referee: P Norton.