Melia and Forrester fire Pat's past Shelbourne and into FAI Cup quarter-finals

The Journal

8 hours ago

The 42
St. Patrick's Athletic 2
Shelbourne 0
Darryl Geraghty reports from Richmond Park
ST. PATS OVERCAME Shelbourne to book their place in the FAI Cup quarter final after a breathless encounter in Inchicore.
A stunning Mason Melia finish and a coolly taken Chris Forrester penalty proved enough for the 2023 winners.
With the likes of Derry City and Bohemians falling at this hurdle over the weekend and judging by the rip-roaring start, both sets of players didn't want to follow suit, knowing this would be their only chance of silverware of the season.
Having rested a host of first team players for their trip to Istanbul during the week – in Pat's put in a spirited performance against Turkish giants Besiktas, coming away with a narrow 3-2 loss having been two up - Stephen Kenny brought back all the big hitters, making seven changes.
In the blistering heat of Dublin 8, the visitors could be forgiven for having an eye on Thursday's season defining first leg clash on Thursday night against the familiar foe in Linfield, but it definitely didn't seem the case as they had the ball in the back of the net within three minutes.
Ali Coote clipped a lovely weighted ball in behind the Saints back line for John Martin who finished clinically with his left, only to see the flag go up for a marginal offside.
Pat's meanwhile had the raucous home fans on their feet when the exciting Simon Power's whipped cross just evaded the far post.
In one of the most relentless openings to a game all season, the champions flew straight down the other end and were left wondering how they weren't in front.
Firstly, former Cork City man Milan Mbeng saw his towering header smack off the crossbar and away to safety, and JJ Lunney then clipped a pin-point ball onto the head of the unmarked Martin but he couldn't hit the target this time from just 12 yards out.
There were huge calls for a penalty from the home side when Power's deflected cross seemed to spin up awkwardly and catch Shels skipper Mark Coyle on the arm but referee Paul McLoughlin waved away the vociferous protests.
Just after the half hour mark, Shels were forced into a change when Conor Kearns' return from injury was brought to an abrupt end having dived to collect a headed back pass.
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The home side began to settle into their rhythm having weathered the early storm and enjoyed large spells of possession, forcing Shels into a back five at times with Jake Mulraney looking threatening but frustratingly lacking that final ball or shot on target having done all the hard work.
And on the stroke of halftime Pat's – who hadn't beaten the Reds this season prior to today – got the goal their dominance deserved through Mason Melia.
The Tottenham bound-teenager collected Simon Power's square ball just outside the area and, with an outstanding first touch, pushed the ball forward between two Shels players and burst into the area. His second touch was even better as he swept the ball past substitute keeper Lorcan Healy without breaking stride to bag his 11th goal of the season.
Mason Melia at his brilliant best just before the break to put us in the lead, great pass by Simon Power too
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— St Patrick's Athletic FC (@stpatsfc)
August 17, 2025
Former Irish international Joey O'Brien responded with two further subs after the break, introducing Kerr McInroy and James Norris to give his side a slightly more attacking look.
But just six minutes after the restart it was the hosts who earned a huge chance to double their lead when Kameron Ledwidge was adjudged to have blocked Jamie Lennon's downward header with his arm.
Chris Forrester took charge of the situation and made no mistake sending Healy the wrong way from 12 yards to send the home fans wild.
With nothing to lose, Shels threw bodies forward in the desperate hope of setting up a grandstand finish. Harry Wood saw a 20-yard strike sail just over before the visitors spurned two glorious one-on-one chances to half the deficit.
With a quarter of an hour remaining Daniel Kelly broke the offside trap, latching onto a clever ball over the top but was quickly smothered by Joseph Anang as he tried to slip the ball under the onrushing keeper, and second later fellow substitute Mipo Odubeko found himself facing up to the Ghanaian stopper but managed to poke the ball past the 25-year old but also inches wide of the far post.
To their credit the home side showed great composure to see out the remaining minutes, to deservedly put their name in the hat for the quarter final.
St. Patrick's Athletic:
Joseph Anang; Ryan McLoughlin (Carl Axel Sjoberg, 75'), Joe Redmond, Tom Grivosti, Jason McClelland; Chris Forrester (Barry Baggley, 83'), Jamie Lennon, Brandon Kavanagh; Jake Mulraney (Kian Leavy, 68'), Simon Power (Al-Amin Kazeem, 75'), Mason Melia
Shelbourne:
Conor Kearns (Lorcan Healy, 33'); Sean Gannon, Lewis Temple, Kameron Ledwidge; Milan Mbeng, Ali Coote, JJ Lunney (Mipo Odubeko, 68'), Mark Coyle (Kerr McInroy, 46'), Evan Caffrey (James Norris, 46'); Harry Wood, John Martin (Daniel Kelly, 68')
Referee:
Paul McLoughlin
Written by Darryl Geraghty and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won't find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women's sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe
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