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The Irish Sun

Quick-fire goals from Kian Leavy and Zach Elbouzedi boost St Pat's title hopes as Stephen Kenny's men beat Galway Utd

ST PAT'S got their title hopes rolling again despite losing an Axel. Axel Sjoberg was sent off for two fouls on Bobby Burns in a second half in which they were on the back foot for the majority. 2 St Patrick's Athletic beat Galway Utd Credit: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile 2 Pat's lost Axel Sjoberg to a red card Credit: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile But two goals in six first-half minutes from Kian Leavy and Zach Elbouzedi had put them in control and, unlike a week earlier, they were able to withstand a fightback from their opponents. The fiery contest saw both managers Galway assistant Ollie Horgan, booked, as well as the eight yellow cards issued to players, two of them to Sjoberg. St Pat's were boosted by the return of top scorer Aidan Keena from a hamstring injury after a seven-week lay-off as they chased their first home win since then, having been held by both Shelbourne and But the more painful Dublin derby had come a week previously when they led 1-0 against Bohemians going into the final minute at Dalymount Park. Read More on League of Ireland That was, according to Kenny, that had happened to him in a league match, although he did allude to Ireland manager. His mood had not lifted by the time he got around to penning his programme notes in which he wrote 'The pain of that resonates and infiltrates your system and leaves you in a cave where light doesn't exist.' The early stages mainly featured players trying their luck from distance to no great effect. Moses Dyer fired straight into the hands of Joseph Anang after being teed up by Garry Buckley and Patrick Hickey when Stephen Walsh was free. Most read in Football At the other end, Keena sent an effort well wide whilst Brendan Clarke comfortably dealt with Jamie Lennon's attempt and, later, Leavy cut in and fired over. St Pat's were the better team and it opened up for them when Joe Redmond got away from Buckley. He played a weighted pass in towards the near post but Rob Slevin got there ahead of Keena. Travis Kelce looks unrecognizable as NFL legend spotted in NYC photoshoot near Taylor Swift's apartment Mason Melia was also off-target with a header after he climbed above Jeannot Esua but, for all that, Galway should have taken the lead on the half-hour mark. Esua got to the byline and pulled the ball back with Dyer who appeared to have a whole goal to aim for. There was a premature scream of celebration from the visitors' bench as Dyer did not connect properly with the ball which allowed Anang to react and gather. St Pat's made the most of the let-off as, instead of falling behind, they were ahead within three minutes. Leavy played a neat one-two with Keena who managed to get the ball back to him despite losing his footing. The ex-Shelbourne player was pushed wide but he still managed to get his shot on target which Clarke got a foot too but was unable to keep it out. Before the game restarted, Galway made a change with Sean Kerrigan sent on in place of Walsh but it did not stem the tide and they were 2-0 down by the break. In the 39th minute, Melia played in Elbouzedi who let fly. His shot was on target but it took a deflection off Slevin which made it impossible for Clarke to keep out. SECOND WIND Whatever Caulfield said at half-time prompted a big response from Galway who had a number of good opportunities shortly after the restart. Dyer skipped past Sean Hoare and Lennon with the midfielder resorting to pulling him down at the expense of a free-kick and a yellow card. Cian Byrne almost exacted more punishment from the set-piece with his shot rattling the crossbar. Shortly afterwards, Hickey played in Dyer but, again, the New Zealand international lacked the ruthlessness he had shown in previous games and the danger passed. Caulfield and his assistant Horgan were both booked in the aftermath of a high and late challenge by Sjoberg - who himself was cautioned - on Bobby Burns. The game then threatened to boil over as David Hurley went in hard on Forrester who then had words with Burns which prompted him to shove the St Pat's midfielder in the chest which was not seen by referee Rob Harvey. And, in the 70th minute, Sjoberg was dismissed when he received a second yellow after pulling back Burns. That prompted a reshuffle with defender Ryan McLaughlin brought on for Elbouzedi with Kenny having already introduced pacey winger Simon Power for the tiring Keena. St Pat's were, not unexpectedly, under the cosh with Slevin curling a shot narrowly wide from the edge of the box before Dyer headed over from a corner with Anang doing well to deny David Hurley but they held on. SUN STAR MAN: Kian Leavy (St Pat's) ST PAT'S: Anang 8; Sjoberg 5, Redmond 7, Hoare 7, Kazeem 6 (Turner 79, 4); Elbouzedi 7 (McLaughlin 70, 6), Forrester 7, Lennon 7, Leavy 8; Melia 7 (Carty 79, 4), Keena 7 (Power 55, 5). GALWAY UNITED: Clarke 6; Buckley 6 (Tollett 86, 4), Brouder 6, Slevin 6; Esua 6, Byrne 7 (McCormack 90, 3), Hurley 7, Burns 6; Hickey 6; Walsh 6 (Kerrigan 33, 5 (Wilson 90, 3)), Dyer 6. REFEREE: R Harvey (Dublin) 6