Liam Buckley: 'It was the proverbial game of two halves'

St Patrick's Athletic manager Liam Buckley expressed his relief after a stirring second-half display secured an FAI Cup quarter-final with victory over Limerick in Richmond Park.

The First Division champions-elect arrived in Dublin with a spring in their step having gone unbeaten in their 20 league games so far, and controlled a first half without creating much.

A deflected goal on the stroke of half-time from Conan Byrne signalled a change in momentum, however, and Pat's dominated the second half before Christy Fagan's header sealed the win.

“It was the proverbial game of two halves,” Buckley told reporters after the game.

“They had far more possession in the first half. If you were looking at them, you'd have thought, 'this team are the Premier Division team.'

“They've got a lot of really good players in their group as well, like Lee Lynch who was running the show in the first half.

“The key in all these things is, if you don't keep possession, you'll be stung. We had poor possession in the first half and kept giving it back with risky passes.

“In the second half, we put our foot on it and were a little bit more in control and kept it well.”

The Saints have struggled for consistency this season as Buckley has been forced to replace the likes of Chris Forrester and Killian Brennan with a younger group.

And the last few weeks – including impressive European performances – has seen glimpses of the 2013 Champions at their free passing best.

“It's far more enjoyable to watch for me as a manager when I see the second half when they're tiki-takaing and passing to feet and pressing themselves.  And we did create some really good chances as well.

“Overall it was a better performance – enjoyable for the supporters, enjoyable for the players to play in and enjoyable for me to watch. That has been our stamp over the years.”

Buckley was at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday night as Dundalk fell 2-0 to Legia Warsaw in their Champions League play-off.

The Saints took a 1-1 away draw back to Dublin two years ago against the same opposition and knows just how difficult it is to maintain that level with the hectic fixture schedule in the League of Ireland.

“To be honest with you, the league should be stretched out a month. I know we've been saying this for 40 years, but it would take the pressure off the likes of Dundalk and Cork, especially European teams.

“I was out in the Aviva the other night looking at Dundalk, and the most disappointing thing was I've seen them seen them play so much better.

“With the amount of matches they've had, if they'd been on their A game they'd have given them a different game. It's just unfortunate.

“It happened us up in Tallaght when we played Legia – we nearly played not to lose the match rather than win it. Other factors come into that as well [injuries].

Saints fans can now look forward both to a quarter-final and the final of the EA Sports Cup.

The reigning champions beat Shamrock Rovers to qualify for the final, which will take place against Limerick at the Markets Field, a trip Buckley thinks will excite the travelling fans.

“I'm sure it will be a great occasion. We went down to Galway last year and it was a great occasion and our supporters loved it. It's worth winning the League Cup and I've no doubt we'll bring a crowd down to Limerick.”