THE patience of the Saints was rewarded as their near seven-hour goal drought was ended when Aidan Keena shot down Hegelmann in the Conference League. Substitute Keena drilled home a penalty nine minutes from time to beat the Lithuanians and give St Patrick’s Athletic a slender advantage ahead of next week’s second leg. It was deserved too; Stephen Kenny’s men should have won with ease having dominated from the first minute to the last. But until Keena nearly burst the net with his shot from 12 yards, there were few in the ground who truly believed a goal was coming as their troubles in front of goal continued. It is a mystery how the Saints were heading for their fourth blank in a row and were just 12 minutes shy of seven hours without a goal. At Inchicore, the numbers were even more shocking. Not since Mason Melia scored on May 23 had home fans seen a home goal as they patiently and impatiently watched 478 minutes in the meantime without one. And when it came, Melia was central to it. Having been kicked from pillar to post through the opening 81 minutes, he tried to dribble in the area and was felled by Klaudijus Upstas before Esmilis Kausinis tackled Barry Baggley. Belgium referee Simon Bourdeaud’hui took his time before pointing to the spot. Then there was nothing going to stop Keena’s penalty that was hit with the venom that epitomised the frustration of the crowd at finishing that goal drought. And it was more than deserved for the Saints whose relief at getting the win will be tempered by the fact that it could and should have been by a greater margin. It was so one-sided that the busy fourth official who would sprint to follow play in the middle third-of the field did more running than the linesmen manning the Saints’ defensive halves. But while the hosts gave their fans plenty to shout out, there was little to cheer. Early on, Melia glazed wide before the striker flashed another effort over on a speedy attack from Brandon Kavanagh on seven minutes. Kavanagh then had a free kick tipped over on 10 minutes before Jason McClelland saw his cross-shot come back off the bar on 17 minutes. Hegelmann seemed to be in panic mode and the sight of Upstas and Kader Njoya Abdel colliding as both went for the same ball on a counter attack summed them up. And when not running into each other, they were running into Pat’s men that had the home supporters incensed. Simon Power had an early shout for a penalty when seemingly tripped by Vilius Armalas early though he was unlikely to get on the end of Brandon Kavanagh’s pass. And later Armalas rather blatantly sent Melia tumbling in the area with a body check as the 17-year-old looked to close down Carlos Duke. In between those moments, the Lithuanian defender also got away with a handball when he clearly moved his elbow towards a deflected cross to control it. STAYING ALERT Yet St Pat’s domination meant there was always a risk of a counter attack, as Jamie Lennon had to make a crucial block to deny Donastas Kazlauskas a clear shot on 30 minutes. But that was the exception as the Saints continued to press forward with McClelland firing into the side netting and Melia going close before half time. It continued in the same vein after the break as Barry Baggley broke forward but shot straight at Vincentas Sarkauskas and Kavanagh also tested the goalkeeper. And the longer it went without a goal, the more frustration crept in on and off the pitch as Power blazed way wide and Melia put a gilt-edged opportunity over. But just as all hope seemed to be lost, Keena delivered from the spot. SUN STAR MAN Barry Baggley (St Patrick’s Athletic) ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Anang 7; McLaughlin 6, Redmond 7, Grivosti 7, McClelland 7; Baggley 8, Lennon 7 (Forrester 73, 6); Mulraney 6 (Leavy 83, 6), Kavanagh 7 (Keena 73, 6), Power 7 (Elbouzedi 73, 6); Melia 7. HEGELMANN: Sarkauskas 7; Upstas 6, Armalas 6, Doris 6, Duke 6; Antanavicius 5 (Harouna 83, 6), Kojic 6, Shchedryi 5 (Kausinis 73, 6); Kazlauskas 5 (Popescu 65, 6), Njoya Abdel 5 (Yusef 83, 6), Leo Ribeiro 6 (Wesley 73, 6). REFEREE: S Bourdeaud’hui (Belgium) 4