St Patrick's Athl. boss Stephen Kenny reckons FAI Cup hero Rooney is more like a Fowler. Sam Rooney scored the extra-time winner in yesterday's third round clash with Shamrock Rovers to fire St Patrick's Athletic into the quarter-finals. The 17-year-old produced a cool finish to register his first goal in senior football. READ MORE: And afterwards, Kenny hailed his young striker, referencing two Scouse legends - Everton's Wayne Rooney and Liverpool's Robbie Fowler. “Even though he has Rooney on his back we think he’s a bit more like Robbie Fowler - he’s a little left-footer who hatches and scores goals,” said the Pat’s boss. “He’s definitely a goalscorer. That’s his first goal for us but he is definitely someone who just finishes and finishes, who gets those types of goals. “He’s small, he’s learning about getting stronger. But he did it for us tonight. He is a very natural finisher. He is a streetwise young lad, enthusiastic and outgoing. He loves the game.” Also involved in the winning goal was another 17-year-old, Ryan Sheridan.

What happened? Kenny said: “Ryan is a unique player. He has great poise, it’s great to see. “He’s a quiet individual. He is learning about life. He doesn’t like applauding the crowd or anything, he’s a shy individual. We have to force him to do that, just to get him out of his shell. “But his play is… he’ll definitely go to Qatar with the 17s and he will be very influential in the World Cup.” There was some bad news for Kenny, however, with attacking midfielder Kian Leavy suffering a suspected hamstring tear. “It’s not a great day for us because we lose Kian Leavy,” he said. “We had a substitution ready to go on, he cramped up, but he took off on a sprint and he seemed to tear his hamstring. “We don’t know how bad it is, but he’s never had a muscle injury.” ## Why it matters for St Patrick's Athl. While Pat’s have progressed to the quarter-finals - and eliminated the holders and favourites in the process - no one inside the Saints dressing room is getting carried away. “I’m in the game a long time,” insisted Kenny. “You win this, you are in the quarters. I’m not going to celebrate being in the quarters. No one remembers that. “But psychologically for the players, because we’ve been beaten a couple of times by Rovers, to win that game after being two-down is big for the players. “But three points against Drogheda this week is arguably bigger for us. We have got to get ourselves ready and try to win that game.” Kenny admitted that he feared his side’s luck was out as they went into injury-time still chasing an equaliser. “It was great to come back. We kept going and going,” he said. “The Shamrock Rovers goalkeeper (Ed McGinty) made a lot of great saves, the save from Sean Hoare was an unbelievable save. “Then the Chris Forrester one, how did that not go in? I had to look at it again to make sure it didn’t go in. Then the (Aidan Keena) penalty just went in.” ## What comes next? League standing: 2nd in Premier Division, 47 pts, 13W-8D-6L from 27 games, recent form WDDDW. Goals this season: 43 scored, 23 conceded (+20 goal difference). Title race: 7 points behind leaders Shamrock Rovers. Last result: Shelbourne 1-2 St Patrick's Athl. (2026-08-09). Recent form (last 5): 2W-3D-0L (WWDDD, most recent first); on a 2-game winning run. Next fixture: vs Drogheda United (away, 2026-08-21) (9th in the table).