St. Patrick's Athletic remain upbeat about their season, despite falling to a surprise 3-0 defeat to Galway United on the opening night of the season.

The Saints were without a number of key players for the match, which saw new manager Jeff Kenna slump to defeat against his former club.

However, the club remain confident that their supporters can help lift the team ahead of next weekend's visit to Turner's Cross to face Cork City.

Club CEO Richard Sadlier was happy with the large crowd that turned out at Richmond Park for the first match of the season and he is hopeful that the fans can play their role in the team's success.

“while we were missing a number of key players through injury and suspension it was a disappointing result and we will have to work a lot harder going forward," he said after the match.  

“It’s after a bad result like this when you need the support of the fans the most, so I would ask the fans to be patient and come out in force again in support of the team over the coming weeks.”

The atmosphere at Richmond Park was helped by X-Factor star Jamie Steers, who gave a fabulous half-time performance.