Holders suddenly look the part

All of a sudden, it's as though there's a glint in the eyes of the defending champions. It's only a week since they took up the running in this season's Premier Division but already they appear to be developing a taste for it.

Shamrock Rovers, unbeaten in the league themselves since Cork City turned them over twice in a week way back in mid-November, had looked capable of giving Dave Barry's side the chance to lead again in Tolka Park tomorrow. Instead, as they had been in their cup match with Shelbourne recently, they found themselves on the wrong end of a beating that highlighted once again just how far off being serious contenders they still are.

The Rovers back four has hardly acquired a reputation for impregnability over the course of the last few months and the fact that Mick Byrne's side came to Inchicore with such a long unbeaten record to their credit had a good deal to do with Tony O'Dowd's consistency in goal. They also generally display a knack for disrupting opposing sides' attacks well ahead of their box.

This is the department in which Richie Purdy has generally proven his worth this season but Purdy was carrying a knock ahead of this match. Although he started, it was obvious that he and his fellow midfielders were finding it difficult to shoulder their share of the defensive burden against a side that was a little too neat in its passing and a little too physical in the challenge.

The upshot was that Martin Russell and Eddie Gormley enjoyed much more freedom to linger about the visitors' area than Mick Byrne could possibly have bargained for. If the Rovers manager was disappointed by his side's willingness to surrender territory he could hardly have been surprised, when his side were made to made to pay for it, that it was Russell and Gormley who were there dishing it out.

Trevor Croly started the move on the right and Gormley helped things along nicely. Trevor Molloy's contribution was considerably fancier, a feint and a neat square ball but Russell's finish, a rasping drive from more than 25 yards that crashed in off the righthand post was a spectacular way for the Dubliner to notch up his first goal for the champions.

Goals two and three were both firmly rooted in Gormley setpieces. The home side's skipper floated a free in from close to half way for Colin Hawkins to head home his fifth goal in eight games. Then, nine minutes after the break, he dispensed with the middle man after Tommy Dunne had hauled back Martin Reilly just short of the area.

With that the urgency seemed to go out of St Patrick's game and Rovers were able to get themselves into things a bit more. Brian Morrisroe and Tony Cousins each had a couple of cracks at goal - the latter being twice denied in the space of a minute by Trevor Wood's fine reactions - and there was, for just a short while, an outside chance that if they could get one they could pilfer something out of the night.

It wasn't to be, though. With Willie Burke on for Packie Lynch and the recently transfer-listed Thomas Morgan roaming about in place of Paul Osam in front of the defence, Liam Buckley's side survived the brief spell of pressure and soon looked comfortable.

They might even have had a fourth a couple of minutes from time when Paul Whelan took down the home side's other substitute, Reilly, on the edge of the sixyard box but there was little fuss when referee Gerry Perry waved play on. Just now this lot don't look like a team who reckon a goal one way or the other is going make much difference come the start of May.

St Patrick's: Wood; McGuinness, Lynch, Hawkins; Croly, Gormley, Osam, Russell, Doyle; Gilzean, Molloy. Subs: Reilly for Gilzean and Burke for Lynch (half-time), Morgan for Osam (54 mins).

Shamrock Rovers: O'Dowd; Britton, Brazil, Whelan, Dunne; Tracey, Purdy, Colwell, Morrisroe; Cousins, Woods. Subs: Kenny for Purdy (half-time), Sherlock for Woods (59 mins), Markey for Dunne (66 mins).

Referee: G Perry (Dublin).