Finn Harps grabbed a valuable win last night in Richmond Park to move into third from bottom of the Premier Division and out of the automatic relegation spot for the first time since August.
Niall Bonnar struck the opening goal after 51 minutes when, having been put through by player manager Jonathan Speak, he kept his cool to curl his shot past Seamus Kelly.
Speak then made it 2-0 after 75 minutes, capitalising on a Willie Burke mistake to slip past Kelly and score, while Kevin McHugh added two late goals to complete the rout.
Colm Foley did pull one back in the final minute, but to make it a miserable night for the Saints they also had substitute Sean Mannion sent off in injury-time.
Defeat for the Saints mean they miss out on the chance to close the gap on leaders Shelbourne and in fact fall to third place behind Bray Wanderers.
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: S Kelly, Burke, Maguire, S McGuinness, Croly, R McGuinness, Russell, Griffin, Livingstone, L Kelly, McCarthy. Subs: Holt for R McGuinness (56 mins). Mannion for Croly (68 mins), Foley for Livingstone (77 mins).
FINN HARPS: Cullen, R Kenny, Minnock, Scanlon, Bradley, McGrenaghan, Bonnar, J Kenny, Speak, McHugh, Harkin. Subs: Tierney for Bonnar (72 mins), Dodds for Speak (78 mins), Lloyd for J Kenny (90 mins). Referee: J Stacey (Athlone).
