League champions St Patrick's Athletic chalked up a valuable three points in defence of their title on Saturday night when they completely demolished a Finn Harps side who are still chasing third spot.

St Patrick's dominated the game from the opening minutes and could have taken the lead in the sixth minute when Willie Burke's shot deflected off Vaudequin to Trevor Molloy, but he blazed wide of the target.

The home side, who lost James Mulligan with an injury before the match, never looked comfortable with their 4-5-1 formation and conceded too much possession to the visitors.

Indeed, for most of the first half St Patrick's midfielder Martin Russell dictated the play and it was no surprise when he was involved in the opening score of the game.

Teenager Kevin McHugh, who came in to the Harps side for Mulligan at the last minute, lost the ball to Russell in the 28th minute and he promptly dispatched a pass towards Molloy. It looked as if goalkeeper Brian McKenna had the danger under control until the ball hit a divot and he missed his clearance, leaving Molloy with the simple task of slotting the ball into an empty net.

Stephen McGuinness came close to making it 2-0 with a looping shot a minute into the second half, but it wasn't long before the league champions extended their lead.

In the 62nd minute substitute Martin Reilly combined with Paul Osam to set up Willie Burke and his low shot flew into the bottom corner past the helpless McKenna.

At that stage Harps looked well beaten and any chance they had of a comeback was wiped out in the 72nd minute. Again Reilly was involved as he found Leon Braithwaite on the edge of the box. He promptly dispatched a fierce shot into the roof of the net to make it 3-0.

The closest Harps came to scoring was from a Paddy McGrenaghan header in the 85th minute, but Trevor Wood, who had been a virtual spectator for the night, made an easy save to deny the Harps midfielder.

FINN HARPS: McKenna, Vaudequin, Minnock, Boyle, Dykes, O'Brien, Mohan, McGrenaghan, Speak, McHugh (Kavanagh 56), Harkin (Bradley 56).

ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Wood, Burke, Crolly, Lynch, McGuinness, Hawkins, Osam, Molloy, Braithwaite, Russell, Gilzean (Reilly 56).

Referee: J McDermott (Dublin).