League of Ireland Premier Division/ St Patrick's Athletic 3 Waterford United 0: In terms of the match programme it was all comings and goings at Richmond Park last night with chairman Andy O'Callaghan confirming his impending departure to clear the decks for new owner Garrett Kelleher and Brian Kerr back in his old club's match day notes after just about a decade.
There was no sign of Kelleher for this, the Inchicore side's first home game of the new league season but Kerr looked happy to be home as the crowd stood to signal their warm approval of his return to official duties prior to kick-off.
Kerr's appointment as Director of Football has raised inevitable questions regarding John McDonnell's future. But the manager has been decidedly upbeat about the situation this week while the former Ireland manager stressed in the programme that he would not be a threat to his former player even if the team encounters a rough run of results.
The prospect could hardly seem more remote just now, however, for this was the home side's fourth straight win since the start of the season with the points taken so comfortably that talk of a serious challenge to the likes of Derry, Drogheda, Bohemians and Cork for the title will be hard to play down. And this morning, at least, they sit above all four in the table.
For their part, Waterford arrived in the capital having started the season well last week by beating Cork City thanks to a second-half goal from Stephen Cooling. The home side, though, had comfortably topped that three days later by scoring three at Turner's Cross.
Here, it was easy enough to see how with a midfield anchored by Keith Fahey just in front of the back four and featuring close- season signings Joseph Ndo and Alan Kirby in starring roles, exerting a huge amount of influence on the pattern of the game from early on.
Gareth Cronin sought to counter the home side by playing five across the middle and leaving Vinny Sullivan to toil alone up front. But Fahey repeatedly engineered the time and space required to push his side forward with a succession of insightful passes while Kirby and Ndo quietly prodded at the United defence.
But for a remarkable save by Barry Ryan the visitors would have been in front from the seventh minute when Sullivan headed Shane Harte's cross from the left firmly towards the bottom corner.
After that, however, the game was tough going for United whose tireless industry was never enough to allow them get to grips with the swift passing and movement of the Dubliners.
By half-time Waterford's hopes of adding another early- season scalp to that of Cork had been comprehensively killed off.
Cronin's men were a little unlucky to concede the game's first goal 24 minutes in when John Frost's corner from the right was cleared as far as Ndo 20 yards out and the midfielder's shot took a hefty deflection on the way to the back of the net.
Their frailty on the retreat was cruelly exposed, however, eight minutes before the break when Fahey sent Alan Murphy scampering free down the right wing and Murphy coolly stepped inside left back John Hayes and finished with aplomb.
The pair nearly repeated the trick midway through the second half but Murphy seemed to lose his concentration as Holden arrived at his feet this time around and Fahey's looping follow-up effort skimmed the top of the crossbar.
After that, for the most part, Cronin's men could do little more than hang on and Murphy's second goal of the night, a close- range header after a fine free by Fahey merely underlined the home side's superiority.
Whether they can build on it remains to be seen but after what they reckon has been a pretty good week down Inchicore way, things are looking promising.
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Ryan; Maguire, Brennan, C Foley, Frost; Fahey; Murphy (M Foley, 81 mins), Ndo, Kirby (O'Connor, 85 mins); O'Neill, M Quigley (Rooney, 66 mins).
WATERFORD UNITED: Holden; Flynn, Breen, Keely, Hayes; Mulcahy (Kavanagh, half-time), Cooling, McCarthy, Warren (McDonald, 83 mins), Harte; Sullivan.
Referee: T Connolly(Westmeath).
