St Patrick's Athletic 2 Shamrock Rovers 1:Shamrock Rovers remain 14 points behind league leaders Sligo Rovers after two goals in the first 10 minutes for St Patrick's Athletic at Richmond Park saw the homeside move into second place in the Airtricity League's Premier Division.
Gary McCabe got one back in the 78th minute but it wasn’t enough for the defending champions who remain fourth seven points behind Drogheda United.
The damage was done early, first through a Sean O’Connor penalty after Stephen McDonnell handled in the box and then, two minutes later, when Jake Carroll capped a mazy run with a tidy finish.
Pat’s went on to dominate the half but Rovers showed more fight after the break, though they had to wait until 12 minutes from time for McCabe to blast an unstoppable 25-yard effort past Barry Murphy.
Rovers battled furiously for an equaliser that would have brought their 11th draw of the season, but instead had to settle for a fifth defeat of the campaign.
