League of Ireland Premier Division: Sligo Rovers 0, St Patrick's Athletic 4St Patrick's Athletic powered their way to outright leadership, on goal difference, of the Premier Division at the Showgrounds on Saturday.

Two own goals, one either side of half-time, knocked the stuffing out of struggling Sligo who showed a lot of spirit during the opening 45 minutes but failed to find a path to goal.

The Dublin side controlled the play in the second half, forcing Rovers into errors.

Seán Kelly put the ball into his own net on 51 minutes to put St Patrick's 3-0 up and it got worse for the home side when Dave Mulcahy scored on the hour mark after Alan Kirby showed superb ball control along the endline.

Adam Hughes went close for the Reds from a Raphael Cretaro cross after five minutes of the first half as the home side took the game to the visitors.

Anthony Murphy forced Sligo goalkeeper Richard Brush into a smart save on nine minutes in the first good move of the half by St Patrick's.

The visitors went ahead in the 16th minute when Gary O'Neill blasted a penalty past Brush after Mulcahy was impeded in the box.

Jason McCartney raced clear of the visitors' defence on 23 minutes but his shot was well covered by goalkeeper Barry Ryan.

Mulcahy missed a great chance to double the St Patrick's lead on 38 minutes following a defence-splitting move involving several St Pat's players.

Stephen Quigley doubled the visitors' advantage a minute into stoppage time at the end of the first half when his headed effort from Anthony Murphy's clever cross was deflected past the Sligo goalkeeper by Jamie McKenzie.

SLIGO ROVERS:Brush, Coleman, O'Grady (Judge, half-time), McKenzie, Cretaro, Turner (O'Boyle, 84) Hughes, Manson (Bajdziak, 55), Kudozovic, McCartney.

ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC:Ryan, Brennan, Mulcahy, Maguire, Kirby (Frost, 78), Fahey, O'Neill (Lynch, 73), Quigley, Paisley, Foley, Murphy (O'Connor, 67 mins).

Referee:D McKeon (Dublin).