The freefall of St. Pat’s continues at pace as they slumped to a sixth defeat in seven league games against a rampant Cork City.

Jeff Kenna’s team were dominated from start to finish and in the end were lucky to concede just the three goals, scored in the opening half by Denis Behan, Greg O’Halloran and Fahrudin Kuduzovic, considering they played over half the game with ten men, after Stuart Byrne was dismissed before the break.

The defeat leaves Kenna and his men staring into a battle to avoid relegation having finished second in the last two seasons. Cork, on the other hand, have now joined leaders Bohemians on 23 points in the Premier Division and after the Gypsies’ defeat on Friday night against Derry City, the top of the table is suddenly more condensed than it has been of late.

Paul Doolin has certainly brought a lot to the table and his team are playing with a ruthlessness that could bring them all the way.  Ironically their worst performance of the season to date was a home defeat to the Saints, but that has been a small blip in an otherwise encouraging start.

The home side were two down after only 18 minutes and the manner in which they conceded pretty much summed up how things are going for Kenna and his team.

One of the basics of football is defending corners, but Pat’s aren’t able to do that at present.  Not once but twice Cork players were given the present of an opportunity inside the six yard box and they took both of them with open arms.

The first calamity came after 14 minutes when Gary Rogers failed to gather what looked like a routine take from a Colin Healy corner, a mistake that Behan punished with a volley from five yards.

Healy’s delivery was better for his team’s second, but huge question marks were there again as one of the smallest players on the pitch, O’Halloran, was able to jump unopposed on the six yard line to head past a stranded Rogers.

The Leesiders, and the home crowd probably, sensed there could be a drubbing on the cards and Doolin’s men went about pounding their opponents for the rest of the half.  By the end of it they had a third goal, scored just past the half hour, and a numerical advantage to boot.

While the first two strikes were engineered from set-pieces, Cork’s third was one of real beauty.  Healy was again involved as he fed Kuduzovic down the left and the Bosnian’s curling finish just inside the box was the highlight of the night.

The low point was a tackle by Byrne 7 minutes before the break, one which earned him a straight red from Richie Winter.  He and Kuduzovic were teammates at Drogheda last season, but there was no love shown as the midfielder lunged with studs showing close to the Pat’s dugout.

St. Patrick’s: Rogers; Maher, Gavin, Haverty, Ryan; O’Connor, Cawley, Byrne; Quigley, Moran (Stevens, 79), Guy.

Cork City: Connor; Sullivan, O’Halloran (Long, 87), Murray, Murphy; Lordan, Healy, Gamble; Silagailis (Kiely, 79), Behan, Kudzovic (O’Connor, 83).

Referee: R. Winter