St Patrick’s Athletic jumped to the top of the Premier Division table after claiming a 2-0 win over Shamrock Rovers in a rousing Dublin derby on Tuesday evening.

 

Second-half goals from Ian Bermingham and Vinny Faherty proved to be enough for the Saints to upset the odds and escape from Tallaght Stadium with the three points.

 

Pete Mahon's side have now collected maximum points from their opening two games of the Airtricity League, while Rovers are still searching for a first win.

 

Even though a cold wind swept across Dublin 24, it didn't deter over 5,500 fans turning up for The Hoops' first home game of the new season. However, they would have been left disappointed by the performance of Michael O'Neill's side.

 

Without last season's top scorer Gary Twigg spearheading their attack, the hosts lacked any spark up front and relied on midfield duo James Chambers and Stephen Bradley to pop up with their best efforts.

 

A superb save from Saints keeper Gary Rogers denied Craig Sives from breaking the deadlock, but the shot-stopper could have been left red-faced only moments before when he missed an attempted punched clearance.

 

Rovers then saw Dan Murray failed to convert a headed chance before Billy Dennehy fired a free-kick over the bar. The home team were clearly struggling to finish off their moves.

 

In the second-half, Bradley unleashed a rasping shot from long-range, but it was the visitors who took the lead when Bermingham's free-kick was missed by everyone and bounced into the bottom corner of Alan Mannus' net.

 

Three minutes later and the away fans were celebrating again. It arrived from another cross into the Rovers box that wasn't dealt with and Faherty made a clever run before heading the ball in to make it 2-0.

 

The game fizzled out after that with Alex Williams and Stuart Byrne both trying their luck for Saints, while O'Neill's men struggled to create any meaningful chance that troubled Rogers.

 

With unbeaten Dundalk due to visit Tallaght on Sunday, Rovers will have to get back on track as quickly as possible. For the Saints, things are going well for them and they will hope to extend their lead at the top by beating UCD on Friday.

 

 

Shamrock Rovers: Mannus; Flynn, Sives, Murray, Murphy; Kavanagh (O’Connor 75), Bradley (Cahill 63), Rice (Bayly 69), Chambers, Dennehy; Barrett.

 

Substitutes Not Used: Hughes, Stevens.

 

Booked: Chambers, Murphy

 

St Patrick’s Athletic: Rogers; Lynch, Kenna, Guthrie, Bermingham; McAllister, Mulcahy, S Byrne, Guy; Williams (P Byrne 90), Faherty.

 

Substitutes Not Used: Connor, Pender, Coughlan, Sinnott.

 

Scorers: Bermingham ’57, Faherty ‘60

 

Booked: Guthrie, Williams, Faherty

 

Referee: Declan Hanney (Dublin)