DANNY NORTH'S injury-time goal gave St Patrick’s Athletic a thrilling 2-1 win over Sligo Rovers in front of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni at Richmond Park.

The centre-forward received the ball twenty yards from goal and struck an unstoppable drive into the top corner of Ciaran Kelly’s net to continue St Pat’s ascent up the table.  

There was an enterprising start by the hosts and they gained early reward for their endeavours in the fourth minute when the returning North intercepted an intended pass by John Russell, eluded Jason McGuinness’ challenge before curling a precise finish beyond the outstretched hand of Ciaran Kelly in the visitors’ goal from twenty yards.

Stephen Bradley was dictating the tempo of the initial proceedings as St Pat’s looked sharper from the outset but gradually Sligo began to find their rhythm with Iarfhlaith Davoren joining their attack at regular intervals.

However, despite working the ball into promising positions on a number of occasions, both Davoren and fellow full-back Alan Keane were guilty of poor crosses when Sligo had healthy numbers inside the penalty area.

At the opposite end, St Pat’s looked most likely to add to their tally through set pieces earned by the tireless Daryl Kavanagh, who drove the Sligo back four to distraction with his constant movement and harrowing.

As the half progressed, the hosts retreated further into the shell which was of scant surprise given their recent defensive record but this allowed their opponents more time in possession with Joseph Ndo, John Russell and Alan Kirby all prompting intelligently but with little end product.

The threat of being caught on the counter-attack loomed large however and Bradley should have doubled his side’s lead when shooting wide from the edge of the box after clever interplay with Kavanagh in the 41st minute.

That miss proved costly as Sligo restored parity on the stroke of half-time when Aaron Greene delivered a left-wing cross which was diverted by Eoin Doyle into Kirby’s path and the midfielder’s run was rewarded with a sidefoot finish beyond a helpless Gary Rogers from eight yards.

Doyle could have added another to his healthy tally of recent league goals in injury time but his snapshot sailed harmlessly over the crossbar after the St Pat’s defence struggled to clear an Ndo corner-kick.

Either by accident or design, St Pat’s isolated Kavanagh even further after the interval, allowing Sligo to build patiently from defence with Kirby guilty of spurning a glorious chance on 49 minutes when he lacked sufficient composure to find the target following Greene’s powerful surge down the left flank.

Sligo’s attacking threat petered out to a large degree for the ensuing half an hour as the match entered a lifeless period with only a couple of harmless long-range shots by Kavanagh the sum attacking product in an increasingly cagey affair.

A share of the spoils looked inevitable before North’s classy strike snuck the three points for Pete Mahon’s charges.  

ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC: Rogers; Harney, Shortall, McMillan, Pender; Murphy (Keegan, 65), Bradley, Crowley (Mulcahy, 88), Doyle; Kavanagh, North.  

SLIGO ROVERS: Kelly; Keane, McGuinness, Peers, Davoren; Ndo, Kirby (Ventre, 72), Russell (Horgan, 72), Ryan, Greene; Doyle (Blinkhorn, 81).

Referee: Paul Tuite (Dublin)