Shamrock Rovers punish sorry St Patrick's Atheltic as Graham Burke stars in dominant derby rout
ST PAT'S were dished out some more capital punishment as they suffered their heaviest defeat of Stephen Kenny's reign.
Michael Noonan - who left
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Shamrock Rovers hammered St Pat's on Monday evening at Tallaght Stadium
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Graham Burke of Shamrock Rovers bagged a brace in the Dublin derby rout
Graham Burke then scored a brace either side of the break before Aaron Greene got a fourth shortly after being introduced off the bench as
It was St Pat's third derby defeat in just 24 days having also suffered last-gasp losses away to Bohemians and Shelbourne.
In fact, they have taken just five points from seven games so far against their city rivals, to seriously undermine their title challenge.
Rovers, on the other hand, have pulled away from the pack, thanks to four wins in a row.
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With Chris Forrester, Kian Leavy and Romal Palmer all injured, St Pat's were short on midfield options.
So it will have been a relief for Kenny to discover that Barry Baggley was not, in fact, suspended.
He had been under the impression that the ex-Northern Ireland under-21 international would be banned for this match for a fifth booking of the season.
But, aside from his sending-off against Rovers in March, for which he served an automatic one-match ban, he had been cautioned only five times.
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He would have hoped to do better, however, than see Michael Noonan's shot fly through his legs as he jumped in an effort to block a shot which rolled into an empty net.
The main blame lay not with him, though, but with keeper Joseph Anang.
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He inexplicably raced out of his goal as Noonan chased a pass from Graham Burke when Baggley was already there to close him down.
Anang could not win it, realised his mistake and started backpedalling furiously as Noonan turned back inside and guided the ball into the unprotected goal.
That was in the 22nd minute and they did not cover themselves in glory for the Hoops' second goal 14 minutes later.
Lee Grace passed to Burke inside his own half and he was allowed to dribble into space without any real pressure on him.
When Jamie Lennon belatedly moved to press, Burke turned inside him and scored with a low shot into the bottom corner which appeared to catch a slight deflection.
The tendency towards self-destruction had shown itself as early in the first minute when Sean Hoare's throw-in went straight to Burke who forced Anang into a save.
It was almost as if he had forgotten he had ended a successful four-year stint with Rovers in the close-season to rejoin his former club.
And it continued when Simon Power passed to Lennon when there were three Rovers players in close proximity with Matt Healy nicking possession, forcing the midfielder to foul for which he was booked.
Rovers had other chances in the first half with Anang denying Burke after he was played in by Cory O'Sullivan with Josh Honohan showing why the watching Ireland boss
But it was by no means one-way traffic with Aidan Keena providing some good supply for strike partner Mason Melia who, not for the first time, was giving Roberto Lopes a tough time.
Hoare went close from a header knocked back across goal by Joe Redmond whilst Lee Grace did well to block a Power shot.
Just before half-time, St Pat's really should have had a penalty for a foul by Lopes on Melia but none was given and, instead of having a chance to halve the deficit just before the break, they fell 3-0 behind soon after the restart.
Danny Grant made a surging run down the right and squared the ball. Noonan just missed out on making a connection but Burke did not need to be asked twice, getting his second of the night with a tap-in at the far post.
St Pat's looked broken at that point and could not find a way back into the game with Greene scoring within 90 seconds of his introduction with no late consolation for the visitors with Melia's shot crashing off the underside of the bar.
SHAMROCK ROVERS 4 -0 ST PAT'S
Noonan 22
Burke 36, 50
Greene 69
SUN STAR MAN: Graham Burke (Shamrock Rovers)
SHAMROCK ROVERS: McGinty 7; Grace 7 (Clarke 61, 5), Lopes 6, C O'Sullivan 7; Grant 7, Healy 7, Nugent 6 (Mandroiu 68, 5), Honohan 7; Burke 9 (Watts 68, 5), Byrne 8 (McEneff 68, 5); Noonan 8 (Greene 68, 6).
ST PAT'S: Anang 5; Hoare 5, Redmond 6, Turner 6 (McClelland 56, 4); Elbouzedi 5, Lennon 5, Baggley 6 (Breslin 69, 4), Power 6 (McLaughlin 81, 4); Kavanagh (Carty 81, 4); Melia 7, Keena 7 (Mulraney 56, 4).
REFEREE: D MacGraith (Mayo) 5
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