St Patrick's Athletic 0-2 Sligo Rovers

Sligo Rovers closed the gap on seventh placed St Patrick's Athletic to three points with a comprehensive 2-0 win in this relegation six-pointer at Richmond Park, writes RTÉ Sport's Shane Murray.

Raffaele Cretaro was the Rovers hero, capitalising on a defensive error to break clear and open the scoring with a neat finish in the 14th minute.

He doubled the lead five minutes later when he tapped in Matthew Blinkhorn's left-sided cross, and in truth the visitors were worthy winners as Romauld Boco and Blinkhorn also missed great first half chances as Pat's never got going.

The Saints started brightly and Darragh Ryan's ball into Ryan Guy saw the American lay the ball off neatly to Declan O'Brien, but his right-footed shot zipped narrowly wide.

However, Rovers really should have gone in front two minutes later when right-back Danny Ventre released Brian Cash on the right after a clever one-two and the latter's cross was headed goalwards by Boco from six yards, but keeper Brendan Clarke reacted superbly to keep it out.

In the tenth minute, Stuart Byrne drilled a pre-rehearsed free-kick left and wide, while the hosts were lucky not to fall behind to a well-worked move by the visitors a minute later.

Left-back Joe Kendrick's cross from deep fell invitingly for the in-rushing Blinkhorn but the English striker headed over from close range with the goal at his mercy.

Paul Cook's men did take the lead their early dominance had threatened in the 14th minute when a poor defensive header from John Lester from Ciaran kelly's kick-out allowed Cretaro through on goal and he held Jason Gavin off before calmly slotting low past Clarke.

Rovers doubled their lead five minutes later when Conor O'Grady released Blinkhorn on the left of the box and his superb cross was tapped home from six yards by Cretaro.

Pat's threatened all too rarely as they failed to claw their way back into the game, with the resilient Gavin Peers blocking a shot from Gary Dempsey and O'Brien testing Kelly from the edge of the box their only real chances before the break.

Pat's did make more of a game of it in the second half without really testing Kelly in the Rovers goal. In the 56th minute, Guy dispossessed Rovers centre-back Keane on the halfway line, but the Sligo man recovered superbly to halt his race goalwards with a well executed tackle.

Guy created an opening for O'Brien a minute later but he shot weakly at Kelly, who was deputising in goal for Richard Brush.

At the other end, Ventre played Cretaro in on the right but his low shot was easily gathered by Clarke.

Pat's could have pulled one back in the 65th minute when Guy found himself unmarked at the back post from a left-sided corner, but the winger headed agonisingly wide.

Boco shot wildly over as Rovers pushed for a third, while a timely John Lester tackle on Blinkhorn denied the striker a run on goal.

Cretaro was denied a hat-trick in the 76th minute when he latched on to a Blinkhorn flick-on and was left with just Clarke to beat, but the Pat's stopper stood up well to keep Rovers' top scorer out.

Kelly then saved superbly from a Lester header from an O'Connor corner, while Cretaro popped up on the right and tried to thread a ball through to Blinkhorn at the back post, but his pass just missed its intended target.

Cretaro, eager to claim his hat-trick, tried his luck from outside the box in injury time, with Guy shooting over at the other end as the visitors held out for what proved a comfortable, but valuable, three points.

St Patrick's Athletic: 20 Brendan Clarke; 6 Damien Lynch, 18 Jason Gavin, 5 John Lester, 22 Enda Stevens; 17 Gareth O'Connor, 7 Stuart Byrne, 8 Gary Dempsey (10 Alan Cawley 89 mins), 3 Darragh Ryan (9 Mark Leech 65 mins); 23 Declan O'Brien (14 Barry Ryan 65 mins), 21 Ryan Guy.

Substitutes not used: 1 Gary Rogers, 2 Stephen Maher.

Booked: Gavin 40, Byrne 77.

Sligo Rovers: 1 Ciaran Kelly; 2 Danny Ventre, 4 Gavin Peers, 5 Alan Keane, 3 Joe Kendrick; 7 Brian Cash, 6 Conor O'Grady, 8 Romauld Boco, 11 Eoin Doyle (14 Richie Ryan 87 mins); 9 Matthew Blinkhorn (12 Rob Turner 87 mins), 10 Rafaele Cretaro.

Substitutes not used: 13 Dean Marshall, 15 Martin Camano, 17 Michael Schlingerman.

Booked: Blinkhorn 74, Doyle 84.

Referee: Declan Hanney.