St Patrick's Athletic tonight secured at least second place in Setanta Sports Cup Group 2 with a 5-0 demolition of Dungannon Swifts in a cracking encounter at a cold Richmond Park.
A win over Cork City at home next Monday night will secure top spot and a home semi-final against the runners up in Group 1.
Anto Murphy got the first on 29 minutes before Mark Quigley doubled the lead on 37.
Sean O'Connor netted just seconds into the second half. Alan Kirby nabbed number four on 56 minutes while Stephen Brennan scored the fifth just after the hour mark.
St Pat's set their stall out from the off and had several decent chances in the early stages.
On four minutes, Mark Quigley fought off JP Gallagher and found O'Connor on the edge of the Swifts box but goalkeeper Dwayne Nelson pulled off a good save from O'Connor's fine shot.
Joseph Ndo had crack from 25 yards out on eight minutes but dragged his shot wide of the post while Nelson pulled off another excellent block on 11 minutes when denying Kirby.
Swifts had calls for a penalty for handball when the ball appeared to strike Stephen Quigley's arm on 14 but Belfast ref Stephen Weatherall waived their appeals away.
John Frost then sent in an inviting free kick on 24 minutes but it was so good it managed to clear the crowded box and fly into touch.
The pressure finally paid off for Pat's on 29 minutes when they took the lead.
Ndo's initial shot was blocked but Murphy nipped in to strike a screamer past Nelson from just outside the box.
The Pat's fans were shouting 'Murphy for Ireland' at this stage as the match winner from Friday's league game at Derry was having a terrific night.
Pat's doubled the lead on 37 when Mark Quigley netted his third goal of the season from inside the area. Quigley had actually put Ndo through and collected the ball again when Ndo’s shot was blocked by the Swifts defence.
The tie was over as a contest just 30 seconds into the second half when O'Connor collected a loose ball inside Swifts' box and calmly slotted past Nelson for number three.
It could have been four on 55 minutes when Mark Quigley unexpectedly beat Swifts' offside trap but he pushed the ball to far ahead of him as he dashed toward goal and gave Nelson enough time to make the save.
Number four did come, just a minute later when Kirby netted his fifth Setanta Sports Cup goal of the season with a low drive from right of the goal.
The one way traffic continued and number five came when Stephen Brennan collected a loose ball 20 yards out and fired an unstoppable rocket shot into the top left corner of the net.
Mark Rooney had a free kick inside the box on 80 minutes, awarded following a backpass to Nelson but he low drive was blocked by the eleven-man Swifts pack that passed for a wall.
Swifts were chasing every ball but you don’t achieve much when you have possession and give it away any which way but loose.
Swifts were a shadow of the side that claimed a point in the corresponding home fixture seven nights ago.
St Patrick's Athletic: Ryan, Brennan, Frost, Maguire, C Foley, Kirby, M Quigley (Lynch 67), Murphy, S Quigley (Rooney 70), Ndo (L Fitzpatrick 75), O'Connor.
Dungannon Swifts: Nelson, Wray, Gallagher, Montgomery, G Fitzpatrick, Scullion (Gibson 62), T Fitzpatrick (Luiz 77), McConkey, McGinn, McCluskey (McCabe), Baron.
Referee: S Weatherall (Belfast).
