Johnny McDonnell hailed Saint Patrick's Athletic's dismissal of Linfield in the Setanta Sports Cup on Tuesday night as the best he had seen under his reign.

The Saints won 2-0, a scoreline that grossly flattered the visitors at Richmond Park, who were outplayed almost from start to finish.

"We said from the start 'let's have a go at this'. It was the best performance from a Pat's team I've seen for a long time - certainly for as long as I've been here," the Saints boss told Setanta Sports.

"I said nothing in the dressing room afterwards - they know themselves. I'm delighted with the performance, the class, the speed.

"The two centre-backs were really good and the full-backs tucked in well. The fitness levels were fantastic but that's down to the staff at the club.

"[David Jeffries] said to us after the game: 'John you absolutely battered us - it could have been five or six'."

McDonnell felt that the pressure imposed on Pat's after their disappointing Setanta Sports Cup reverse to Derry City last week was from without rather than within.

"I think there was a little bit of pressure from outside of our group but not from inside after the Derry game. We'd played very well against Derry in the league the Friday before.

"I was definitely unhappy on the Monday at Brandywell but we could have won 6-0 or 7-0 at Finn Harps last Saturday."

Next Fixture

vs GALWAY UNITED

Date: May 1st (7:45pm)
Competition: League
Venue: Eamonn Deacy Park
  Tweet #stpatsfc

Team	Pld	Pts
St Patrick's Athletic	13	26
Shamrock Rovers	13	25
Dundalk	13	21
Bohemian FC	13	20
Derry City	13	17
Galway United	12	15
Sligo Rovers	13	14
Shelbourne	12	13
Drogheda United	12	13
Waterford FC	12	5