A brace with either foot from striker Danny North kept St Patrick's Athletic's title challenge very much alive in Richmond Park last night, as they eventually saw off Sligo Rovers to narrow the gap with Shamrock Rovers to just three points.

Pat's enjoyed a dream start to the game with a fantastic individual strike after just four minutes from North, who drilled home superbly from 30 yards with his right foot following a fine run from deep.

Sligo had their first real opening of the game on 32 minutes through Alan Kirby, although Pat's went much closer to scoring nine minutes later when Stephen Bradley's shot went narrowly past the right-hand post after good link-up play with Daryl Kavanagh.

A let-off for Sligo and they took full of advantage just a minute before the break when Kirby drilled home from 18 yards after Aaron Greene delivered a cross from the left.

In the second half, midfielder Paul Crowley and Kavanagh both went close to restoring the Saints lead.

The final half hour saw both sides cancel each other out until added-time, when North fired an unstoppable shot past Ciaran Kelly with his left peg via the underside of the crossbar in the 94th minute to give Pete Mahon's troops all three points.

Next Fixture

Waterford / April 19th @ 7:45pm
Competition: League
Venue: Richmond Park
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Team	Pld	Pts
Shelbourne	10	21
Derry City	10	16
Shamrock Rovers	9	15
St Patrick's Athletic	10	14
Bohemian FC	9	13
Sligo Rovers	9	12
Waterford FC	10	12
Galway United FC	9	11
Drogheda United	9	8
Dundalk	9	4