Cork City 3 St Patrick's Athletic 0
John O'Flynn struck his 10th goal of the season as his two goals helped Cork City to their sixth win in as many matches at Turner's Cross last night.
O'Flynn struck after 10 and 80 minutes to push Cork into second place in the league and help them keep the pressure on leaders Shelbourne at the top of the table.
O'Flynn's predatory instincts were to the fore with his first strike when a Billy Woods shot was only half cleared and the striker pounced to beat goalkeeper Brendan Clarke at the near post to give Cork a deserved lead.
Buoyed by their early strike Cork continued to press home their advantage and had numerous efforts on target but still went in at half-time with only that single goal separating the sides.
On the resumption Cork refused to allow St Patrick's back into the fray and their persistence paid off on 80 minutes when once again Woods and O'Flynn combined to allow the latter to claim his second goal of the match and 10th of the season to put Cork firmly in the driving seat.
Just two minutes later Woods turned from provider to executioner when his speculative cross beat Clarke to nestle in the back of the net as Cork signalled their intent to firmly lay down a challenge for the title.
CORK CITY:Divine; Horgan, Bennett, Murray, O'Halloran, Woods, Gamble, O'Callaghan (Lopez, 86 mins), Kearney (O'Flynn, 88), Doyle (Fenn, 88), O'Flynn.
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC:Clarke; Quigley, McGuire, Foley, Bell, O'Keeffe, Prenderville (Knight, 88 mins), Fahy, Quinless (Donnelly, 53), Doyle (Martey, 83), Dunne.
Referee:P Tuite (Dublin).