A bitter-sweet end to a rollercoaster match saw Jason Byrne complete Bray's fightback from 2-0 down with their equaliser seven minutes from time only to be sentoff two minutes later.
Byrne controlled Kieran O'Brien's cross to swivel and drill home a left foot shot on 85 minutes to give Bray nothing more than they deserved.
But, alas, the 22-year-old, harshly booked for an earlier tumble with Trevor Crolly, was trooping off the field within minutes after tripping Paul Byrne from behind; his second bookable offence.
In a cracking game, Liam Kelly had St Patrick's in front on 25 minutes when he nipped in behind a hesitant Jody Lynch to reach goalkeeper Shay Kelly's long free-kick.
The St Patrick's striker cleverly flicked the ball over the advancing Eddie van Boxtel before tapping home his fifth goal in six games.
Fellow striker, Gerard McCarthy, doubled the in-form visitors' lead ten minutes later as Bray conceded another bad goal.
Van Boxtel could only partially punch clear a Paul Byrne corner. The ball fell perfectly at the feet of the unmarked McCarthy whose weak sidefoot shot still had enough power to run through a forest of legs and enter the net.
Two St Patrick's old boys combined to get Bray back into the match in first-half injury time. Shay Kelly totally misjudged a corner from Keith Long and Dave Campbell got in behind him to find the net with a powerful header.
Bray pressed hard for their equaliser throughout the second-half. But it looked as if it would elude them as both Long and Byrne wasted very scoreable chances. Byrne, and referee Dick O'Hanlon, then provided the final twists.
A late Paul Smith goal earned Monaghan United a fully deserved point from a 11 draw with Dundalk at Gortakeegan yesterday to allow Athlone Town open up a seven-point lead at the top of the First Division table.
Teenager Smith struck four minutes from time after Paul Shields and Darren McKenna had carved out the opening.
The game had burst into life after a dull first-half with Dundalk taking the lead within two minutes of the restart when Greg O'Dowd scored with a powerfully struck volley.
The atrocious weather may have halted the Kilkenny-Bohemians Premier Division clash scheduled for Buckley Park on Saturday night but Kilkenny manager Joe McGrath was not inactive.
McGrath, who is putting his own shape on the team at Buckley Park, informed a few of the players that they were surplus to requirements and that new faces would be seen at Buckley Park in the next few days. Among those released was former Cork city player, Jason Cabia.
The match was due to be re-scheduled for tomorrow, but has again been postponed.
BRAY WANDERERS: van Boxtel; Britton, Lynch, Campbell, Farrell; O'Connor, Long, Tresson, Keogh; Dempsey, J Byrne. Subs: K O'Brien for Campbell (51 mins), Doohan for Dempsey (68 mins), Smith for Long (79 mins).
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: S Kelly; Croly, Foley, Maguire, K. Doyle; Byrne, Griffin, R McGuinness, G Doyle; L Kelly, McCarthy. Subs: Burke for G Doyle (70 mins).
Referee: R O'Hanlon (Waterford).
