St Patrick's Athletic - 2 Bohemians - 4 After last week's seven-goal cup tie which St Patrick's won, you would have got generous odds against this encounter being even more frantically eventful.

As it turned out, though, both sides proved capable of turning in performances that, though far from perfect, involved a relentlessly breakneck pursuit of the points.

Technical perfection it wasn't, but if excitement is what you're looking for then you would be well advised to be present the next time manager Stephen Kenny takes his men to Richmond Park.

With the league title still very much in their sights, Bohemians may have just wanted the points more and, at the end, they deserved them, but, after the visitors had led 3-0 at the break, it still took a goal seven minutes into injury-time from Glen Crowe to kill off a game that was revitalised late on by a Tony Bird penalty and a Clive Delaney strike.

After last week's game, it seemed dangerous to write this game off as dead at half-time, but with the visitors three up and having passed up a couple of good chances to make matters look even more lopsided, even Eamonn Collins could have been forgiven had he struggled to persuade his players during the break that there was still life in the contest.

During the closing few minutes his side displayed tremendous spirit, but their night might have been much more rewarding had they been more effective going forward and a little more composed in defence.

Though the hosts weren't helped much by the loss of Charles Mbabazi Livingstone after 20 minutes with suspected concussion, much of their problems stemmed from the right-back position which Darragh Maguire had been asked to occupy through the first half in order to accommodate Delaney in the centre of the defence.

The result was a bit of a mess with a normally tight and well organised back-four looking confused and unsure of itself.

Three times through the opening half the league champions capitalised on that uncertainty to score and, with Robbie Doyle having missed another couple of very good chances, there really could have been more goals for a team that didn't dominate to nearly the extent the scoreline would suggest.

Not that Kenny looked as though he was going to complain as he made his way to the dressing-room at half-time.

Dave Morrison's opening goal after 19 minutes must have seemed a little fortuitous given the way Damien Lynch had been allowed to progress unhindered from midfield before slipping the ball through to his unmarked team-mate.

But after Delaney had set things in motion for the second 10 minutes before the break with an ill-considered pass and Bobby Ryan had set up Glen Crowe for his 14th league goal of the season, he might suspected that it was just going to be one of those nights when things go your way.

Morrison's second, a near-post header after Doyle had picked him out with a curling free from the right in the 45th minute, can't have done anything to dispel the notion.

In the opening moments of the second period, St Patrick's had their best chance of the game to kick-start a revival when Davy Byrne met a Keith Fahey free with a glancing header from the edge of the six-yard box.

The ball slipped just inches wide of the far post, however, and little that followed went well for the hosts until very late on.

Collins lost two more players to injury during the second half, but after Davy Byrne earned a penalty in the 90th minute - following a challenge by Colin Hawkins - there was suddenly a glimmer of real hope.

Delaney added to it a minute later, but a fine left-footed strike by Crowe finally put the result beyond doubt and moved his side to within five points of Shelbourne at the top of the table.

ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Adamson; Maguire, Foley, Delaney, El Khebir (Foy, 82 mins); Dunne, Fahey (Freeman, 56 mins), Osam, Mbabazi (Byrne, 20 mins); Bird, McPhee.

BOHEMIANS: Kelly; Lynch, Hawkins, Oman, Webb; Ryan (McGuinness, 62 mins), Heary, Hunt, Morrison; Doyle (Keegan, 92 mins), Crowe.

Referee: P Whelan (Dublin).