SETANTA CUP St Patrick's Athletic 2 Linfield 0:SOME MINOR altercations between stewards and travelling fans that resulted in a handful of arrests outside Richmond Park before last night's game were followed by a contest that might well have yielded a real hiding for the Northerners.

Utterly out of sorts, last year's finalists were outplayed by the Dubliners who would have won handsomely but for an almost comical inability to capitalise on their dominance.

In the end, though, goals from Mark Quigley and Gary O'Neill were enough to play the home side firmly back into contention for a place in the semi-finals of this Setanta Sports Cup.

St Patrick's manager John McDonnell made two changes to the side that won comfortably in Ballybofey to go top of the table over the weekend while Linfield boss David Jeffrey made five to the one that all but clinched the Irish League title with a draw against Glentoran. Predictably, it was the Northerners who looked a good deal less assured than usual.

Over the opening stages they were as competitive as ever but not nearly so composed. Repeatedly they were opened up at the back by the home side's movement and pace and within eight minutes they were behind as a mistake by Steve Douglas allowed Ryan Guy to send Quigley clear into the box.

Quigley needed a little luck to find the net, his first attempt to slip the ball past the oncoming Alan Mannus rebounding back into the path of the striker off the foot of the post.

It was a sign of things to come - the poor initial finish rather than the good fortune, that is - with the home side creating an amazing number of chances over the rest of the first half without managing to add to their lead.

Mannus, to be fair, did well on a couple of occasions while one close-range effort had to be scrambled off the line by a Linfield defender but for the most part the Blues' back four was simply taken apart only for their opponents to let them off the hook time after time. On a half a dozen occasions before the break the Dubliners had players through one-on-one with the visitors' goalkeeper but the quality of the finishing was consistently atrocious.

Even more remarkably, Linfield actually dominated for a 10-minute spell of the opening period during which time the locals were forced to defend very deep but the closest they came to scoring was a Thomas Stewart shot deflected over and a William Murphy header from the resulting corner that Barry Ryan gathered well. Soon after the home side's misfiring resumed.

At the break there must have been consternation in the hosts' dressingroom as to how they had not already wrapped things up but without a striker on the bench, McDonnell had little option but to press on. Alan Kirby replaced Dessie Byrne but the midfielder quickly caught the spirit of the occasion, slipping through the Linfield central defenders for a crack on goal only to hook his shot low and wide.

Keith Fahey chipped in with free-kick curled wide of the angle and Quigley then drove one straight into a wall before narrowly missing the mark with a low shot on the run. It really was hard to imagine that the Irish League outfit had conceded even half this number of chances to any opponents this season.

For all their bemusement at their side's dominance the home support must have been steeling themselves for the final 15 minutes with some small sense of foreboding. Not for nothing do Jeffrey's men keep on amassing trophies up North and ragged as they looked in defence there was never, while there was only a goal between the sides, a clear sense that they were beaten.

The visitors too might just have been beginning to feel they had weathered the storm when finally the second goal came, Gary O'Neill controlling the ball well and pulling it from the left-hand side before unleashing a 20-yard strike towards the top right corner that left Mannus helpless.

From then on there was little doubt about the outcome. Linfield steadied and went in search of the goal that might spark a revival but their opponents held firm to take a win that leaves this group tightly balanced ahead of the autumn's second round of fixtures.

ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Ryan; Lynch, O'Cearuill (Brennan, 84 mins), Paisley, Frost; Guy, Fahey, Demspey, Byrne (Kirby, half-time); Quigley (Keane, 88 mins), O'Neill.

LINFIELD: Mannus; Douglas, Gault, Murphy, McShane (O'Kane, 68 mins); Dickson, Downey (Curran, 71 mins), Mulgrew, McAreavey, Stewart (Kearney, 63 mins); Thompson.

Referee: A Kelly (Cork).