Forrester the hero has Pats give Shels a hiding

Chris Forrester scored a hat-trick, the second a stunning goal, as St. Patrick's Athletic inflicted further woe on Shelbourne with a 4-0 trouncing at Richmond Park.

The win, their third on the spin, lifts St. Pat's up to third in the Premier Division table. Shels remain second bottom with just one point from eight games.

Having put St. Pat’s ahead just before the break, Forrester added to Conan Byrne’s 49th minute second goal four minutes later.

The 20-year-old delighted the home fans when curling the ball to the far top corner of keeper Ger Hanley’s net from out near the touchline, a belated birthday gift for manager Liam Buckley who turned 53 on Sunday.

Forrester then completed his hat-trick on 82 minutes, drilling in from the edge of the area following a corner.

A goalkeeping howler had gifted St. Pat’s the lead a minute before half-time.

Hanley got down well to appear to deal with a low drive from distance from Forrester, but he only succeeded in deflecting the ball into the air and it spun back into his net.

Further poor defending cost Shels a second goal four minutes into the second half.

Forrester headed down a Killian Brennan corner and winger Byrne reacted quickest to force the ball home from a couple of yards out.