DANNY MANDROIU and Dylan Watts tormented the pretenders to the throne as the reigning champions showed how it’s done by taking control of the title race.
Ireland contender Mandroiu scored either side of a Pico Lopes header while Watts weighed in with all three assists as the Hoops moved three clear at the top.
Watts even had a significant role in the St Pat’s goal on the stroke of half-time as John Mountney’s fierce free-kick deflected in off his back.
But that was only a minor set-back as Rovers bossed the second-half and powered through to the end having looked capable of scoring with every attack.
Mandroiu broke Saints hearts back in May with a 92nd minute winner at Richmond Park and picked up where he left off here with a man-of-the-match display.
St Pat’s have also played a game more than their chief rivals, but Stephen O’Donnell’s side won’t lose too much heart in defeat.
They remain in contention but cannot afford any slip ups because although Rovers were misfiring at times earlier in the season, they are finding their rhythm.
And while they have European games to deal with - and serious scope for a prolonged run - they will spur Rovers to greater heights rather than impede a title assault.
This victory sent a message to the chasing pack that Rovers have no intention of being stopped.
Tallaght Stadium hosted the biggest crowd at a league game since the pandemic began but the 1,500 spent half an hour wondering when the game would ignite.
It was drab stuff for 30 minutes until Rovers finally woke up and took the lead with their first meaningful attack of the game.
Mandroiu finished superbly after a quick-fire move initiated by Lee Grace and assisted by livewire Watts.
And the Hoops could have finished the game in the following 10 minutes but couldn’t snatch a killer second which in turn gave St Pat’s reason to believe that all was not lost.
And they were right.
Richie Towell was always stretching to reach Rory Gaffney’s cross and couldn’t get on top of his back-post header.
And Mandroiu ought to have buried one of his own from Ronan Finn’s exquisite cross when free in the box. It was a poor miss.
And were it not for Jay McClelland nipping in to steal the ball off Finn’s toes on the line, the Hoops would have been two to the good.
Saints deployed midfielder Robbie Benson as their striker - or false nine - when they had three strikers on the bench, but none of them match fit.
Still, they were crying out for some imagination in the final third as they were well capable of working the ball that far forward.
And they got their goal with the final kick of that opening half, even if it required plenty of good fortune.
Joey O’Brien coughed up a free-kick and, from 25-yards, Mountney leathered a ball that clipped Watts’ back and wrong-footed Alan Mannus.
But Sam Bone’s brilliant last-ditch tackle was vital in preserving parity early in the second-half. The Saints defender lunged at Gaffney who was odds-on to score.
Yet the pressure was mounting.
And minutes after withdrawing defender Paddy Barrett for striker Ronan Coughlan - and reverting to a back four - St Pat’s were behind for a second time.
Vitezslav Jaros had no answer to Lopes’ glancing header from Watts’ corner.
Suddenly the contest was alive and kicking.
Darragh Burns nearly equalised but his angled shot from the right danced across the face of goal and it was the last act of a dying wasp.
Mandroiu’s clipped second over Jaros was sublime and a worthy way to seal it.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Mannus 7; O’Brien 7, Lopes 8, Grace 7 (Kavanagh 75, 6); Finn 7 (Gannon 78, 5), O’Neill, 7, Watts 8 (Greene 83, 6), Scales 7; Towell 7, Mandroiu 9 (Hoare 83, 5); Gaffney 8
ST PAT’S: Jaros 6; Desmond 6, Barrett 5 (Coughlan 58, 5), Bone 6 (Nwoko 87, 5); McClelland 5, Lewis 6 (Mlevin-Lambert 76, 5), Forrester 6, Mountney 6; Burns 6, Benson 6, King 5 (McCormack 76, 5).
Referee: D Tomney (Dublin)
