FAI CUP SEMI-FINAL St Patrick's Athletic 1 Bohemians 3: THE HOME side's aim here had been to show that the 19 league points they trail Bohemians by in some way flatters the newly crowned champions.

In fact, they had somehow managed to make the gap look rather modest by the break after the visitors rampaged their way towards their first Ford-sponsored FAI Cup final since 2002 thanks to two early goals and a third just before the interval that effectively killed the game off as a contest.

For the briefest of spells in the second half John McDonnell's men did threaten to get back into things when Keith Fahey showed wonderful composure to beat Brian Murphy from close range.

The revival was short lived, though, and over the 40 minutes or so that followed Bohemians might just as easily have added to their margin of victory.

"I thought we were exceptional in the first half tonight," said Bohemians manager Pat Fenlon. "We played some great football and scored some great goals.

"But then we're a good team. People keep saying we win when we're playing badly and that's not a bad thing to have, but I don't think anyone could accuse us of it tonight.

"Pat's put us under a bit of pressure in the second half, but I still though we created the better chances," he added.

"Glen Crowe could have had a hat-trick out there tonight, but I suppose we'll forgive him in the circumstances."

On balance, there was little in Fenlon's assessment for the hosts to take issue with.

The night started to unravel terribly early on for them, with the first blow coming in the form of a refereeing error when Dave McKeon failed to show Jason McGuinness a red card for a nasty-looking foul on Ryan Guy.

The home support took the decision badly, and their mood quickly worsened when Stephen O'Donnell won a soft free kick at the other end and Killian Brennan curled the ball into the top left corner.

Within two minutes the Bohemians lead had doubled when Neale Fenn slipped a low ball into the box for Gary Deegan, who turned Gary Dempsey and hit a shot that clipped Dave Partridge before bobbling in off the post as Damien Lynch tried desperately to stop it.

The next half-an-hour was packed with fireworks, some of the Hallowe'en variety.

Both sets of supporters threw flares or crackers onto the pitch, thereby ensuring, no doubt, that the night's television money will go straight to the FAI, while McKeon had to work hard to keep a lid on what was becoming a tough encounter.

Where it mattered, though, commitment was about the only department in which the two teams were evenly matched through the opening half.

Though McDonnell's men enjoyed a fair amount of possession, they rarely managed to put the visitors under any serious pressure.

And the decision to play Jamie Harris up front rather than at the heart of the defence looked a serious miscalculation.

With little going well for them in play, a Keith Fahey set-piece seemed about the most likely way that the home side were going to get themselves back into things, but when the midfielder, who was watched last night by a couple of English clubs, did have the chance to take a free from within striking range, his looping effort was all too easily gathered by Murphy.

Beating the Bohemians goalkeeper twice to salvage something from the night always looked a tall order, but the scale of the task became all the more daunting two minutes before the break when Owen Heary worked his way into the box down the right side, neatly exchanged passes with the excellent Fenn and then blasted home off the underside of the crossbar from a very tight angle.

After a major tactical reshuffle in which Harris moved back, Damien Lynch shifted forward into central midfield and the wide men looked to get further forward, the Inchicore outfit started the second half more brightly.

Fahey's goal, the product of a long punt forward by Dave Rogers, fleetingly offered some hope of a miracle, but while they desperately needed to score again when they had a bit of momentum, and though they went close a couple of times, the goal just wouldn't come.

Crowe then missed a great chance to put things beyond doubt when he was sent racing clear of his markers by Fenn, and Barry Ryan did well to keep his close-range shot out a little later on.

By now, though, the game was moving into its closing stages, and while McDonnell's players never gave up the chase there was little question that Bohemians could be caught.

"People have been knocking us all week," said their skipper, Heary, afterwards, "saying we don't play good football. But we're 19 points clear and tonight we showed why."

Rarely have bragging rights been more effectively earned.

ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC:Ryan; O'Cearuill (Fitzpatrick, 87 min), Lynch, Partridge, Rogers; Guy (Bialek, 43 min), Fahey, Dempsey, Kirby; Quigley, Harris.

BOHEMIANS:Murphy, Heary, McGuinness, Burns, Rossiter; Byrne, Deegan, O'Donnell, Brennan; Fenn (Cronin, 79 min), Crowe.

Referee:D McKeon (Dublin).