Not precisely the Christmas cracker their manager, Pat Dolan, might have had in mind to present to his team's following, as St Patrick's Athletic three times lost the lead and their five-point advantage at the top in a six-goal thriller at Richmond Park last night.

A match that appeared to be going St Patrick's way had a double sting in the tail for the home side as Cork levelled through Colin O'Brien on 80 minutes with Jason Kabia scoring another equaliser five minutes later after Trevor Molloy's stunning goal had once more restored St Patrick's lead.

St Patrick's began where they left off last week with a goal as early as the sixth minute courtesy of some seasonally appropriate goalkeeping from the returned Phil Harrington.

The Cork goalkeeper, back in after a nine-match absence in place of Noel Mooney who injured a finger last week, was a mere spectator as St Patrick's Colin Hawkins came to meet a Keith Long free-kick and loop the ball over the statuesque Harrington with his head.

Cork reacted positively and were level within seven minutes. St Patrick's Paul Campbell initially thwarted a dangerous Cork attack when making a crucial challenge to take the ball off the toe of Ollie Cahill from Colin O'Brien's cross from the right.

But O'Brien had more luck within a minute when his sublime chip found the run of Jason Kabia, who delicately clipped the ball over Trevor Wood.

Sadly for Cork, Harrington blundered again prior to St Patrick's second goal on 25 minutes when he was found wanting as Gilzean got the textbook glancing header to direct an Eddie Gormley corner into the net.

Despite being generally scrappy, the game kept the large Christmas crowd of some 4,000 on their toes as it rumbled rather than flowed from end to end.

Cork were well in it and Wood had to make a stretching finger-tip save to deflect a dangerous cross from O'Brien away, with Brian Barry-Murphy not able to direct the rebound near the goal while, at the other end, Paul Osam curled a shot in from the left a foot wide of Harrington's left hand post seconds before the interval.

After the break, O'Brien tested Wood from 25 yards within five minutes while, just a minute later, Gilzean could only shoot into the grateful arms of Harrington from Campbell's precise cross in from the right. Then in a dramatic last 10 minutes the scoreline was doubled.

Noel Hartigan outjumped the St Patrick's defence to head Gareth Cronin's free-kick back across goal and O'Brien arrived to sidefoot home to make it 2-2.

But within three minutes Gilzean had set up Molloy, whose dipping volley from 20 yards flew into the back of the net to bring the crowd to its feet.

But the home support was deflated within a further two minutes when Cork got their third equaliser. Kelvin Flanagan's cross was flicked on by captain Declan Daly, Hartigan once more used his height to get it back across goal, and Kabia bundled the ball into the net.

St Patrick's Athletic: Wood; Campbell, Hawkins, Lynch, Long; Reilly, Gormley, Morgan, Osam; Molloy, Gilzean. Subs: Croly for Reilly (56 mins), Moody for Lynch (78 mins), Gaynor for Morgan (90 mins).

Cork City: Harrington; Napier, Daly, Cronin, Long; O'Brien, Barry-Murphy, Flanagan, Cahill; Kabia, Hartigan.

Referee: J Stacey (Athlone).