Bohemians 2-3 St Patrick's Athletic:
St Pat's fans were told at half-time that this derby clash would be abandoned if any more flares were thrown on the pitch.
The booming tannoy announcement - channelled to the PA man from the fourth official - was met with cheers and jeers from the travelling contingent.
But a handful of Bohs supporters in the main stand urged them to do just that as they tried to digest how their first-half had unravelled so spectacularly.
Their tongues were firmly in cheek, of course, but it would have put them out of their misery.
1-0 up through Adam McDonnelll and then 3-1 down in the blink of an eye after Eoin Doyle, Jay McClelland and Mark Doyle goals, it wasn’t exactly a night to savour.
And just to compound their woe, Jordan Flores was sent off on the stroke of half-time for a lunge on Jamie Lennon.
The PA man was back with another announcement approaching the hour, to inform us that Shamrock Rovers - Bohs arch rivals - were trailing 2-0 at home to Shels.
Curious practice as score updates are usually reserved for half-time or full-time, but presumably it was an attempt to inject some life back into the ground.
Subs Dean Williams and James Clarke ultimately saw to that through more conventional means.
Bohs have been no soft touch on their climb to the summit and had to draw on those reserves playing with 10-men for the second-half.
Set up by Clarke, Williams clawed one back to set up a grandstand finish but there was no happy ending this time for the Gypsies match-winner in Derry on Easter Monday.
That this was a belter - with a delayed finish after a medical emergency in the stand - will be no consolation to Bohs, who see their lead at the top reduced to four points.
But from the outset, it was a case of buckling up for the ride with both sides dishing up an end-to-end thriller.
Saints skipper Joe Redmond had played 51 games in a row since joining in 2021 but missed out here with a hamstring injury.
And the Gypsies were determined to threaten the makeshift defence early on with Flores and Dylan Connolly drawing saves from Lyness.
Bohs got their reward whe McDonnell volleyed home from the edge of the box but if St Pat’s were overwhelmed, they didn’t show it.
Quite the opposite in fact as they turned the lights out on their hosts with a remarkable blizzard of goals.
That Gypsies lead lasted five minutes before Chris Forrester’s corner was turned home with the slightest of contact from Eoin Doyle at the near post.
Doyle didn't cut the look of a man entirely convinced the goal was his, and Forrester was busy pointing to his own chest as if claiming it - but after the game, St Pat's manager Tim Clancy was adamant it was Doyle's.
And the Saints pulled clear four minutes later when McClelland guided home an Anto Breslin cross ahead at close range.
St Pat’s fans chanted ‘top of the league, you’re having a laugh’ over and over and then they saw their team pull further clear.
Jamie Lennon and McClelland played a tidy one-two which set Lennon free and when he teed up Eoin Doyle, Talbot pulled off a brilliant save.
But Mark Doyle read the danger and latched onto the loose ball and tucked home from the tightest of angles.
Bohs were in a spin, but still threatened on the break with Afolabi and Keith Buckley drawing further saves from the impressive Lyness.
For every step forward, the hosts were taking two in the opposite direction and were in a world of pain when Flores saw red for a lunge on Lennon second before the break.
And yet it wasn’t their undoing.
Williams ensured a gripping finale and St Pat’s lost Tommy Lonergan to a second yellow, but Bohs’ first-half implosion just left them with too much to do.
BOHEMIANS
James Talbot 6
Jay Benn 5
Grant Horton 5
Kacper Radkowski 5
Paddy Kirk 6
Keith Buckley 6
Jordan Flores 4
Dylan Connolly 6
Adam McDonnell 6
Declan McDaid 5
Jonathan Afolabi 7
Subs:
Dean Williams ( for McDaid, 60) - 7
Kris Twardek (for Benn, 60) - 6
James Clark (for McDonnell, 60) - 7
John O’Sullivan (for Connolly, 72) - 5
Subs not used: Dennison, Nowak, McManus,, Baker, Lotefa.
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC
Dean Lyness 7
Sam Curtis 6
Noah Lewis 6
Jay McGrath 7
Anto Breslin 7
Jamie Lennon 7
Adam Murphy 6
Jay McClelland 7
Chris Forrester 7
Mark Doyle 7
Eoin Doyle 7
Subs:
Vladislav Kreida (for Murphy, 66) - 6
Thijs Timmermans f(or McClelland, 66) - 6
Conor Carty (for Lennon 76) - 6
Thomas Lonergan (for E Doyle, 83) - 5
Serge Atakayo (for M Doyle, 83) - 5
Subs not used: Odumosu, McCormack, Sjoberg, Timmermans, Melia
Referee: P McLaughlin
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