St Patrick 1
Vittoriosa Stars 3
Vittoriosa distanced themselves from the bottom places in the standings following this victory over troubled St Patrick at the Hibs Ground.
Anthony Eviparker scored a hat-trick for the winners as the Saints suffered their fourth consecutive defeat and look in serious danger of being relegated.
Eviparker was almost on the mark after two minutes but he was foiled by goalkeeper Franklyn Azzopardi who saved the Nigerian's shot following some good work by Leighton Grech.
Eviparker's flying header, following a free-kick by Keith Darmanin, was again neutralised by Azzopardi as St Patrick came into the picture on 16 minutes when a Matthew Fleri Soler drive was cleared in time by the Vittoriosa rearguard.
Azzopardi did well to stop another Eviparker effort on 22 minutes as the side from Cottonera continued to play the better football but were finding it difficult to find a way through.
The Stars had to wait until the 55th minute to forge ahead when Eviparker headed home from a Darmanin corner.
Two minutes later it could have been 2-0 but Arnold Buttigieg intercepted a pass to the unmarked Eviparker at the final minute.
On 63 minutes, Vittoriosa made it 2-0. From a perfect Darmanin pass, Eviparker beat the offside trap before sprinting past Azzopardi and shooting home despite Buttigieg's attempt to stop the ball.
On 70 minutes, Thomas Caruana reduced the arrears for St Patrick when he beat Ivan Cassar from close range. However, 14 minutes from time Eviparker won possession from 35 metres out, shrugged off the challenge of a couple of defenders, including Azzopardi, to shoot inside an empty net.
On 83 minutes Eviparker could have scored a fourth goal but drove the ball wide after coming face to face with the Saints custodian.
Minutes later the Nigerian limped off injured after receiving a knock. He was substituted by Howard Hughes but Massimo Cremona's side were still strong enough to control the match and tuck in three precious points to join neighbours St George's in the standings on 19 points.
St Patrick: F. Azzopardi, A. Buttigieg, M. Fleri Soler, S. Zerafa, M. Pullicino, M. Xerri (K. Micallef), T. Caruana, C. Micallef (S. Magro), H. Doda, B. Bonnici, E. Borg (V. Camilleri).
Vittoriosa Stars: I. Cassar, S. Privitelli, C. Sciberras, A. Eviparker (H. Hughes), K. Darmanin, R. Adami, L. Grech (C. Cachia), L. Lagana, S. Calleja, D. Gauci, J. Spiteri.
Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.
Man of the match: Anthony Eviparker (Vittoriosa Stars).