Strathroy started brightly and created the first clear opportunities, but goalkeeper Jerome Carleton denied Nico Hereza in a one-on-one before Smyth fired the rebound wide from 20 yards.

Irvinestown took the lead after 18 minutes when Bradon McCauley’s inswinging corner was headed home from close range by McDermott.

The visitors doubled their advantage on 33 minutes.

Dwayne Carleton headed Gary Maguire’s corner against the outside of the post, but Maguire recovered the ball and delivered another cross for Josh Largo-Ellis to stab home.

Strathroy threatened before the interval when Aaron Behan drilled a low effort from the edge of the box, only for defender Sean Clear to stop the ball on the line.

Irvinestown made it 3-0 just three minutes into the second half after Mark Sloane gave possession away.

Stephen Sheridan seized the opportunity to slide McDermott through, and the striker finished low to the goalkeeper’s left.

Maguire added a fourth on the hour mark when his curling free-kick from around the halfway line found its way into the net at the back post without another player getting a touch.

Strathroy pulled a goal back with around 15 minutes remaining.

James Hanna lost possession inside his own half, allowing Campbell to get behind the defence and flash a ball across goal, which went in off Dwayne Carleton for an own goal.

The home side had an opportunity to make the closing stages more interesting when Hanna conceded a penalty, but Carleton produced an excellent save low to his right to deny Stephen Sloane.

Irvinestown manager Rory Cassidy said his side had been made to work hard early on before settling into the game.

“We probably stood off Strathroy too much in the first 20 minutes, but after scoring against the run of play, we settled into the game and I was disappointed not to have scored one or two more before half-time.

That said, Strathroy also had some big chances themselves, with Jerome making some great saves, particularly the penalty save that would have brought it to 2-4, and maybe made things more nervous for us late on.

Overall, we were very pleased with the performance and deserved the win.”