Keely's men pass leadership test

A late goal conceded and an even later push by UCD for an equaliser may have taken the shine off it a little, but points make prizes so the three picked up by Shelbourne last night should be enough to keep manager Dermot Keely happy for another week.

It was another assured performance from the leaders with two goals, one either side of the break from Richie Baker and Pat Fenlon, enough to keep them four points ahead of their nearest rivals at the top of the table.

If Fenlon was the star of the Shelbourne show then there were plenty of performances in supporting roles to admire with both the full backs - particularly the recently-arrived Mark Hutchison - and strikers contributing handsomely to a well-deserved win.

But for UCD goalkeeper Barry Ryan's speed off his line and occasional brilliance on it the margin might have been a good deal more comfortable, but then late on Aidan Lynch would have nicked a point for the visitors if only his header had been better . . . well, a lot better actually.

Early on, as word filtered back from United Park that Bohemians had scooted into a two-goal lead against Drogheda, UCD threatened to do turn it into a rather grim evening for the title hopefuls, creating the best chances in the opening stages.

Mick O'Byrne was a little unlucky to see his shot across the face of the goal skip just the wrong side of the right-hand post and Ciaran Martyn might have done better with his effort from the edge of the area. But quite how Eoin Bennis missed the target when he was handed possession unmarked 10 yards out remains a mystery.

At the other end the UCD defenders were showing much cooler heads. More than once they played themselves into trouble with poorly-placed short passes but on each occasion they played themselves calmly back out of it again despite the persistent efforts of Dessie Baker and Stephen Geoghegan to unsettle them.

When they were caught out, though, there was little that anybody could have done about it; Richie Baker's finish was by far the most straightforward aspect of an impressively-constructed goal.

The move was started inside the centre circle by Pat Fenlon and involved Mark Hutchison, James Keddy and Fenlon again before the under-21 international tapped home from a couple of yards out.

Keely's side don't often surrender leads once they get them and there was always the feeling that no matter what UCD did over the remaining 70 minutes the best they were going to manage was keeping the deficit to the single goal.

But then they're not overly familiar with defeat themselves these days and until Pat Fenlon put the game beyond them with just over 20 minutes remaining with a goal that owed as much to Dessie Baker's determined chasing as his own flair for the spectacular finish, the visitors looked like a side who felt there was still something to be salvaged from the contest.

There wasn't, but close to the end O'Byrne got the goal he deserved while all around him there was evidence of just why his team are pushing for a place in Europe again, more than a decade and a half after the last time they achieved this.

Shelbourne: Williams; Heary, Scully, McCarthy, Hutchison; R Baker, Doolin, Fenlon, Keddy; D Baker, S Geoghegan. Subs: Campbell for Doolin (70 mins); Haylock for Geogheghan (84 mins).

UCD: Ryan; McLoughlin, Delaney, Lynch, Mahon; Mooney, Kavanagh, Martyn, Martin; O'Byrne, Bennis. Sub: Kilmurray for Bennis (61 mins); McNally for O'Byrne (89 mins).

Referee: P McKeon (Dublin).