Shelbourne... 1 Cork City... 1: It was a case of a point gained for Shelbourne as they withstood a second half of constant bombardment from Cork City at Tolka Park last night.

Their was plenty of bite in the tackles as the Dublin side showed exactly why they have the best defensive record in the League. But they seemed to suffer the same faith as their local rivals Bohemians by letting their domestic form slip in advance of crunch European action.

Next Thursday's UEFA Cup first round tie against Slovenian opposition Olimpija Ljubljana was seemingly preying on their mind as they went behind after just nine minutes.

The goal was more down to slack Shelbourne defending than anything else. Dan Murray got to George O'Callaghan's free-kick to the back post, but he could only fire it across the face of the goal for the on-rushing Kevin Doyle to arrive late with the finish.

The goal did bring the home side to life and it took just five minutes for them to draw level, thanks to an acrobatic volley from Jason Byrne after a first-time ball from Thomas Morgan.

As the opening half wore on it was Cork who looked the more likely to regain the lead, as the pace of John O'Flynn threatened to breach the Shels rearguard on numerous occasions.

But the young striker turned villain before the break when he missed the best chance of the night. After a delightful through ball from O'Callaghan he failed to slip the ball under the body of the advancing Steve Williams.

O'Callaghan and O'Flynn continued to link up well in the second half but the Shelbourne defence crowded out the lightweight strike partnership, restricting most of their good work to the periphery of the area.

With Dave Rogers keeping things airtight at the back, Dessie Baker did well down the left flank to free Ollie Cahill inside him but his shot was well blocked by Michael Devine.

Wes Hoolahan's introduction with 20 minutes to go for once didn't set the pulses racing as the winger failed to get the quality ball in space he so regularly thrives on as the tide began to turn for Pat Dolan's men.

City duly set up camp in the Shelbourne half but were unable to carve out any substantial chances.

The result meant Cork slipped further down the table and further out of the championship race as their opponents prepare to head into Europe next week.

SHELBOURNE: Williams, Heary, Crawley, McCarthy, Rogers, Crawford, Cahill, Byrne, Byrne, Baker, Morgan. Subs: Hoolahan for Byrne (71 mins), Geoghegan for Baker (84 mins)

CORK CITY: Devine, Horgan, Woods, Bennett, Murray, O'Brien, O'Grady, Doyle, O'Flynn, O'Callaghan, Casey.

Referee: D McKeon (Dublin).