DAVID CAMPBELL was cast in a familiar role as Shelbourne's ambition expanded into a decisive late charge to keep possession of the Harp Lager FAI Cup at Dalymount Park yesterday.

A year ago, Campbell, then wearing the colours of St Patrick's Athletic, scored in the drawn final and again in the replay, only to discover that it wasn't enough to deprive Shelbourne of the trophy.

Now, he celebrated his move to Tolka Park at the start of the season, with the classic central defender's goal after the more refined skills of those in front of him had failed to disturb the netting behind Declan Devine in Derry's goal.

There were only nine minutes left and a heavy sense of inevitability had begun to settle on the game when Pascal Vaudequin was given a second chance of matching the cross with the timing of Campbell's run into the penalty area.

This time, he managed to synchronise the ploy and the rest was text book as Campbell rose above Gavin Dykes and directed the header at speed between Devine and his left hand post.

Derry, resourceful for so long, were finally undone and it showed when Shelbourne, fuelled by the extra running power which comes with the scent of impending victory, refused to allow Paul Curran to play his way out in the 86th minute.

With the direct line cut off, Curran was forced to risk the square pass to Gavin Dykes and Stephen Geoghegan, with the intuition born of years of goal hunting, made the easy interception to go in and beat Devine for a second time.

Soon, one of the more thread bare finals of modern years had been consigned to history and for a second consecutive year Shelbourne had pulled the mat from beneath the feet of newly crowned League champions.

In the manner of these things, Shelbourne's supporters will search out reasons to sustain the notion that this was in some fashion, a suitable climax to the domestic season. The rest of us will require some convincing that it was anything other than a sharp disappointment.

True, conditions could scarcely have been more difficult with swirling rain compounding the problems of a treacherous playing surface. Yet, this alone scarcely explained why so many skilful players were defeated by the conditions on the day.

Too often, the ball was given away wantonly, too seldom was the final pass measured to take account of a wet, skiddy pitch which was unforgiving for anything overhit. Add in the fact that caution at all times superseded courage, until Shelbourne took the bit between their teeth, and it was easy to be dismissive of a final which, on paper at least, offered so much.

For all the assorted attributes of the supporting cast, the plot, we felt, would revolve around the two rainmakers, Liam Coyle and Tony Sheridan, and their ability to dredge inspiration from the tension of it all.

Sheridan grew from a modest start to run the game for Shelbourne in the second half. Sadly for Derry, however, Coyle's rich skill lay dormant throughout and it would cost Felix Healy the final accolade in this eventful season on Foyleside.

Another factor, almost certainly, was Damien Richardson's tactical ploy in withdrawing a specialist forward to saturate midfield with an extra player. If it did nothing for the fluency of the game, it had the requisite effect of preventing Peter Hutton surging into Shelbourne's 18 yards area.

Derry, at their most dangerous, depend on Coyle's subtleties and Hutton's running power. Now with both their aces trumped and James Keddy, another potential matchwinner down the left, unable to rediscover the heroics of recent weeks, they were in disarray.

Tony O'Dowd, their regular goalkeeper, didn't play because of the tragedy which overtook his family on Thursday but after some early signs of nerves, Devine, his replacement, settled in to produce an expansive save off Geoghegan's shot in the 67th minute.

For Shelbourne's captain, Mick Neville, it was a seventh successful Cup final appearance and the third time he has ascended the presentation podium to take possession of the trophy for his club.

At 36, he now longer has the pace to handle a full back posting comfortably but in a line completed by Campbell, Pat Scully and Declan Geoghegan, his experience and positional sense rescued him, and the overall effect was to reduce Alan Gough's day's work to no more than a couple of modest saves.

Richardson left out Greg Costello in a midfield formation in which Sheridan's artistry was complemented by the strength of Brian Flood, the pace of Mark Rutherford and, not least, John O'Rourke's aggressive running in the second half.

O'Rourke ought to have put his name on the game's first goal approaching halftime when his miscued header from Rutherford's precise cross bounced off the turf and over the cross bar in a situation in which it looked so much easier to score.

Earlier, Curran had fluffed a chance in somewhat similar fashion when Keddy's cross invited a more decisive finish and Derry were already probably sensing the worst when Sean Hargan, lurking at the far post, was too high with the header from Coyle's cross.

Earlier, Gough bounded off his line to save at Coyle's feet but from that relatively promising start, the champions receded to the point where they never created a chance of note in the second half.

By that stage, the traffic was running into the wind towards the school goal, which Devine protected with some resource until Campbell's goal opened the way to Shelbourne's sixth success in the competition... and a night of high revelry for their supporters.

. Dubliner Tony Grant was the toast of Lurgan on Saturday night after scoring the goal which won the Irish Cup for Glenavon. The 22 year old from Balbriggan decided the contest with Cliftonville in the 23rd minute.

It was a clinical strike which took two other medals south of the Border with goalkeeper Dermot O'Neill and full back Stephen Caffrey also playing a notable part in the Glenavon triumph.

O'Neill has now won national cup medals in both Northern and Southern Ireland. He led Derry City to an FAI Cup success some years ago.

Glenavon deserved their victory which takes them back into Europe, the 1-0 win giving them their second trophy of the season.