ON paper it was a sort of Goliath versus David but this was a cup tie and one, it turned out, with a second half that couldn't have produced more magic if they had wheeled out a guy in a tuxedo to produce a rabbit or two from inside his hat.

For just over an hour, the Dubliners had their first defence of their trophy all their own way but, with the tie seemingly already in the bag at 3-0, things started to unravel for the holders as first Ciaran Nagle and then Fergal Giltenan found the net to leave the Shelbourne crowd hanging on the edges of their seats until the dying minutes of the game.

If Everton came to Dublin with the intention of preventing their opponents from playing football, they didn't succeed for long. Within six minutes their outfield players were reduced to looking on helplessly as John Kerins got down well to keep Tony Sheridan's shot out and 60 seconds Inter they were behind to a Mark Rutherford header which Kerins flapped wildly at, when he really should have saved.

Briefly, it seemed that they would respond to the blow with audacity by pushing Dave Whitley into a three-man attack but when Shelbourne quickly threatened to add a second they were forced to defend in numbers again. Even that, though, wasn't enough to prevent the home side picking up a second with Pat Morley shaking off both central defenders in the 16th minute, before casually chipping the goalkeeper from a good way out.

Although the opener had been created by Pascal Vaudequin, it was on the other flank that the non-league outfit were having the most difficulties, as Mark Rutherford repeatedly left his marker for dead before causing havoc in the box with a steady stream of balls from the line.

To his credit Kerins, an All-Ireland medal winner in 1989 and `90, was to keep his side in the game on more than one occasion as Tony Sheridan, Pat Morley and Stephen", Geoghegan all queued up to convert the chances, while a goal line clearance by Michael Moynihan and a great interception at the near post by Dan O'Callaghan, all helped to prevent a decidedly one sided game turning into an embarrassing first half rout.

A 47th minute tap-in by Stephen Geoghegan after Costello had done all of the hard stuff, revived the threat at the start of the second half but a combination of Pat Browne's more effective marking of Rutherford, some fine stops by Kerins and as many bouts of ineptitude up front by Shelbourne, prevented the lead from being extended.

Morley, foolishly taunted throughout by the Everton fans as a City reject" would have had a second if only Geoghegan had been as generous to the southerner as Sheridan had been to him and he should have had a penalty midway through the half when he was clearly bundled over inside the six-yard box by Moynihan.

At the other end, though, two players who actually were released by the Turner's Cross club, almost sparked the shock of the round with Austin O'Connor setting up Ciaran Nagle's close range drive in the 62nd minute and Fergal Giltenan finding the bottom corner from more than 30 yards some nine minutes later.

Both strikes came completely against the run of play and yet suddenly extra time and a possible shock beckoned, but while Everton's play was full of passion through the closing stages, Shelbourne showed just the sort of character that wins cups. Dave Campbell and Geoghegan might have killed off the game but when Rutherford lost his man with four minutes remaining his low angled ball was sweetly timed for Dessie Baker, who nipped between Kerins and his marker to slip it inside the post.