Shelbourne dig deep to progress

Well, what do you know? Dermot Keely's quest to bring much-needed steel to the Shelbourne title challenge may need a little work yet, but right now it's Cup time and suddenly there's an attractive, metallic quality to the Tolka Park outfit's game.

Last week they dug out a league point in a game that looked long lost. This week, thanks to solid performances from their central defensive partnership of Pat Scully and Tony McCarthy, as well as an abundance of hard work by the rest of the team, they held on for 66 minutes to a single-goal lead that rarely seemed likely to be enough for victory.

As a spectacle, the game was terribly disappointing, with both sides having to absorb considerable pressure when playing into the strong breeze. As the game progressed, however, Bohemians seemed less able to take advantage of the breeze. Though they chased the game through to the fifth minute of injury time and went close to cancelling out Stephen Geoghegan's goal on more than one occasion, they simply couldn't save their season.

For all the obvious determination with which Shelbourne set out to defend their lead, Roddy Collins' side almost squared things up within 10 minutes of the restart. Alan Gough, victim of a bizarre bounce early on last week in the Cork game, this time had a rush of blood to the head.

Rushing out of his goal to meet an over-hit through-ball but with plenty of time to play with, Gough decided against hoofing the ball into the stand and opted instead to allow the ball run behind for a kick-out. However, Derek Swan was quicker on his feet than the Shelbourne players gave him credit for and having pulled the ball low towards the sixyard box, Scully had to be a bit nippy himself to clear ahead of Brian Mooney's arrival.

Gough went a long way towards redeeming himself immediately afterwards. The resulting corner was cleared as far as Graham O'Hanlon whose shot from the edge of the area was goalward-bound until Gough touched it just over. Late on, Eoin Mullen produced the home side's best chance of salvaging something from the game with a close-range header. Gough looked helpless but Scully was again on hand to clear, although this time it was amid claims from several of opponents that the ball had already crossed the line.

The conditions were at least as much of a factor in the first half when after a brief opening spell when the two sides looked more or less a match for each other, Shelbourne gained an upper hand that was dependent in no small part by wind power.

With Michael Dempsey struggling to get his kick-outs as far as halfway and many of them coming straight back to him with the help of just one outfield touch, the home side found themselves under constant pressure.

Shelbourne might well have made more of the advantage, but despite the problems repeatedly caused by Tony Sheridan when he dropped out wide to the right and the direct running of young Richie Baker, the Cup specialists had little enough to show for all their possession at the break.

They had Geoghegan's crucial 24th-minute goal to show for it, though. The 28-year-old striker got the final touch to a goal-bound Scully header from a Pat Fenlon's corner.

It was an important breakthrough for the visitors and gave them something positive to reflect on in the dressing-room over half-time.

Paul Byrne for Bohemians and Geoghegan for Shelbourne came close to adding to the first-half scoreline, but neither could quite find the mark.

BOHEMIANS: Dempsey; O'Connor, Doyle, Mullen, T Byrne; P Byrne, Hunt, O'Hanlon, Mooney; Swan, Kelly. Subs: Brunton for Mooney (76 mins), Lawlor for P Byrne (81 mins), O'Driscoll for Doyle (87 mins).

SHELBOURNE: Gough; Costello, Scully, McCarthy, D Geoghegan; R Baker, Fenlon, Doolin, Heery; Sheridan, S Geoghegan. Subs: D Baker for Costello (17 mins), Fitzgerald for Doolin (80 mins), Kelly for R Baker 89 mins).

Referee: J Feighery (Dublin).

Omagh Town will this afternoon make what manager Roy McCreadie reckons is `their last throw of the dice'. McCreadie believes that defeat by Portadown at St Julian's Road will hasten the departure of his team from the Premier Division of the Irish League.

Portadown are the other team with most to fear from the threat of relegation and McCreadie has warned his players if they lose there will be no way back.

His Portadown opposite number Ronnie McFall is unlikely to make that mistake. He too sees this basement collision as one of the most important matches of the season.

Elsewhere leaders, Glentoran who won their second trophy of the campaign, the County Antrim Shield in mid-week, are playing, according to manager Roy Coyle, the best football he has seen in more than 20 years of management. They should be too strong for Ballymena United at The Oval.