AGAINST THE ropes for much of the night, as ever St Patrick's Athletic weren't for going down. Indeed, Shelbourne must be getting dizzy trying to put them away, a second season without a league win against their Dublin rivals seriously denting their title hopes.

St Patrick's were almost blown away for much of the first-half, yet clung on to earn the point which has more repercussions for Derry than for themselves. Amid the mind games that accompany any title run-in, this result will have alleviated the pressure on Derry as they face into tomorrow's tussle with UCD.

Taking the game to St Patrick's from the outset, some of Shelbourne's football was breathtaking. Watched by Mick McCarthy and a batch of the Irish squad, Stephen Geoghegan was on fire - his first touch and lay-offs frequently proving the focal point for the wave of quick-witted attacks which kept the visitors firmly on the back foot.

A cautious St Patrick's went very much back to basics, employing Jason Byrne as a lone front-runner in front of a containing five-man midfield which often lay on top of a restructured back four.

Packie Lynch and the utility man Keith Long may not be the most natural of central defensive pairings, but they coped admirably in the circumstances - Lynch often proving a vital last man when it looked as if St Patrick's would be over-run by the sheer swiftness of Shelbourne's passing and their movement off the ball.

For their part, St Patrick's created little and were indebted to a sympathetic referee. Paul McKeon's curiously one-sided second-half refereeing - the tally of 15 fouls to three in the visitors' favour - hardly reflected the exchanges. But the title aspirants can still only have themselves to blame after conceding a soft equaliser and then, in their over-eagerness, committing themselves too early in the tackle.

There had seemed only one feasible outcome early on, the inspired Geoghegan setting the tone when forcing an awkward save from Garet Byrne with a 20-yard drive which prompted an almighty goalmouth scramble.

With Tony Sheridan and Greg Costello running the show, and Mark Rutherford and Dessie Baker full of running, St Patrick's could hardly get out of their own half. Their only contributions were cautions for Eddie Gormley (untypically) and an abrasive Johnny Glynn, for late lunges at Rutherford and Alan Gough.

Somehow their goal survived intact as the diving Long blocked a goalbound shot from Morley following Sheridan's cross. The latter fired over after a one-two- with Geoghegan and Morley was hauled back by a borderline off-side decision before outmanoeuvring Lynch to Declan Geoghegan's through ball. Lynch was also booked, Morley hobbling through the remainder of the half before Baker was moved to the front-line and Dave Smith was introduced on the right.

Five minutes before the break Shelbourne had gone ahead, ironically, given the attention on Geoghegan, from the one international on the pitch: Pat Scully. Rutherford's running forced the corner, Baker swinging it in beyond the far post where Scully availed of hesitancy between Byrne and Paul Osam to convert a tightly angled header.

Their inability to hold this winning advantage cannot be attributed to the loss of Morley, for Smith was an intelligent influence on the right, while the lively Baker frequently turned his marker. But the procession of set-pieces, courtesy of McKeon, yielded a 62nd minute equaliser for St Patrick's. Osam was adjudged to have been fouled by Costello, Campbell floated the diagonal free in beyond the penalty area, Osam rose above the posse of defenders and glanced a looping header into an empty net as Gough unsuccessfully came from his line.

Thereafter, it was a fascinatingly poised, more evenly balanced affair. Shelbourne, with Sheridan more curtailed, had lost some of their earlier fluidity, but Baker and Rutherford especially were giving them hope in individual snatches; the latter's deflected shot just outside the post with Byrne stationary.

. John Aldridge last night broke the English all-time goalscoring record when his first half strike in Tranmere's 3-0 victory over Southend brought his career total to 465 - one more than the previous record held by Jimmy Greaves.