’BOURNE WINNERS

Reds’ magic moments decide derby

TWO moments of first-half magic earned Shelbourne a famous Dublin derby win over Shamrock Rovers.

Mark Coyle and Will Jarvis scored inside the first 26 minutes as Damien Duff ’s side made the most of a blistering start.

And while Rory Gaffney pulled one back for Rovers early in the second half, the Reds channelled all their first-half attacking brilliance into a stubborn defensive performance to hold on for all three points.

Coyle and Jarvis were both excellent but it was a scintillating team effort to deny the four-in-a-row champions an equaliser that they pushed hard for.

Tyreke Wilson should have opened the scoring when Dan Cleary’s close attention sent Paddy Barrett tumbling to the ground inside the Rovers area.

Rob Harvey pointed to the spot and Wilson, with barely six minutes on the clock, stepped up confidently but sent the ball inches wide of Leon Pohls’ right post. The cheers from the away fans behind Pohls’ goal were short-lived, however, as there was no let-up to Shels’ blistering start.

Rovers’ German goalkeeper had to be sharp to deny Jarvis, who controlled John O’sullivan’s cross at the back post and aimed to Pohls’ right.

From that corner came Shels’ 17th minute opener, a fine strike by midfielder Coyle (below) from 20 yards, after good hold-up play inside the box by Barrett.

Pohls was flat-footed as the ball arrowed inside his lefthand post, although there was a suggestion that the shot took a nick off Darragh Burns on its way to the net.

Shels continued to push forward against a shell-shocked Rovers and O’sullivan was denied by a smart Pohls save in the 26th minute.

The build-up play, between Kameron Ledwidge, JJ Lunney and Wilson was superb and deserved a goal.

But when that didn’t happen, Duff ’s side opted moments later for route one and got their reward.

Jarvis looked to be squeezed out by Josh Honohan and Cleary as he chased goalkeeper Conor Kearns’ long punt but his touch was exquisite and it took him between the Hoops pair.

His finish was just as good as he curled the ball inside the far post and out of reach of Pohls. Rovers, it seemed, had no answer to Shelbourne’s attacking swagger until Darragh Burns produced a bit of magic in the 33rd minute. He cut inside from the right and aimed for the far top corner and wasn’t far off.

But it wasn’t until after the break that Stephen Bradley’s side really began to motor, with Dylan Watts sending a long-range strike thumping off the crossbar in the 47th minute.

The visitors pulled one back two minutes later when Burke, a first-half substitute for the injured Sean Hoare, teed up Gaffney for a close-range finish.

As Bradley continued to throw on attacking talent, with Aaron Greene and Johnny Kenny being sprung from the bench, they inevitably left some gaps in their defence.

And if it wasn’t for Pohls, Shels would have doubled their advantage again.

The Hoops keeper went full-stretch to keep out Coyle from 20 yards and then somehow stretched out an arm to tip Shane Farrell’s shot away from goal.

Kearns then worked miracles in the 80th minute when he blocked Greene at the back post.