DAMIEN’S STARS SO DUFF TO BEAT
Shels boss sees his side grind out another win to stay on top
TWO late goals kept Shelbourne on top of the table last night, Damien Duff’s men recording their fourth consecutive win and fourth clean sheet on the bounce to stay clear of Derry City.
Will Jarvis opened the scoring from the penalty spot with 10 minutes to go and Gavin Molloy headed home the second five minutes later.
Who’d have backed a one-time wing wizard like Duff to mastermind such a gritty, hard-working team?
But one of Ireland’s most exciting attacking players of all time clearly gained more than a couple of Premier League winners’ medals from his time under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.
Shels squeezed the life out of Bohemians and then sucked the atmosphere out of Dalymount Park, with hundreds of the 4,429 crowd heading for the exit straight after Molloy’s goal.
They didn’t give their hosts and neighbours an inch and were clinically when they finally got their breaks inside the final third. This won’t be one for any highlights reel, even if we were inches from a first-minute goal of the season contender.
That came courtesy of quick-thinking Shels defender Paddy Barrett. Standing over a free kick, just 10 yards inside the Bohs half, he spotted goalkeeper Kacper Chorazka off his line and punted the ball towards goal.
The Polish man’s blushes were spared as he scrambled back to tip the ball over his crossbar.
There were a couple of subplots to this one, with Shelbourne’s former Bohs players getting pelters from the home crowd.
John O’sullivan was muscled off the ball a couple of times to cheers from the home support, who felt they didn’t see the best of the midfielder during his time at Dalymount Park. A yellow card late in the first half for the Shels man brought the biggest cheer up to that point.
Shels’ on-loan attacker Liam Burt, who committed the cardinal sin of leaving Bohs for Shamrock Rovers, was also on the receiving end of some jeers.
The pace was frantic and the tackles came in thick and fast as this Dublin derby sizzled on a cold night in Phibsborough.
There was an early lecture for Dylan Connolly, who later sent O’sullivan and Tyreke Wilson tumbling to the turf at the same time as they converged to shut down his blistering run down the right wing on 30 minutes. There was more zip to Bohs’ attacking play early in the second half and Shels goalkeeper Conor Kearns was called into action for the first time when he made a fine 50th minute save to deny Paddy Kirk.
Left-back Kirk was in the thick of it again five minutes later when he controlled a long crossfield pass, played a one-two with Dayle Rooney but lost out to Kearns as he chased a heavy touch.
John Martin then headed a Burt free kick straight at Chorazka and Jarvis, who alongside Connolly for Bohs was one of the more progressive players, should have done better when he cut in from the left in the 77th minute but he fired straight at Chorazka from 18 yards.
Jarvis didn’t miss three minutes later when referee Paul Mclaughlin pointed to the spot after Sean Boyd was tripped by Cian Byrne.
And Molloy’s glancing header from Tyreke Wilson’s 85th minute free kick glided inside the left-hand post.
There was a late stoppage as a Shels fan required treatment and was stretchered to a waiting ambulance, while there were jeers for Bohs boss Declan Devine at the final whistle.