By Séamus Leonard
Two second-half goals were enough to see Shelbourne past fellow title hopefuls Longford Town at Tolka Park.
Shels went in front eight minutes after the restart. David Freeman converted from the spot after Alan O’Riordan was adjudged to have handled the ball on the ground and in the area.
The hosts wrapped up the three points ten minutes from time when Alan Murphy and Anto Flood combined excellently down the right wing before the latter tucked his shot into the right corner to notch his fifth league goal of the season.
It was the first time the sides had met since they played out a 0-0 Premier Division draw at Flancare Park in October 2006, and for a while it looked like this contest would also fail to produce a goal.
Shels went close to opening the lead in the tenth minute through midfielder James Chambers. The versatile 21-year-old made a strong run from the centre circle and played a lovely one-two with Freeman before pulling his shot just wide of Shay Kelly’s left upright.
The hosts were putting some slick passing together at that point, but they lacked penetration. At the other end, the Longford strikeforce of Iarfhlaith Davoren and Alan Lynch looked dangerous any time the ball was fed into their feet.
Town then almost scored against the run of play in the 16th minute, as, with the Shels defence stretched, Brian Kelly and Gary Murphy both brought the best out of Shels’ stopper Dean Delaney.
The visitors nearly gifted Shels a goal in the 21st minute when left-back O’Riordan misjudged a low Greg O’Halloran cross and came dangerously close to directing the ball into his own net.
O’Halloran, who was bossing the midfield area for Shels, found himself with time and space just outside the box on the half hour, but his tame shot rolled harmlessly into the arms of Kelly.
The hosts’ final ball became increasingly erratic as the game neared half time, with Longford looking more and more comfortable with their counter-attacking gameplan.
The first chance of the second half came seven minutes after the restart. Murphy swung in a corner but Longford centre-back Ronan Frawley couldn’t get enough on his header to beat Delaney.
Shels took the lead soon after. A slack clearance saw the ball fall to Chambers on the edge of the box and he unleashed a fierce shot that was well blocked by O’Riordan. However the Longford defender’s momentum carried him over the ball and his hand grazed against the ball on the deck.
Referee Graham Kelly had no hesitation in awarding a penalty, much to the dismay to a number of Town’s players. Freeman stepped up and clinically despatched his spot kick to Kelly’s left.
The goal revived what been a flagging fixture. Four minutes after the opener Shels could have had another penalty. The incident was almost a carbon copy of the first one, but this time it was Frawley whose hand appeared to get in the way of a Chambers effort.
Shelbourne’s right midfielder was involved in another opportunity when his cross from the right wing picked out Flood but the striker’s downward header was well saved by Kelly.
Longford captain Daire Doyle tried to rally his troops. The number eight roamed forward to get on the end of a loose ball in the 64th minute but his low, driven shot was too close to Delaney.
Shels were physically stronger all night, and Longford boss Aaron Callaghan tried to address that problem by bringing on big Michael McCarthy and instructing him to lead the line.
The Midlanders had a decent opportunity to equalise with 12 minutes left, but McCarthy opted for a speculative effort when he had better options either side of him.
The killer blow came when Murphy linked brilliantly with Flood down the right flank before pulling the ball back to number nine who tucked his shot into the bottom right corner of the New Stand end net.
The win moves Dermot Keely’s men up to second place, ahead of Waterford United on goal difference. Longford, who started the campaign with a resounding 5-1 victory over Sporting Fingal, find themselves languishing in seventh.
Shelbourne: Delaney; Murphy Byrne, Brennan (c), Hedderman; Chambers (O’Brien, 74 mins), McGill, O’Halloran, Keddy (Rutherford, h/t); Flood, Freeman (Dunne, 84).
Longford Town: S Kelly; Hardy, Frawley, Bermingham, O’Riordan; Murphy, Rushe (McCarthy, 60 mins), Doyle (c), B Kelly (Barrett, 81); Lynch, Davoren.
Referee: Graham Kelly.
