Shelbourne came away from the Carlisle Grounds with the three points after an exciting 3-2 win over Bray Wanderers on Friday night.
David Cassidy gave Shels the lead on 28 minutes before Kieran Marty Waters equalised eight minutes later.
Philip Gorman gave Shels the lead again on the stroke of half time before Waters was given a red card for a push on Gareth Mathews.
Bray equalised again through John Mulroy before Paddy Kavanagh grabbed the winner with 12 minutes remaining.
Shelbourne should have opened the scoring after eleven minutes. Kavanagh supplied the ball for Gorman to round Bray keeper Darren Quigley, but he couldn’t squeeze the ball in from a tight angle.
The home side almost took the lead after 17 minutes. A mix-up in communication by Andy Boyle and Chris Bennion almost allowed Mulroy to lob the stranded keeper, but the ball crept just over the bar.
Straight back down the other end and Shels could have scored, but Gorman saw his chip go over the crossbar. Pat Seery had a glorious chance for the home side, but he fired his free header from eight-yards from Adam Hanlon’s corner.
The opening goal arrived after 28 minutes. Lorcan Fitzgerald played the ball from the right that was misjudged by Kevin Knight which allowed Cassidy to collect. He controlled and superbly chipped the ball over Quigley.
Shels almost made it two, but Dane Massey was on hand to clear off the line after Kavanagh’s strike from 15-yards.
The equaliser arrived nine minutes before half-time. Brian Shortall misjudged the long ball, allowing it to bounce over his head. Waters nipped in and struck a brilliant low left-footed strike past Bennion.
The lead lasted just ten minutes as Shelbourne retook the lead. Gareth Mathews played in Philip Hughes inside the right channel and he crossed for Gorman to fire home from four-yards.
It got worse for the home side a minute later as they were reduced to ten men.
Waters’ late challenge on Shortall was about to earn him a yellow card. Waters then got involved with Mathews, pushing him to the ground, and received a straight red card from referee Neil Doyle.
Three minutes in the second half and Gorman almost had his second goal.
Hughes’ superb layoff to Gorman saw the striker smash his effort off the crossbar with Quigley beaten.
A minute later and Bray Wanderers were level. Kevin Knight chased the ball to the endline down the left and got his cross away. Bennion failed to collect under pressure from Jason Byrne and the ball dropped to Mulroy to smash the ball to the back of the net.
Byrne had a chance to give Bray the lead on the hour mark, but Bennion was in the right place after his initial shout for the ball caused confusion for centre-half Andy Boyle.
Shels retook the lead with just under 15 minutes remaining. Mathews crossed which Quigley punched clear. The ball fell to Kavanagh who fired the ball to the back of the net past the hand of Quigley.
Bray pushed for an equaliser in the final quarter, but couldn’t find a way past a resolute Shelbourne defence.
Bray Wanderers: Darren Quigley, Pat Seery, Shane O’Connor, Kevin Knight (Daire Doyle 68), Dane Massey, Dean Zambra, Adam Hanlon (Jonathan Kelty 85), Kevin O’Connor, John Mulroy, Kieran Marty Waters, Jason Byrne (Lee Dixon 75).
Shelbourne: Chris Bennion, Gareth Mathews, Andy Boyle, Brian Shortall (Stephen Paisley 64), Lorcan Fitzgerald, Paddy Kavanagh, David Cassidy, Kevin Dawson, Stephen Hurley (Brendan McGill 74), Philip Gorman (Paul Byrne 86), Philip Hughes.
