Shelbourne grabbed their first league win since May against a determined Finn Harps side in a breathless encounter at Tolka Park.
Harps had beaten Shels twice already this season - their only two wins of the campaign to date - and looked to take advantage of the recent opening of the transfer window, including new signing Robert Jones from the start while fellow newcomers Harry Nicolson, Adam McCaffrey and Liam McGing made the bench.
Frontman Jones caused the Shels rearguard all sorts of problems throughout, and from an Ethan Boyle long throw-in, and with three surrounding him, managed to force the ball down to Barry McNamee on the edge of the area. The crafty No 10 should have done better with his effort, blazing over.
With 14 minutes of the relentless encounter played the home side got themselves in front. Shane Farrell's outswinging corner was met by the free head of Gavin Molloy, who made no mistake from just a few yards out for his first of the season.
The visitors, 3-0 winners on their last trip to Tolka Park, equalised just three minutes later from a set-piece of their own. Regan Donelon’s left-footed cross from wide on the right side was met at the far post by Ethan Boyle, scorer of the opener back in March.
The end-to-end encounter continued to deliver as both sides exchanged further chances. Firstly, the Jones-McNamee combination almost paid dividends as the Scotsman flicked into the path of McNamee, who hit a powerful volley on target forcing Brendan Clarke into an acrobatic stop.
Up the other end, birthday boy Luke Byrne then had a towering header well saved by Mulreany, from another Farrell delivery.
As the half drew to a close, man of the match Molloy restored his side's lead with a beautifully-hit left-footed strike from 25-yards, having been teed up by Jad Hakiki.
Both Donelon and Farrell went close with free-kicks as the second half became a little scrappier, but it was the home side who looked dangerous in the final third.
With a quarter of an hour remaining the hosts secured all three points. Fan favourite Moylan played a clever one-two with fellow frontman Sean Boyd and made no mistake slipping the ball past the onrushing Mulreany, sealing their first win in five games and sending the home fans wild.
Shelbourne: Brendan Clarke, Luke Byrne, Shane Griffin, Kameron Ledwidge, Conor Kane, Jack Moylan, JJ Lunney (Mark Coyle 84), Shane Farrell, Jad Hakiki (Brian McManus 80), Sean Boyd (Dan Carr 86).
Finn Harps: Gavin Mulreany, Regan Donelon, Rob Slevin, Ryan Connolly, Barry McNamee, Elie-Gael N'Zeyi (Bastien Hery 69), Robert Jones, Ryan Rainey (Liam McGing 83), Ethan Boyle, Filip Mihaljevic (Luke Rudden 83), Dylan Duncan (Adam McCaffrey 60).
Referee: Kevin O'Sullivan.
