Shamrock Rovers moved to within two points of leaders Shelbourne in another twist to the Premier Division title race at Tallaght Stadium.
Smart finishes from Jack Byrne and Neil Farrugia in either half have reignited Rovers' drive for five as they eventually shook off a depleted yet stubborn Shelbourne side who have won just once in ten league games.
The big winners could be Derry City who have been handed the initiative at four points behind Shels with two games in hand.
Shelbourne, on their knees in terms of form and personnel, were running on empty while Rovers had Byrne, Farrugia, Dylan Watts and Graham Burke on the field in the second half.
John O’Sullivan and Sean Ganon formed a vulnerable half of a makeshift back four and Rovers ran riot.
This was very much the Byrne show with the former Ireland international pulling over to the left hand side with Farrugia to form a two pronged attack that O’Sullivan and Gannon were powerless to stop.
There was an inevitability to the Rovers opener as Farrugia slipped by O’Sullivan and his low cross was met by Byrne who darted across Gannon at the near post and turned home after 18 minutes.
It was an onslaught of Hoops pressure from there with the hosts forcing numerous set piece opportunities before a slack clearance from Mark Coyle presented Dylan Watts with a shooting chance but he struck straight at Conor Kearns.
Shelbourne managed to stem the Rovers flow and saw some green shoots on the counter attack including when Ali Coote nodded a long ball down to Sean Boyd whose first time strike on the run was magnificently tipped around the post by Leon Pohls.
Improvisation from Graham Burke and Neil Farrugia does the rest
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) October 6, 2024
SHA 2-0 SHE
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The longer the game remained at just one nil, the more the tension grew around Tallaght Stadium and the sense that there might be something here for this depleted Shelbourne side who enjoyed their best spell just before the hour.
A simple ball down the side of the Rovers back three set Boyd away and he picked out Coote who shot straight at Pohls.
Five minutes later Evan Caffrey tried his luck from distance but Pohls smothered at his ease.
Stephen Bradley’s side were slow to get going in the second half but Dan Cleary should have put the game to bed when he headed Byrne’s cross wide in the 62nd minute.
Shelbourne began to throw bodies forward to salvage what could have been a priceless point in this title race.
But title races are decided by fine margins at the end of a season and after Boyd volleyed just over the bar in the 83rd minute, Rovers’ next attack saw the ball ripple the net two minutes later.
Farrugia, now at right wing back, curled the ball under the body of Kearns from close range.
Shamrock Rovers: Leon Pohls, Sean Hoare, Pico Lopes, Dan Cleary, Jack Byrne (Daragh Nugent 83), Gary O’Neill, Daniel Mandroiu (Graham Burke 68), Dylan Watts (Aaron McEneff 78), Darragh Burns (Josh Honohan 68), Johnny Kenny (Aaron Greene 68), Neil Farrugia
Shelbourne: Conor Kearns, Sean Gannon, Mark Coyle, Kameron Ledwidge, Tyreke Wilson, Ali Coote (Dean Williams 75), John O’Sullivan, Evan Caffrey, Rayhaan Tulloch (Harry Wood 62), Sean Boyd, John Martin (Dan Ring 90)
