Bohemians 2 Shelbourne 1: Bohemians' fate against their other great rivals, Shamrock Rovers, in the cup next week may be of more lasting significance in terms of how their season is ultimately judged, but midway through a deeply frustrating campaign, here was a win to cherish last night as Gareth Farrelly's side came from behind to beat Shelbourne.
For the visitors it was a first defeat in 13 outings and the end of a three-match winning streak over their rivals. More importantly, though, it was a potentially costly slip-up at the end of a week in which their title aspirations had already taken a pounding away from the field of play.
The goals scored here by Fergal Harkin and Stephen Caffrey earned Bohemians their first win over a top-five club all season. If only their strikers could score, then passion on the scale displayed last night could certainly carry them much further. But such is their inconsistency, the supporters who went away happy on this occasion are unlikely to view next weekend's trip to Tolka Park with any great confidence.
Bohemians certainly made the stronger start, with everyone working to limit their opponents' time on the ball and then moving it about more brightly than their rivals when in possession.
In midfield, Thomas Heary put himself about to good effect while John Paul Kelly proved particularly adept at finding space for those ahead of him. And up front, Paul Devlin provided a lively threat to the visiting defence with his runs from just outside the area.
The Scot did especially well early on when he picked up the ball out wide on the right and skipped past two challenges before firing narrowly wide.
After that, though, the home side had only a couple of misdirected headers to show for their efforts until a mistake by Ollie Cahill on the edge of the area allowed Devlin to dispossess Joseph Ndo inside it.
The striker perhaps went down a little too extravagantly for his own good under the Cameroonian's challenge that followed but when he bounced back up to claim a penalty he looked to have a point.
Still, Shelbourne could point to their own couple of spot-kick appeals with Crowe protesting first that he had been hauled down by Stephen Rice while bearing down on goal and then held while jumping to meet Ndo's free from the right eight minutes before the break.
The striker was once a major favourite here, and his appeals prompted derisive jeering from the main stand, which he silenced 12 minutes into the second by spinning away from Jason McGuinness and driving past Stephen O'Brien from 15 yards.
Briefly, the home support was silenced but their team struck back, reasserting themselves in midfield and turning the screw on the Shelbourne back four.
It took just seven minutes for the equaliser to come. Harkin started things with a corner from the left and after both Barry Ferguson and Caffrey had efforts cleared off the line in an extended goalmouth scramble, the Donegal man produced a fine, long-range finish for his first goal of the season.
Shelbourne found themselves having to defend deeply as the home side piled forward from midfield in search of a second goal.
It came with a quarter of an hour to go when Dessie Byrne's cross was knocked down for Caffrey to meet with a diving header from eight yards.
Not long after that he had to be helped from the field after Jim Crawford caught him badly with his studs for which he could easily have been sent off. Referee Tuite settled for handing his fourth yellow card of the night.
Desperate to avoid their first defeat in three months, Pat Fenlon's side stepped up the pace over the closing minutes but Bohemians held on for the victory that, on balance, they deserved.
BOHEMIANS: O'Brien; Rice, Ferguson, McGuinness, Byrne; Harkin, Kelly, Heary, Ward (Caffrey, 56 mins (Farrelly, 88 mins); Devlin, Leech.
SHELBOURNE: Delaney; Heary, Harris, Dillon, Rogers; Ryan (Baker, 80 mins), Ndo (Crawford, 81 mins), S Byrne, Cahill; O'Neill (Moore, 73 mins), Crowe.
Referee: P Tuite (Dublin)
