Shelbourne - 1 Shamrock Rovers - 1: Owen Heary came to Shelbourne's rescue last night as he scored a last-minute equaliser to earn the league leaders a draw at Tolka Park.

Trailing to a first-half Trevor Molloy goal and down to 10 men following the dismissal of Wes Hoolahan, it looked like Shamrock Rovers were going to inflict the second league defeat of the season on Shelbourne. But in the third minute of injury-time, Heary slid the ball home in a goalmouth scramble to rescue the points and spark jubilant celebrations from the home fans.

The result was devastating for the visitors who rarely looked troubled at the back after Molloy had given them an early lead with a fine volley from the edge of the area after racing onto Stephen Grant's flick on.

But they were punished for a chronic lack of ambition in the second half as they defended deep and rarely broke out of their half.

The home side's best opportunities all came from long-range efforts, with Heary, Jason Byrne and Hoolahan all testing goalkeeper Noel Mooney.

SHELBOURNE: Williams; Heary, Rogers, Harris, Crawley; Moore, Crawford, Hoolahan, Cahill; Fitzpatrick, Byrne. Subs: Cawley for Moore (73 mins), McCarthy for Fitzpatrick (86 mins).

SHAMROCK ROVERS: Mooney; Gough, Deans, Palmer, Doyle; Robinson, McDonnell, O'Halloran; Molloy, Grant, Rutherford. Subs: Mooney for Molloy (86 mins), McArdle for O'Halloran (87 mins)

Referee: A Kelly (Cork).