Setanta Cup Final/Shelbourne - 0 Linfield - 2: Roughly once a fortnight a manager will, when asked to consider his side's prospects away to Shelbourne, talk about respecting the league champions rather than fearing them. But on most occasions it is clear from the performances that follow the visitors believed somewhere, deep down, they were always destined to lose.
On Saturday, things were different. Linfield may not have won the league or cup up North this year, but they are not used either to losing or accepting they are second best and the abundance of both self-belief and determination they brought to Tolka Park gave them a comfortable edge over a Shelbourne side that never quite got to grips with what was required of them in the first Setanta Cup final.
Not for the first time the Dubliners were, on the pitch, poor losers as two rather pointless late sendings off demonstrated, but afterwards there was a dignified concession on the part of players and officials they had been second best to a team that matched them for pace while outstripping them in both poise and power departments.
"We think we could have played better and we didn't," reflected Eamonn Collins afterwards. "When you play good teams you get beaten if you don't play as well as you can and that's what happened. It's a blow because it's been a wonderful competition and we wanted to win it, but we have to move on and the important thing now is to be focused on the next league game against Bohemians."
During the game there had been some frustration on the part of Shelbourne's players with the referees ongoing leniency with the approach taken by the Northerners, but Stuart Byrne insisted there would be no griping after a game in which his side had been beaten by the better team on the day. "You get things that go one way or another in games and you just have to accept that," he said. "I wouldn't have said that we were hard done by or anything like that out there."
The locals could hardly have complained too vocally given the referee, Mark Courtney from Dungannon, had given the rather dubious goal in the home game with Cork that had effectively put them into the final, but the match official was, nevertheless, remarkably restrained at times with his cards.
Both Michael Gault and Tim Mouncey should have been sent off during the second half for what were clearly second bookable offences.
Indeed, a bad day got worse in the closing minutes when Jason Byrne, frustrated by what he saw as a lack of protection from the referee, was booked for dissent. Moments later the striker body checked Noel Bailie off the ball and was sent off, to be followed within seconds by Alan Moore for "foul and abusive language".
Linfield, in contrast, rather comfortably lived with Shelbourne's strengths, largely by refusing to let the Dubliners play to them. In every area of the pitch the Northerners closed their opponents down with tireless determination, an approach that could have been profitably emulated by the Shelbourne defence for the goals which were both the product of fine finishes by Glenn Ferguson and Peter Thompson, after 27 and 37 minutes respectively, and some fairly poor marking by local central defenders.
"The players were magnificent out there today," enthused Linfield manager David Jeffrey after extended celebrations in front of 1,000 or so travelling supporters.
"We had a game plan, we stuck rigidly to it and it paid off and I'm proud of every single one of the lads. It means a huge amount to us to win this trophy."
SHELBOURNE: Williams; Brennan (Moore, 59 mins), Rogers, Hawkins, Crawley; Baker (Ryan, 25 mins), S Byrne, Crawford (Ndo, 59 mins), Cahill; J Byrne, Hoolahan.
LINFIELD: Mannus; Douglas, Bailie, W Murphy, D Murphy; Mouncey (McCann, 73 mins) , Gault, McAreavey, O'Kane; Ferguson, Thompson (Larmour, 78 mins).
Referee: M Courtney (Dungannon).
