League of Ireland Premier Division: Shelbourne 3 Waterford 1 (Boyd 40, 80 pen, Burt 84; Amond 37 pen)
Sean Boyd to the rescue and a Liam Burt special for good measure. The outpouring of emotion, mainly relief, was palpable at Tolka Park last night as Shelbourne clung on to to top spot in the League of Ireland.
They are two points clear of Derry City and Shamrock Rovers with two games remaining.
“They were like proper men out there tonight,” said Shelbourne manager Damien Duff. “They stood up.”
Penalties were the order of the night as Boyd’s 80th-minute strike, off the crossbar, nudged Duff’s men closer to their first Premier Division title since 2006.
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Waterford players understandably surrounded referee Rob Hennessy after Christie Pattisson caught most of a ball and some of Tyreke Wilson.
The penalty stood, Boyd delivered.
At 2-1, Shels sell-out 4,755 crowd had barely stopped celebrating when Burt cut a lovely shot beyond Sam Sargeant to make it 3-1.
All that went before was irrelevant, but Shels level of performance cannot be ignored but Boyd and Burt goals ensured that victories for Derry, Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic could not squeeze them into submission.
Even if Drogheda United, fighting to avoid relegation, come to Drumcondra next Friday and beat them, the title race will go down to the last day, as Shels face double-chasing Derry at the Brandywell on November 1st.
However, if Rovers lose to relegated Dundalk and Derry falter against St Pat’s next week, a Shels win would see them crowned champions on their own pitch.
Shelbourne’s only goals in their previous five matches came in a 3-2 defeat to St Patrick’s Athletic, so four missed opportunities before Pádraig Amond’s 37th minute penalty put Waterford ahead came as no surprise.
Plunging confidence levels were painfully visible. Boyd eventually rolled an equaliser past Sargeant but he should have been awarded the match ball by half-time.
In the space of five minutes, Boyd snapped on to Grant Horton’s slip only for the centre half to recover and block a cross aimed at John Martin. Next, his early ball for Ali Coote had the Scottish winger cutting inside to force a rudimentary save from Sargeant.
When Rayhaan Tulloch skinned Darragh Power down the left, Boyd again took a neat touch and teed up Coote whose effort trickled wide.
Tolka Park sagged and moaned in unison moments later when Tulloch stormed on to a sloppy clearance only to fluff his lines.
Waterford won their penalty when John Martin bowled over Horton, just as news filtered through that Derry and St Pat’s had taken leads in Dundalk and Inchicore.
Amond buried his 15th goal of the season.
Perhaps Duff’s furious demeanour on the sideline sparked a reaction as within three minutes Boyd was rewarded for chasing down Darragh Leahy and dispossessing the Waterford defender who showed the concentration levels expected from a team that has nothing left to play for this season.
One-all, the Drumcondra crowd found their voice, but Derry had briefly gone top of the table on goal difference after Colm Whelan scored at Oriel Park.
No chokers here. That term in modern sport requires a psychological collapse rather than being exclusively performance related. Crucially, the brain freeze must allow your direct opponents to profit.
But as Shelbourne faltered repeatedly since the summer, Derry matched them stutter for stumble, to invite Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic into a bizarre race for 60-odd points.
As the front runners flagged, even Galway United and Sligo Rovers had a puncher’s chance of sweeping to the top come the last dance next month.
It was June when Duff’s team last won three games on the spin, beating Dundalk, Waterford and Galway United to put daylight between themselves and the chasing pack. The Ireland legend spoke about big players stepping up in October, when it really matters.
The north Dublin club subsequently lost their biggest players, Gavin Molloy signing for Aberdeen and Will Jarvis recalled by Hull City, as results took an alarming nose dive.
Last season Shels reached 60 points, scoring 44 goals and conceding 27. Those numbers got them into Europe where they managed to overcome Gibraltar side St Joseph’s before FC Zurich made light work of them.
This morning Shelbourne have 57 points, scoring 37 goals and conceding 26 with two games to play, against Drogheda and Derry away.
Problems were widespread, with one win in the league since June and not a single victory at home since beating Galway United on June 28th.
Until now. With Shelbourne’s downward spiral has been halted, now they must kick to the finish.
Shelbourne: Kearns; Gannon, Barrett, Ledwidge, Wilson; Coyle, Caffrey (Lunny 77); Coote (Burt 40), Martin (O’Brien 61), Tulloch (Wood 77); Boyd.
Waterford: Sargeant; Power, Horton, Leahy, Burke; McCormack, Crowe-Beggley; Pattisson, McMenamy (Bellis 85), Flynn (McDonald 76); Amond.
Referee: Rob Hennessy.
Other results:
St Patrick’s Athletic 2 Galway United 1 (Keena 32, 68; McCarthy 50)
Drogheda United 0 Shamrock Rovers 1 (Watts 84)
Dundalk 0 Derry City 2 (Whelan 16, Patching 77 pen)
League table:
