League of Ireland Premier Division: Shelbourne 3 (Boyd 11, 45, Caffrey 15) Derry City 1 (Duffy 14)
Besides the power outage, it was business as usual for Shelbourne.
A “blown ESB fuse” forced the League of Ireland’s opening night at Tolka Park, where the champions hosted Derry City, to be stalled for over an hour as the “club electrician” had to decide whether to cut the red or blue wire.
An off-duty ESB employee helped to identify the issue before the on-call team from South Lots Road arrived within 15 minutes to avoid an embarrassing situation for both Shelbourne and the FAI.
Going out live on the league’s new broadcast partners Virgin Media television and Newstalk radio, the match eventually reached its natural conclusion with Shels looking better than ever.
Sean Boyd stole the show with two goals and an assist for Evan Caffrey.
The 2025 season had been hotly anticipated. Modernisation was the name of the game. St Patrick’s Athletic just sold teenage striker Mason Melia to Tottenham Hotspur for €1.9 million and last Thursday Shamrock Rovers’ 16-year-old Michael Noonan became the youngest goalscorer in proper European competition. All 10 Premier Division squads are fully professional now.
Here we go - lights, camera, action… blackout. Reality took a big chunk out of everyone’s best laid plans as Tolka was shrouded in darkness a few seconds after referee Robert Harvey blew up the first half with Shels leading 3-1.
Out came the flares and phones as parents began to take young children home. Everything stopped working at 8.30pm, from the Public Announcer to the floodlights until the lights returned at 9.17pm. Following the necessary warm-up for players, the second-half began at 9.35pm.
Otherwise, everything ran smoothly. Since Shels captured the league title on November 1st, by beating Derry 1-0 at the Brandywell, Damien Duff has strengthened his squad with Mipo Odubeko and Scottish midfielder Kerr McInroy.
Both contributed to an electric start at the sold-out Drumcondra venue with McInroy already looking like a strong addition.
Cut loose by Kilmarnock last summer, Duff spotted a gem in the rough. The Glaswegian exposed Derry’s unfamiliarity with each other by cutting out an early Liam Boyce dribble. Harry Wood wasted no time spraying a high ball towards Odubeko that Sam Todd half-cleared into the path of Boyd who shot first time from 25 yards.
In Derry’s defence, new manager Tiernan Lynch has overseen a sizeable clear out of a squad that failed to deliver silverware in 2024. There were 10 winter singings on the match sheet, five in the team, with Lynch leaning into thirtysomething, former Northern Ireland internationals like Shane Ferguson, Carl Winchester and Boyce to steady the ship.
To their credit, Dom Thomas picked out Michael Duffy at back post to equalize inside three minutes of Boyd’s strike. Winger to winger, the outstretched frame of 10-time League of Ireland champion Sean Gannon was beaten by Thomas’s accuracy.
Shels instantly responded through Caffrey’s low, bobbling effort off Mark Connolly’s shin after Boyd won his aerial dual with Todd.
It was 3-1 before the turn when Boyd converted a penalty he won when Todd bundled him over just inside the Derry box.
Odubeko became a problem for Derry once the action resumed. The Dublin-born, former West Ham United finisher was determined to leave his mark on a unique occasion with four thunderous efforts being milimetres off putting a fourth past Brian Maher.
Derry could not handle the 22-year-old’s power and pace. Nor could they cope with Boyd before the lights went out.
Elsehwere, Cork City returned to the top flight with 2-2 draw against Galway United while St Pat’s and Drogheda finished 0-0 at Richmond Park.
Next up is Bohemians versus Shamrock Rovers in front of 30,000 fans at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
After the power blip, it is onwards and upwards.
Shelbourne: Kearns; Gannon, Barrett, Bone, Ledwidge; Caffrey (O’Kane 87), Coyle, McInroy (Lunney 66), Wood; Boyd (Chapman 81), Odubeko (Martin 87).
Derry City: Maher, R Boyce, Connolly, Todd, Ferguson; Duffy, Winchester (Diallo 61), O’Reilly, Thomas (McMullan 78); Hoban (Whyte 69), L Boyce (Patton 69).
Referee: Robert Harvey.
Other results:
Cork City 2 (Dijksteel 34, Bolger 51) Galway United 2 (Hickey 45+1, Borden 81)
St Patrick’s Athletic 0 Drogheda United 0
