Well, what a game. It had everything the First Division is supposed to not, a good crowd, good atmosphere and plenty of entertainment.
I thought we played some really nice stuff and times and were worth the win. The lads showed great character to battle back from being behind twice, once with ten men. You can argue that Shelbourne failed to take the game to us in the final half hour but we played with confidence and skill. So cavalier was our attitude that I was convinced we'd concede on a break.
I can't comment on some of the flashpoints, the offside goaland the possible infringement as the Shels player closed in on goal in second half. I do feel Barron was fouled for Shels' second goal though. Without wanting to focus on negatives I thought that Shelbourne were again overly aggressive and the combustible Shorthall exploded in these circumstances. I'm very disappointed he was dragged down to that level but it's disappointed to see a second consecutive red card against Shelbourne where we have won a free kick and reacted to the aggressive posturing of their players that is characteristic of their attitude and style. Our best chance of taking something from the game was to play football and leave Shelbourne to their fouling and thankfully we regained our composure shorty after that red card and got our rewards.
I hope we can continue to play with the style and fluidity of the last month and carry that into our final five games. If we do that then I feel we can take the five successive wins needed to take the title. The return of Creevey is a great boost and I felt he made the difference when he came on last night. I think our large squad and high fitness levels will play a big role in the final stretch. Obviously we also need some of the other results to go our way in the coming weeks.
