Shelbourne came away from Belfield Park with a deserved three points on a night when their effort off the ball was more impressive than their effort on the ball. Although the visitors were limited to just three efforts on goal, they stifled the Students' play enough to certainly warrant all three points in a generally quiet game.
Pete Mahon made two changes from the team which was unlucky not to grab a point in Drogheda - Conan Byrne came in for Pat Kavanagh and Derek Doyle replaced Darragh Ryan. And UCD's cause wasn't helped when they gifted Shels an opener on the quarter hour; just as in the away game, Alan McNally gave away the ball on the edge of the area, where Jason Byrne was lurking. He squared to Stuart Byrne, with Darren Quigley getting a touch, but Stuart Byrne was able to receive the ball and tap hom into an empty net from two yards out.
The remainder of the half was fairly tight, and it wasn't until the first minute of the second half that major action occurred again, when Steve Williams had to be down very sharp at his near post to keep out Conan Byrne's cross; even then, the keeper looked suspiciously as if he had carried Byrne's cross over the line.
The result, however, was put beyond doubt with a second Shels goal on 52 minutes, when Richie Baker was allowed to rise unchallenged to head home a corner.
The game took a slightly nasty turn when a ten-man altercation developed on thehalf-way line after a late tackle; one player from either side was ultimately booked - Paul Crowley being the home player into the ref's notebook.
With the introduction of Kieran Harte and Paul Byrne - and the probable relaxation of the visitors, UCD finally started to get a foothold on the game, although it was the visitors who should have made it 3-0. A mis-kick from Darragh Ryan was collected by Darren Quigley, only for the referee to award a free in for a back-pass. Jason Byrne planted the ball three yards out from goal and squared to Glen Crowe, whose shot cleared not only the bar, but also the wall and the Glenomena residences beyond. In fact, the ball ultimately landed on the flat roof of the laundrette, and was given up as irretrievable.
However, UCD created some excellent chances as the game went on. Conor Sammon picked the ball up on he edge of the area and ghosted past two Shels defenders before scuffing his shot, while a minute later, some excellent play saw Derek Doyle play through Paul Crowley, but his shot from six yards from a narrow angle hit the side netting, although the ref saw fit to award a corner for a save no-one else in the ground had seen.
However, Shels comfortably held on to their lead to win a game when they weren't at their best with the ball, but harried their hosts to great effect. The Students will look to next week's trip to Dalymount Park as a more important game, with the winners staking a huge claim on seventh spot with only two games remaining.
UCD - Quigley; Kenna, K Doyle (Ryan 44), McNally, McDonnell; Crowley, C Byrne (P Byrne 70), Dicker (Harte 65), D Doyle; Finn, Sammon
Att - 1250
