Shelbourne remain top of the Premier Division after easing to their first win in six games against St Patrick's Athletic in front of almost 5000 fans at Tolka Park.
John Martin finished a flowing Shelbourne move just after the half hour mark for his second goal of the season and despite having a flurry of chances to put the game beyond doubt, it proved enough.
Shelbourne outplayed and outfought their Dublin rivals as their unlikely title charge got back on track while the Saints looked like title pretenders, currently failing to deliver on high expectations in a season that has lacked momentum.
After a scrappy opening half an hour where much of the entertainment was watching Damien Duff rant and rave, Shelbourne took over, building pressure before breaking the deadlock.
Shels dominated the closing stages of the half and peppered the Saints goal. The silky Will Jarvis turned the defence inside out before caressing the ball into the arms of Rogers who was alert moments later to deny JJ Lunney a landmark goal on his 100th Reds appearance.
Martin got an earful from Duff for most of the half but both were all smiles when he curled Matty Smith’s cross into the bottom corner from twelve yards in the 33rd minute.
Had it not been for some fine goalkeeping from Daniel Rogers, the gap might have been wider heading into the interval.
Jon Daly’s men, without a win in three before kick off, were on the ropes and a Jake Mulraney free kick that was tipped wide by Kearns was the best they could muster.
There was encouragement for the beleaguered Saints after the break with chances falling to Mulraney and Chris Forrester but Shels went unscathed and regained control.
Jarvis should have doubled the advantage but he fired over after picking up a stray Rogers clearance.
Duff reached the end of his tether with the officials when Jarvis was rightly flagged for offside but the free kick was taken in the Shelbourne half. After reminding them that you can’t be offside in your own half, he was shown his second yellow card in as many games.
Rogers was the only Pats player who can feel unlucky to have lost the game and he produced a stunning point blank stop from Gavin Molloy’s header in the 75th minute.
Frustration began to grow as the hosts struggled to put the game to bed but Pats failed to land a punch in stoppage time.
St Pat’s are now winless in four and have just two wins from their last eight league games after a toothless performance where they were bullied by the intensity of the hosts.
Shelbourne: Conor Kearns, Sean Gannon, Tyreke Wilson, Kameron Ledwidge, Jonathan Lunney, Mark Coyle, John Martin (Boyd 63), Matthew Smith (O’Sullivan), Gavin Molloy, Will Jarvis (Caffrey 88), Liam Burt
St Patrick’s Athletic: Daniel Rogers, Anto Breslin, Jamie Lennon (Palmer 63), Chris Forrester, Mason Melia (Cian Kavanagh 58), Brandon Kavanagh, Aaron Bolger (Leavy 78), Jake Mulraney (Nolan 63), Conor Keeley, Ryan McLaughlin, Luke Turner
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