Shelbourne's unlikely title charge might be the real deal as they sent out a massive statement at Tallaght Stadium with a first away win over Shamrock Rovers since 2005.
Will Jarvis was at the double from the penalty spot as Shels moved six points clear of Derry City at the top of the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division and nine ahead of Rovers whose fifth defeat of the season is more than they had in the entirety of 2023.
It’s three wins in the space of a week for Damien Duff’s side who showed they have the squad depth to go the distance in the race for the Premier Division title.
Shelbourne got the win but Shamrock Rovers self-destructed and coughed up the chances through individual errors with the unfortunate Pico Lopes sent off for two yellows after bringing Matty Smith down in the area twice.
Shelbourne’s goal came against the run of play and having caught out the Hoops with a long ball in their first meeting in Tolka Park, they did so again as Josh Honohan inexplicably let a Conor Kearns goal kick sail over his head, allowing Matty Smith to pounce through on goal.
The despairing Pico Lopes was left scrambling and could only bring him down allowing Jarvis to convert from the spot after 19 minutes.
The fickleness of football was on show in the first half. Rovers could have easily been 2-0 up after striking the woodwork twice in the opening ten minutes.
But a Jarvis penalty and three injury enforced substitutes later saw Stephen Bradley's side endure a nightmare first 45.
The hosts did respond instantly with Graham Burke forcing Kearns into a smart stop from a free kick.
Things began to unravel for the champions and the pattern of the game became fragmented as Daniel Cleary, Josh Honhan and Trevor Clarke were forced off through injury within fifteen minutes.
Shamrock Rovers almost proved architects of their own downfall again as Markus Poom slipped and presented the ball to Jarvis who drove towards goal but to Poom’s credit, the Estonian came roaring back to retrieve the situation.
Shelbourne came flying out of the traps after the break with Jarvis stinging the palms of Leon Pohls just seconds after kick off.
Ten minutes later disaster struck for Rovers again. There was no saving grace for Poom this time as his attempted pass to Darragh Nugent was picked off by Smith and Jarvis broke away.
The Hull City loanee showed great composure to square the ball to Smith who went down in the area from the sliding challenge of Lopes who was shown a second yellow.
Jarvis stepped up to rifle the penalty into the top corner and send Shels on their way to a famous victory.
Shelbourne were comfortable for the remainder and Kearns went untested between the sticks as an injury ravaged Rovers failed to land a punch.
The Reds won just once in nine games before last Friday but they now have clear daylight between themselves and the chasing pack while Bradley’s drive for five has lost a wheel.
Shamrock Rovers: Léon-Maurice Pöhls; Trevor Clarke (Aaron Greene 45), Daniel Cleary (Lee Grace 29), Neil Farrugia, Joshua Honohan (Aaron McEneff 34), Pico; Jack Byrne (Conan Noonan 82), Darragh Nugent, Markus Poom; Graham Burke, Johnny Kenny.
Shelbourne: Conor Kearns; Patrick Barrett, Sean Gannon, Kameron Ledwidge, Gavin Molloy; Evan Caffrey (Shane Farrell 90), Mark Coyle, William Jarvis (Sean Boyd 72), Jonathan Lunney (Jad Hakiki 76), John O'Sullivan (Tyreke Wilson 55); Matthew Smith (Dean Williams 76).
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