Damien Duff was delighted with his side's performance in their top of the table clash with Shamrock Rovers, which ended scoreless at Tolka Park.
Shelbourne finished the game with ten men following substitute Shane Farrell’s red card with 20 minutes remaining, however, his side matched the league champions throughout and could have taken all three points.
In a game without too many goalscoring chances, Shelbourne had their fair share, with player of the match Paddy Barrett coming close to scoring in the first half of a very tight affair against Stephen Bradley’s Hoops.
Rovers did start the brighter and almost took the lead in the opening minutes when Roberto Lopes crashed his header off the woodwork, but otherwise, goalkeeper Conor Kearns was rarely troubled by the esteemed visitors.
And the Reds boss believes that he, once again, saw the best of his side, as they bounced back from some poor recent form.
"I loved our energy, our edge that we played with. We haven’t seen it for three weeks, but I’m glad that we have our team back, and long may it continue.
"It’s been a bad few weeks, results wise. People feeling sorry for themselves in and around the club, in the dressing room."
The manager has not been happy with recent performances and had no issue letting his players know that more is expected, as he implores his side to maintain the form that saw them take top spot in the Premier Division.
However, he also added that criticism has to be taken with a certain amount of context, considering the famous Dublin club are still looking to recreate the glory days of two decades ago when Shels were the top team in the land.
"People forget that this was a top of the table clash against Shamrock Rovers, the best team in the country and the best team that have been seen here for a long, long time," said Duff.
"We haven’t had a top of the table clash in 18 years, so everyone needs to appreciate how well the lads have done, including myself.
"Yeah, I’m hard on them, but I do give them enough love, I think.
"I’ve been trying to hammer that home the last three weeks to the guys. They haven’t liked my honesty, but all they’ll ever get off me.
"And we got a reaction tonight, a big, big reaction."
The one negative to take from the game was the dismissal of Farrell who was sent off just minutes after coming on, forcing the team to end the game on the back foot, losing the opportunity to make a late charge to snatch all three points.
And the manager gave an honest appraisal of the situation, and needless to say, he was not impressed with his midfielder, who he felt let the club down.
"It’s ridiculous, and I have no time for it," said Duff.
"I’ve spoken to him. He has certainly let his teammates down. Fans’ favourite, supposedly…he’s let the whole stadium down."
Rovers manager Bradley felt that his side coped admirably on a pitch he described as one of the worst that he has seen.
"We take the point and move on," said Bradley.
"You shouldn’t be surprised," when asked about his side’s recent good form, which has seen them move to within three points of top spot with a game in hand.
"This team have been the best team in the country for five years. It’s not a fluke, they go away from home and win games, that’s what they do."
Bradley, like his counterpart, picked up a caution during the game, and the Rovers boss was in the dark as to why he was cautioned after a situation occurred on the pitch that he was not happy with.
"I'm not too sure why to be honest," said Bradley, when asked about his yellow card.
"They're having a huddle and our players come over to listen to it and the linesman pushes our players away, which is incredibly strange. They are on the pitch, he has no reason to push them. I wasn’t happy with that; he needs to keep his hands off our players."
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