Shelbourne 0 - 0 Sporting Fingal

You know that feeling you get sometimes...It’s a big day, big game, make or break your season. You play your newest and most local of rivals at home. You sit top of the table with a game in hand. Oh yes, this is going to be great: Then BAM! Welcome back to reality.

Well that was what happened at Tolka Park tonight. The first forty-five minutes may as well have played host to a match between a pack of sedated Thompson Gazelle’s and Kildare County. That’s right, Kildare County. I can’t for the life of me remember a half of football with less shots. (Post match I remembered the Ireland v Northern Ireland game for Omagh way back when, Grr)

Dinny Corcoran did, in a rare moment of attacking prowess, trouble Dean Delaney after a half hour. Chris Deans hoofed the ball forward and after Alan Keely made a meal of shielding the ball out of play, Corcoran nipped in but shot straight at the keeper. Other than that, the visitors only other effort of note was a Paul Caffrey shot from twenty-five yards. It went out for a throw, just.

Shels’, despite enjoying a bit more possession than Sporting, created even less. Robbie Hedderman headed wide at one point. That’s it. Half time 0-0

The second half, however, was miles better. Sporting attacked immediately and did well to force a corner that ultimately came to nothing. Then a minute later David McAllister saw the ball bounce kindly for him on the edge of the Fingal area, but his volley went just wide.

There seemed a bit more buzz about the place, the 1144 fans finally making some noise. Indeed the increase of 300 fans from the postponed meeting on Friday was pretty impressive.

On fifty-five minutes McAllister played a great ball across the floor to the onrushing, and again impressively industrious, Anto Flood, however Philip Byrne stuck a toe out and poked the ball to safety. McAllister, now seemingly class, broke onto a Mark O’Brien pass on the edge of the area moments later, but his shot didn’t do his excellent positioning justice.

Direct from the feet of the keeper, then, Dinny Corcoran took a touch and was in on goal at the other end, but his angled shot hit the post and came out.

On sixty-one minutes a bit of magic from Freeman played the ball to McAllister again on the edge of the area. This time his volley rifled goalwards and had to be palmed over. From the resulting corner, the ball dropped at McAllister’s now surely stinging feet, but his shot was blocked on the line by the unfortunately placed Freeman: It was all Shels’.

With ten minutes to go, James Keddy’s deep cross made its way to the unmarked Alan Murphy at the back post, but his very well struck volley crashed against the bar. Immediately down the other end Colm James rolled a pass to John Frost whose twenty-five yard effort whizzed just over. Thirty seconds later and poor covering for a high ball let Conan Byrne rush onto a free ball but his drilled shot flew just wide. Alan Byrne then attacked by himself from the Shels’ half but his final ball couldn’t release an understandably irate Flood in front of goal.

With time running out, Mark O’Brien found space in the area after a Robbie Hedderman cross, but his shot tamely rolled towards goal and was easily saved. James Keddy volleyed high and wide from a long way out and then, in injury time, Keddy’s cross found Flood free on the six yard box. However the striker failed to head either side of the imminent Clarke and the chance was gone. With that, time ran out. Shels’ dominated the game but couldn’t convert their second half chances into goals. In what was clearly a must win game for both sides, at least Shels’ tried.

Shelbourne: Dean Delany; Alan Murphy, Alan Keely, Damien Brennan, Robbie Hedderman; David McAllister, David McGill, Mark O’Brien (James Chambers 87), Mark Rutherford (James Keddy 62); Anto Flood, David Freeman.
Subs not used: Vinny Whelan, Andrei Georgescu, Alan Byrne.

Sporting Fingal: Brendan Clarke; Brian Gannon, Chris Deans, Philip Byrne, John Frost; Conan Byrne (Brian Morrisroe 87), Colm James, Paul Caffrey, Christy Doran; Dinny Corcoran (Peter Hynes 70), Paul Byrne (Willie Doyle 70).
Subs not used: Steve Williams, Derek Tyrell.

Referee: Tom Connolly.

Attendance: 1,244

Extratime Man of the Match: David McAllister (Shelbourne).