City sitting pretty

Shelbourne 0 Cork City 2

And for Pat Fenlon, who has now seen his Shelbourne side lose three on the trot, the night brought only further woe as his injury list lengthened.

It was a wee bit premature to be talking about a championship decider, perhaps, but clearly more than three points were up for grabs not that you would have known it to judge by the woefully disappointing attendance, as live tv coverage and the threat of rain kept the crowds away.

But with Shels coming into the game following rare back to back defeats and Cork on a roll after victory against Derry had brought them level at the top on points, there was a sense that the repercussions of the result here would be felt much further down the line.

Suspended Shelbourne manager Pat Fenlon, spending his second game confined to the stand where he had the company of the watching Republic of Ireland Under 21s saw his squad's strength in depth tested even before the kick-off, with top scorer Richie Baker, Ollie Cahill, Dave Crawley and Alan Moore all ruled out by injury.

For Cork City Liam Kearney, who picked up an ankle injury against Derry, failed a late fitness test, while Denis Behan was also ruled out with a fractured cheekbone from the game at Turner's Cross. Gary O' Neill was chosen ahead of Glen Crowe to partner Jason Byrne upfront for Shels while Damien Richardson handed Neale Fenn the task of filling in for Behan at the opposite end.

Shelbourne started by far the brighter of the two sides and, barely five minutes into the game, almost took the lead. Bobby Ryan, full of pace and trickery, drifted in from the right and split the Cork defence with a pass that put Jason Byrne through on goal. But City keeper Michael Devine reacted quickly, coming off his line to block the striker's shot, the ball rebounding off Byrne and going out for a goal kick.

In a tame first half, there was another injury setback for Shelbourne when Dave Rogers, occupying the left full berth, was forced off with an ankle problem after 38 minutes.

Captain Owen Heary moved across the line to fill the gap with substitute Stephen Brennan taking over at right back.

Even as Shels were regrouping, George O'Callaghan sought to exploit the situation, picking out the perfect pass from midfield to find Neale Fenn in space on the right side of the penalty area, but his shot was blazed high over the bar.

Then, in the last action of the first half, Billy Woods did well to get to the line, his cross from the left ending up at the feet of Fenn again, but this time his close-range snapshot was straight at keeper Steve Williams.

The second half was only five minutes old when Shels' injury woes threatened to turn into a full blown crisis as Cork's Roy O'Donovan was yellow carded for a heavy tackle on Owen Heary which left the Shels captain struggling. A couple of minutes later Heary had to retire but by then City had struck decisively, Neale Fenn's cross from the right being deftly headed across the goal and inside the far post by the unmarked Roy O' Donovan.

As the home side were forced to reshuffle yet again, Wes Hoolahan came on, and Stuart Byrne, taking over the captain's armband, became the home side's third left-back of the game.

In what was proving a much livelier second half, Joseph Ndo came close for the champions with a deflected shot through a crowded box which Devine, having to adjust quickly, did well to save on the line.

For City, John O' Flynn came off the bench for Kevin Doyle but now most of the action was in the other box as Shels pressed for an equaliser. The home side put together some neat passing moves but the cutting edge was lacking, and when a sight of goal did show through, the resolute Dan Murray was alert to any danger at the heart of the Cork defence.

Then, on 74 minutes, there was further cruel luck for the Dubliners, as George O' Callaghan and John O' Flynn combined to put the defence under pressure, only for Shels sub Stephen Brennan to turn the latter's stabbed shot into his own net.

Immediately, Glen Crowe replaced Jason Byrne but even with three upfront, Shelbourne could not retrieve a game which saw them surrender top spot to their Leeside rivals.

SHELBOURNE: Williams, Heary (Hoolahan 57) Harris, Hawkins, Rogers (Brennan 38), Ryan, Byrne S, Crawford, Ndo, O' Neill, Byrne J (Crowe 75)

CORK CITY: Devine, Woods, Bennett, Murray, O' Brien, Horgan, Woods, O' Callaghan, O' Donovan (O' Halloran 84), Gamble, Fenn (Murray 91), Doyle (O' Flynn 65).

Referee: Dave McKeown