Super Shels scale summit

Deportivo La Coruna 0 Shelbourne 0

That’s Deportivo, Champions League semi-finalists, replete with stars like Jorge Andrade and Walter Pandiani. Diego Tristan and Juan Fran might have been absent but the Spanish defence was being marshalled by Andrade, the purists’ footballer of Euro 2004, their attack featured the unpredictable skills of Valeron and Pandiani. And yet, Shelbourne held them scoreless.

More than that, Shelbourne controlled the game. For a long time, it looked like the night could be even more special, more sensational than the most starry-eyed Shelbourne dreamer could imagine. Every time, Wesley Hoolihan touched the ball, with each crunching Owen Heary tackle, you could feel there was something in the soft mist around the stadium.