Shelbourne 1-0 Sporting Fingal

Shelbourne strengthened their grip on top spot in the First Division by defeating second-placed Sporting Fingal at Morton Stadium courtesy of Richie Baker’s 47th minute strike.

The Reds now hold a seven point advantage over Fingal with a game in hand and are four ahead of UCD, who beat Wexford Youths 1-0 in the night’s other fixture.

Conan Byrne, Sporting’s hat-trick hero in last week’s win over Monaghan, spurned a great chance to fire Fingal into the lead after only four minutes from the penalty spot only for goalkeeper Dean Delaney to stop the effort. The Shels goalkeeper brought Byrne down inside the area following a threaded pass by Robert Bayly.

Chances were squandered at both ends in the first half. Shaun Williams broke into the Shels penalty area but his shot didn’t have the power to get past Delaney while Shane McFaul was inches away from the lead goal as his right-footed effort curled towards the top corner but angled slightly over the crossbar.

Shels striker Anthony Flood, partnered by ex-Fingal forward Peter Hynes, had a sight of goal on two occasions but Darren Quigley held his nerve to thwart the hitman eah time.

The second half was less than two minutes old when the only goal of the contest arrived. Richie Baker’s in-singing free kick looked destined to find a head of a team mate but that wasn’t required as it breezed past everyone and inside the far post.

Eamon Zayed and Daniel Corcoran were sprung from the bench during the final 15 minutes and their presence resulted in sustained pressure by the visitors during the latter stages.

Corcoran was on the end of two attempts which Delaney gathered as the game slipped away from Fingal.

Shelbourne: Delaney, Quigley, Crawley, Hedderman, Brennan, Colin OBrien, McGill, McAllister, Hynes, Flood, Baker. Subs used: Doyle and Georgescu.

Sporting Fingal: Quigley; Gannon, P Byrne, Whelan, Paisley: Williams, McFaul, Bayly,; C Byrne (Zayed), O’Neill (Corcoran), Kirby (Fitzgerald).