Damien Duff claims fitness coach subjected to racial abuse during win at Richmond Park

Shelbourne manager Damien Duff claimed a member of his backroom staff was racially abused during their 2-1 win over St Patrick's Athletic at Richmond Park on Friday night.

Two second-half goals from Will Jarvis set the north Dublin side on their way to a 2-1 victory, extending their early lead at the top of the Premier Division to five points.

However, Duff said afterwards that the club's Portuguese strength and conditioning coach Mauro Martins had been subjected to racial abuse during the game.

"Tonight, Mauro, our fitness coach - one of the best in the league, one of the best in the world - he's from Portugal, he got racially abused," Duff told RTÉ Sport after the game.

"That's all I'll say on the matter. I'll leave it up to whoever the relevant people are."

Asked whether the incident will be reported, Duff replied: "I don't know. I don't know who you've to speak to in this country.

"In a strange way, I'll thank the fans because it gave us an extra incentive to go and do it for Mauro. Because we're a family. We're not a squad, we're not a football club, we're a family. And the lads were desperate to go and get the win for Mauro.

"I don't know who takes it over now. Yes, it's been said. There's obviously no proof, it'll get brushed under the carpet."

As for the victory, Shelbourne's fifth in a row, Duff was more enthused by the manner of the performance than he had following the victories over Sligo Rovers and Galway United.

"I think we deserved to win. You might correct me and say for the last 30 minutes, we got peppered a bit.

"They got into the game more [thanks to] our bad stuff. Not keeping the ball, not getting up the pitch. I can't say I was feeling really threatened but then it becomes a nervy game because they nick the