Matt Jarvis brace downs St Pat's as Shelbourne continue winning ways

Talk of Shelbourne's title credentials will only get louder after they saw off St Patrick’s Athletic at Richmond Park for their fifth league win in a row to march five points clear at the Premier Division summit.

FULL MATCH DETAILS

A sumptuous second half brace from Will Jarvis ensured Shelbourne earned their third successive Dublin derby victory and left the Saints reeling in eighth place, 10 points off the top after six games.

Jarvis made time stop in the 48th minute as he nonchalantly cut in from the left and passed a low curling effort through a barrage of bodies which nestled in the far corner.

It was a thing of beauty and it was met with a seal of approval from Damien Duff who just stood and applauded.

Ironically, Pats thought time had stopped when Liam Burt was brought down and Jarvis punished them with another curling finish before Jake Mulraney’s header pulled one back for the hosts and ended Shels’ run of 342 minutes without conceding.

An entertaining opening half ended with just one shot on target between the sides but it wasn’t for a lack of chances.

Duff instructed Kearns to go long from kickouts to Sean Boyd whose influence grew as the half wore on and he stood up an excellent cross to the back post but former Saint Matty Smith blasted over.

A snapshot from Brandon Kavanagh was well held by Kearns and that was the best Jon Daly’s men had to offer in a lacklustre first-half performance.

Pats had three strong penalty appeals turned down by referee Rob Harvey in the first half, the biggest claim came when Kearns’ skewed clearance broke for Jason McClelland who went down under pressure from the recovering Sean Gannon.

Shels’ four-pronged attack of Liam Burt, Jarvis, Smith and Boyd caused the Saints huge problems,