Shelbourne strike late to secure draw against Dundalk

Shelbourne and Dundalk shared the points after second-half goals from Patrick Hoban and Sean Boyd.

The Lilywhites comfortably passed the ball around in the opening ten minutes as Sloggett, Benson and Bradley combined well in attack.

To their credit, Shelbourne, despite having to deal with waves of Dundalk pressure in the opening stages stuck to their task and limited Dundalk to very little in terms of serious chances.

They could have even taken the lead against the run of play on ten minutes, Brian McManus' inswinging corner causing Sheppard more problems than it should have as the keeper flapped at what seemed like an easy take, causing panic amongst his defence.

Dundalk continued to forage forward as the first half progressed but struggled to ask any real questions of the home side as their excellent link-up play in attack was stifled by how lateral Dundalk were being in trying to open up the defence.

The best chance of the half fell to JR Wilson on 34 minutes and he really should have put his side ahead with a glorious chance at the back post.

Aodh Dervin started the move off in midfield, doing well to find his captain Luke Byrne free on the left. Byrne raced past Sam Bone before swinging a low ball right across the face of the box to the unmarked Wilson at the back post.

Wilson’s eyes lit up as the ball came his way but he got it all wrong, blazing his effort well clear of the bar.

Chances were few and far between in the second half but with 20 minutes remaining in the game, goal machine Hoban broke the deadlock with a superb header from close range.

The lively Keith Ward played provider for Hoban with a perfectly weighted ball onto the head of his team mate to find the bottom corner for the opening goal of the night.

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