Ten man Shelbourne hold Rovers to a scoreless draw

Ten man Shelbourne maintained their top of the table status, holding champions Shamrock Rovers to yet another scoreless draw at Tolka Park.

Shelbourne sat 10 points ahead of Rovers this time a month ago and while the gap is down to three points now, the champions were unable to make up further ground against the leaders.

The Reds looked vulnerable to a late defeat when substitute Shane Farrell received a second yellow card with 15 minutes to go.

However, Damien Duff's men didn’t panic, even as the atmosphere cranked up a notch late on.

Shels may be without a win in their past five, but they still look disciplined, well organised and fitter than most other teams.

However, those attributes can only take you so far. Ultimately, it’s squads that win leagues. And it must be remembered this is still not Stephen Bradley's strongest squad.

Through injury, the champions are currently without Aaron McEneff, Graham Burke, Jack Byrne, Gary O’Neill and Sean Hoare – five players that could slot into nearly every other starting 11 in the country.

Four of the past five Tolka Park meetings between these sides have now ended in a draw, with three scoreless. Another cagey affair was the prediction of many around the ground.

Two strong defences could have killed this game as a spectacle, however, it was their efforts that brought this game to life.

Meeting a short corner routine, Roberto Lopes rattled the Shelbourne crossbar within 90 seconds. Josh Honohan plundered another shot goalward just a minute later.

Despite the Hoops’ lightning start, it was Shels who had the best of the half.

Matty Smith struck an early cross from the right before centre-back Paddy Barrett zipped a first-time effort towards the bottom corner. Leon Pohls pulled off a