Emmet Malone at Richmond Park
Shamrock Rovers 1 Shelbourne 4:
A goal in European competition may have eluded Jason Byrne so far this season but the Shelbourne support will be pinning their hopes on the striker breaking his duck in Lille all the more after his polished hat-trick helped the league leaders strengthen their position at the top of the Premier Division table with a win at Richmond Park.
The scoreline was a little harsh on Rovers who, despite the absence of several established players, produced a spirited performance. But Shelbourne had clearly earned the points by the end of a game in which they steadily established their superiority.
Noel Synnott had said before the game he expected his team to go out and "have a go" and the Rovers players were certainly as good as their manager's word, even if they didn't quite get the sort of start the home crowd were looking for.
Within two minutes, in fact, the hosts were behind with Jason Byrne taking his record from the penalty spot this season to four from four attempts after Jason McGuinness had allowed Stuart Byrne to steal possession inside his own area and Russell Payne had taken the Shelbourne midfielder down.
Had the league leaders been given half a chance to settle on the lead then Rovers might well have struggled to find a way back into the game, but the southsiders struck back almost immediately.
Steven Gough started the move that led to the equaliser by feeding Shane Robinson down the right from where the winger sent in a low cross that Steve Williams failed to deal with, allowing Mark O'Brien to drive the loose ball into the roof of the net from just five yards out.
The frantic pace of those opening minutes was maintained through much of what followed with Rovers rarely giving their opponents the sort of time they wanted to play the football they would have liked.
Instead, the Shelbourne midfield was subjected to some ferociously determined tackling and the visiting players quickly entered into the spirit of things.
Referee Paul McKeon should have done more to contain things early, with Shane Robinson, in particular, getting away lightly on a number of occasions and David Crawley, already on a booking from the first period, fortunate just short of the hour not to be sent off after a tangle with Robinson in which he clearly kicked his opponent as he turned to walk away.
By then Shelbourne were back in front thanks to Jason Byrne, who beat the home side's offside trap to latch on to a Wes Hoolahan through ball before slotting home past the oncoming Payne.
Worse was to follow for Synnott's men, though, for Shelbourne doubled their lead from the free they were awarded after the encounter between Robinson and Crawley.
The Shelbourne left back floated the ball across the field to Owen Heary, who promptly found Jason Byrne in a lot of space deep inside the Rovers area, and the striker had plenty of time to control the ball, turn and shoot for his third hat-trick of the league campaign.
Throughout the half hour that remained Rovers continued to chase the goal that would have brought them back into the game but Shelbourne looked like a side that knew the match was won.
Hoolahan, a first-half replacement for Joseph Ndo, who limped off with a recurrence of the groin strain that troubled him during last week's UEFA Cup game, was a constant source of trouble for the home side's defence.
Jason Byrne also had a couple of half chances to add to his tally before the night was out but in the end it was Thomas Morgan who wrapped things up nicely for the visitors with long-range strike two minutes into injury time.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Payne; Gough, McGuinness (Cousins, 65 mins), Palmer, Doyle; Robinson, O'Brien, O'Halloran (Daniel, 65 mins), Rutherford; Grant, Mooney (Thornton, 80 mins).
SHELBOURNE: Williams; Heary, Harris, Rogers, Crawley; Cawley, S Byrne, Crawford (Morgan, 53 mins), Cahill; Ndo (Hoolahan, 16 mins), J Byrne (G McCarthy, 87 mins).
Referee: P McKeon (Dublin)