MURPHY'S LAW struck Shelbourne with a vengeance at Tolka Park last night pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong. A game Finn Harps, their commitment swelling as the night progressed, hung on to a two goal first half lead for all their worth and could scarcely conceal their delight as they made off with an unexpected fourth win on the spin.

Save for a spell leading up to half time, when the double whammy from Finn Harps left them discernibly gutted and they couldn't string two passes together, Shelbourne bombarded the visitors' goal.

The tone had been set the previous night, in fact, when Pat Morley crashed his car. His replacement for it, a hired car, went up in flames - and he eventually ended on the bench rather than an intended starting slot.

Shelbourne began brightly, conceded an unlucky goal, missed a penalty, fell apart at the seams, had two players injured, another sent off as part of a quid pro quo double dismissal, regrouped, had a goal disallowed and peppered the Harps' goal.

Their second half performance lacked nothing in effort. That they looked to have an extra man was in part down to Tony Sheridan giving the performance of two men, matching his footballing genius by bursting a gut.

But Harps will also, no doubt, feel they deserved to win an absorbingly topsy turvy game, defending bravely and breaking quickly, where Derek Dowling's aerial threat and the elusive Jonathan Speak, brilliant in shielding the ball, all night, were a livewire Little and Large pair. Pre season predictions regarding their Harps' imminent return to the First Division now look premature.

Both sides employed 3-5-2 formations, though Harps' was set out more to constrain. Shelbourne took the game to Finn Harps from the off, and the game wasn't a minute old when Mark Rutherford shot fractionally wide on the turn with David Platt, who enjoyed a charmed night, well beaten.

Not for the first time this season, Shelbourne looked more dangerous down the right, Tony Sheridan's typically cheeky back heel freeing Rutherford early in the game for that rarity, a right footed cross, which Darren Kelly met with a full blooded diving header that Platt parried.

Harps had hardly threatened when they scored out of the blue with a fortuitous goal. John Quigg's pass inside was deflected by Kelly, unwittingly turning it into a through hall for Paddy McGranaghan. With Shelbourne slow across he ran on and powered an angled left footed drive in off the near post. Buoyed by this, Harps tackled and harried even more eagerly.

After 31 minutes Sheridan worked a delightful one two with Pascal Vaudequin and was tripped inside the area by Conor Frawley. Greg Costello struck the penalty firmly to Platt's right, where the young goalkeeper had dived, the ball smacking off his face and going round the post before he received treatment. Shelbourne could hardly have seen the funny side.

Increasingly, the threat of Harps' Jonathan Speak and Derek Dowling grew. The latter's nod on might have released Speak before Costello cut it off with his arm. From the resultant 37th minute free, Pierse Walsh's shot curled around the breaking wall and was parried by Alan Gough, Stephen Kelly reacting quickest to convert the rebound.

Shelbourne's confidence visibly drained as freely as fine soup through a strainer. But Harps could not capitalise any further and come the second half, the home side regrouped, despite injuries to Kelly and Stephen Geoghegan.

Further disruptions followed after 53 minutes when Pierse Walsh seemed to stiff arm Mick Neville in response to a foul and then lay prostrate when pushed by Sheridan. The latter was booked, and Neville harshly sentoff, as was Walsh who, bizarrely, stopped off en route to head away the ensuing free. As it turned out, this was taken too quickly for the liking of Tommy Traynor - a replacement referee for Mick Tomney.

When it was taken again, by Costello, Morley returned it across the area where Stephen Geoghegan pounced, but a linesman's flag over ruled the `goal'. Shelbourne upped the tempo and shots rained in on Platt's goal: Vaudequin, Flood, Morley and Flood again before a voracious Sheridan whizzed a free just wide with Platt hardly flickering.

Harps, gamely, were flinging themselves in the way of everything as all bar the kitchen sink was thrown at them. Finally, after 71 minutes, they were breached when Trevor Scanlon slipped, enabling Golden to tee up Rutherford for a cross shot which the recovering Scanlon could not keep out.