Geoghegan gets hat trick as Shelbourne go back to basics

THE top four lose while, first, Shamrock Rovers, then St Patrick's Athletic and now Shelbourne all win. An interesting weekend. Curiously, this Shelbourne scoreline wasn't especially indicative of what happened at the Car lisle Grounds, but it will probably be recalled as the day the Stephen Geoghegan Pat Morley partnership came alive.

Both scored their first goals of the season, and while Geoghegan took home the match ball courtesy of a classic hat trick (left foot, right foot and a header) the really encouraging aspect of this overdue win for Shelbourne will have been the duo's third and most productive outing together in a disrupted season. To paraphrase Bogey, this may be the beginning of a beautiful partnership.

Some may take other signals from this win over a Bray side sadly and chronically short of self belief. Shelbourne went back to basics yesterday, but, in returning to a good old 4-4-2, this wasn't in truth a vintage Shelbourne performance, despite some high class finishing. But then again, when did this game ever make sense?

The regulation back four had their ropey moments, especially in the second quarter of the game, when on a more unlucky day they might even have conceded a penalty and been reduced to 10 men after Alan Gough appeared to catch Kieran O'Brien on the edge of the area.

However, bearing in mind the enforced absence of Pat Scully, Brian Flood, John O'Rourke and Dave Tilson, this was understandable. New partnerships ensued, in central defence (Sean Riordan and Mick Neville) and central midfield (Dave Campbell and Tony Sheridan). Riordan, though, done fine, and it was great to see the talented centre half complete his first league game since sustaining a career threatening knee ligament injury against Derry on August 28th, 1994.

Alas, it was not one of Sheridan's the orthodox formation may have cleared the lines to the front two, but may also have allowed him less freedom to roam forward and thus stifled his attacking instincts.

Against that, there was the Geoghegan Morley axis. And, anyway, after three defeats, a win is a win is a win.

"Coming out of a little rut you don't suddenly switch to sublime," observed Damien Richardson. "Today was the first step. Confidence is ultimately the most vital factor. Without confidence, ability doesn't count for much."

Bray, with fewer resources, are understandably shorter in ability and, now, even more so in confidence.

"This is the worse time I've known," confided an otherwise chipper Pat Devlin afterwards. "We're working so hard and I honestly couldn't ask for any more. I don't think some of the lads are up to it at the moment. We need new blood, but unfortunately there isn't money there."

As he pointed out, one of the anomalies of this Bray outfit is that in trying to develop younger players and more of a passing game, they've lost that old Wanderers' gung ho spirit, which in times past at least gave the visitors a physically tough afternoon by the seaside.

Actually, Shelbourne fairly coasted to victory. Aside from getting a few breaks, this time they scored early within four minutes of the kick off.

One of the plusses in 4-4-2 is that it puts Mark Rutherford in his most effective position, that of out and out left winger. Ever dangerous all afternoon, he took on Ray Kenny on the outside, and he whipped in a superb cross which Morley converted with a textbook downward header inside the near post that gave Pat Trehy no chance.

Bray couldn't get out of their half - nor stop conceding frees, in the eyes of the excellent Mick Tomney. After 23 minutes Vaudequin and Geoghegan combined brilliantly for the goal of the match. The former took a throw from Gough deep inside his own half, an the two players contributed three times to a pitch length move, which also involved Greg Costello, which culminated in Geoghegan converting Vaudequin's return centre with an instinctive stretch of his left foot.

Shelbourne eased up and Bray came into the game for a spell. Full debutants Dom Tierney and Graham O'Hanlon caused problems with late runs in support of Kieran O'Brien. Apart from Gough's reprieve, the goalkeeper also saved well from Kenny's header.

Rutherford hit the Bray upright with a stinging drive at the end of a brilliant, 60 yard solo run, before Kieran O'Brien beat the off side trap and squared the ball to Robbie Coyle, only for Costello to make a superb sliding tackle.

Shelbourne tightened up after the break and the game was going nowhere in particular when Morley released Geoghegan for a sublime, first time lobbed volley from 20 yards over Trehy after 72 minutes.

Two minutes later the goalkeeper had no chance again when the league's master predator completed his hat trick by converting - a penetrating cross from brother Declan with a glancing header inside the far post.

The system debate will rage, but Shelbourne can take heart from some things. Morley is up and running. And Geoghegan is back.