Longford Town produced their most inspiring performance of the season against Shelbourne at Flancare Park on Saturday night, to begin their bid to move away from the wrong end of the table in earnest.
Victory moved the home side out of the bottom three for the first time since September.
Longford's luck was in when Shelbourne's Stephen Geoghegan missed the proverbial sitter in the 53rd minute and Town grabbed their priceless match-winning goal just three minutes later.
Midfielder Alan Reynolds played a long ball from defence which found Lavine on the edge of the penalty area. The Barbados international edged away from Kevin Doherty and Tony McCarthy before slipping the ball under the body of Shelbourne goalkeeper Steve Williams.
LONGFORD TOWN: O'Brien, Murphy, O'Halloran, Perth, McNally, Prunty, Reynolds, S Byrne, Kirby, Lavine, O'Connor. Subs: Holt for Kirby (84); Coleman for O'Connor (87);
SHELBOURNE: Williams, Heary, Minnock, McCarthy, Hutton, Doherty, Crawford, Fenlon, D Byrne, Geoghegan, B Byrne. Subs: R Baker for B Byrne (61); Houlihan for D Byrne (77).
Referee: D McKeon (Dublin)
