Skilful Shelbourne sweep Sligo aside

REPETITIVE? Yes. Boring? No. Watching Shelbourne these days is always good. Utterly out passing, out manoeuvring and out thinking a patchwork Sligo Rovers, Shelbourne extended their unbeaten surge to eight games. It almost goes without saying that Pat Morley and Stephen Geoghegan applied the gloss finish.

Since the two were put up front together in a reversion to good old 4-4-2 against Bray Wanderers on October 20th they have accounted for all bar one of Shelbourne's goals, which brought the ensuing haul of 20 points out of 24. The two strikers yesterday took their haul to 17 in those eight games.

Sligo were never allowed settle on the ball by a voracious home side, not that Rovers were that way inclined.

Utilising the quick fire James Mulligan as the joker in the pack, roaming from a nominal position behind the front two, Sligo's clear policy was to play the ball early and long over the top. But all it succeeded in doing was give possession back to Shelbourne courtesy of their ever alert back four, whose virtues were epitomised in Mick Neville's flawless display.

The pattern of the 90 minutes hardly varied. A Rovers man hoofed it long. One of the Shelbourne back four won it. A midfielder linked up, and back came Shelbourne again.

With Johnny Kenny on the bench and the team wingless in a revised 3-4-1-2 formation, the visitors were skinned along the flanks, from where Mark Rutherford and Pascal Vaudequin peppered the Rovers area.

With Jimmy Mullen pitching his inexperienced on loan 20 year olds from Wrexham, Steve Futhcer and Lewis Coady, straight in, Rovers needed to settle in. A ninth minute Shelbourne goal ensured they wouldn't.

It had it's element of good fortune, Morley scoring his seventh goal for his new club - and, surprisingly, the first non-header - with what was intended to be a cross. Checking back on to his right foot, Morley delivered an inswinging cross. Stephen Geoghegan's run to the near post took Dale Hawtin with him and checked O'Neill, the ball slanting inside the far post.

Growing cockier by the minute, some of Morley's lay offs, flicked, backheeled or whatever, were a highlight of the game and six minutes before the break he initiated, and completed a contender for goal of the month, or goal of the season, were RTE to have such a thing.

Receiving the ball in the centre circle, Morley picked out Vaudequin's run up the right with a sweeping crossfield ball and was then calmly picked out by the Frenchman with a floated centre beyond the far post. Morley took advantage of the space he was afforded to score with a bullet like header into the top corner.

The pattern hardly varied in an equally one sided second half. One of several sweet moves stands out; Tony Sheridan's delightful skills setting up another potential goal of the season when he worked successive one twos with Stephen Geoghegan and Morley, the latter's backheel playing Sheridan in. Stephen Geoghegan's arrival saw them both leave the ball with the goal abegging.

It took Sligo 80 minutes to muster their first shot, Padraig Moran latching onto Mulligan's clever pass inside to round Pat Scully, but the alert Alan Gough sprinted from his line to smother the danger.

Shelbourne's third goal came after 85 minutes. Neville brilliantly released Vaudequin, who crossed for Stephen Geoghegan to score with a superb first time volley, tucked into the bottom corner.