Shelbourne retained top spot in the Eircom League Premier Division with a hard won 3-1 win over Drogheda at United Park this evening.
Drogheda played a tight game early on making it difficult for Shels to play ball but both sides had chances in an open first half.
It was the visitors who broke the deadlock courtesy of a Stuart Byrne penalty awarded after Simon Webb handled the ball in the box after 34 minutes.
Drogheda still looked as if they could come back into it after the break but on 58 minutes a perfect pass from Glen Crowe set Ollie Cahill free and he cooly converted the pass to put Shels clear.
On 78 minutes an Owen Heary cracker from 35 yards out gave Dan Connor no chance and effectively ended any chance of Drogheda coming back into it even after a late Bradley goal from the penalty spot.
At the Carlysle Grounds it looked like Derry would overwhelm Bray when they went 3-0 up at the break courtesy of a goal from Ciaran Martyn and two from Kevin McHugh.
Andre Georgescu pulled one back three minutes into the second half for Bray and when Bray got their second courtesy of James with five minutes left it looked like the visitors might be suffering from a European hangover.
Bohemians looked lethargic in front of their home fans as they went down 1-0 to Longford who have been on a run of form lately. The goal came from Alan Kirby who volleyed past Stephen O'Brien in the Bohs goal from 16 yards.
Up at the Showgrounds UCD dominated Sligo Rovers although the students had difficulty converting their dominance into goals. They eventually went in fron on the 39th minute when Conor Sammon headed low into the corner from 6 yards out.
Results in full:
Premier Division Drogheda Utd 1 Shelbourne 3 Bray Wanderers 2 Derry City 3 Bohemians 0 Longford Town 1 Sligo Rovers 0 UCD 1
First Division Shamrock Rovers 1 Galway Utd O