Bray Wanderers ... 1 Shelbourne ... 2: A dramatic, 84th-minute winner from substitute Paul Beavers earned Shelbourne three precious points as they kept up the chase on leaders Bohemians at the Carlisle Grounds last night.

Former Sunderland man Beavers came on for Stephen Geoghegan on 80 minutes. It proved a master stroke for manger Pat Fenlon with Beavers heading home to keep the pressure on Bohemians.

Shelbourne looked the more dangerous side early on when Scottish striker Mark Roberts had one shot deflected for a corner after just eight minutes.

Bray, still without injured key first-team regulars Eddie Gormley, Thomas Morgan, Maurice Farrell and Jody Lynch, lacked penetration in front of goal.

With a certain inevitability it was Shelbourne who grabbed the lead on 23 minutes when Richie Baker supplied the pass for Geoghegan to turn a defender and square the ball for Stuart Byrne to score his eighth goal of the season from close range.

Only the excellence of Steve Williams in the Shelbourne goal prevented a Bray equaliser in the 49th minute when he pushed over a powerful, 25-yard free from Jason Byrne. From the resulting corner Williams missed the ball but recovered to block a shot from Tresson. However, Bray central defender Graham O'Hanlon was quickest to react shooting home.

Then substitute Beavers took centre stage with that dramatic late winner. A cross from Roberts on the right allowed the Blackpool-born striker to get in a looping header which caught goalkeeper John Walsh in no man's land and give Shelbourne a narrow victory.

BRAY WANDERERS: Walsh; O'Reilly, Tresson, O'Hanlon, Keogh; Zayed, Long, Fox, Forsyth; Lawlor, J Byrne, Lawlor. Subs: O'Connor for Lawlor (45 mins), Flood for Forsyth (75 mins), Brack for Fox (75 mins).

SHELBOURNE: Williams; Heary, Doherty, Gannon, Crawley; R Baker. D Byrne, S Byrne, Cahill; Geoghegan, Roberts. Subs: Crawford for D Byrne (67 mins), Beavers for Geoghegan (80 mins), Hoolahan for Roberts (87 mins).

Referee: Damien Hancock (Dublin).