SOCCER / Shelbourne 1 Bohemians 3: There was little consolation for Pat Fenlon or his players last season in knowing that they had been the league's best side over the course of the campaign's latter two rounds.

They will surely be beyond consolation come the end of the month if they again finish second to Bohemians having led this title race until well into its home straight.

After finishing second best to their arch-rivals in last night's league encounter at Tolka Park, however, it is now Fenlon's side who must play catch up during this season's last three weeks.

During that time they will have to display more character and class than they could muster last night and crucially they may have to win next week in Dalymount.

On the evidence of this game that is, perhaps, the tallest order of all.

What will make this result all the harder to stomach for Fenlon is that his side just about edged the first half of the game but, despite having opened the scoring, trailed at the break and were comfortably outwitted and outplayed during the second 45 minutes.

Errors from both goalkeepers had contributed to their sides' relative standing at the break but while Shay Kelly redeemed himself late on with a couple of important saves, Steve Williams compounded his own team's problems in the 55th minute with a lame attempt to take a Dave Morrison corner that allowed Colin Hawkins an easy and unchallenged header at the far post.

Defence isn't normally Bohemians' long suit, but of late they have started to come up trumps in that department. At 3-1 up they enjoyed a margin for error but didn't need it.

Hawkins and Ken Oman coped well with the challenge the Shelbourne attack presented, even late on as the numbers pressing forward grew, while in front of them Kevin Hunt and Thomas Heary managed to overwhelm their opposite numbers more with each passing minute.

The result was that while Shelbourne's increasingly desperate sense of urgency yielded chances, notably two for Jason Byrne inside a minute with a quarter of an hour remaining, so too did the more measured counter-attacking style of the visitors, who ended the night as deserved winners.

In terms of quality the first half may have promised slightly more than it managed to deliver but there was still plenty to chew over at the break.

Both sides produced some decent passing moves but it was Shelbourne's that more regularly ended with a shot on goal, Jason Byrne posing his customary threat to a defence that was occasionally caught napping early on.

The three goals the half threw up, however, had next to nothing to do with any pattern of play that was emerging.

Shelbourne's involved a comedy of errors in the Bohemians six yard box where Shay Kelly ultimately made the greatest mess of things when attempting a simple catch to leave Richie Baker a simple headed goal.

The lead, though, was short lived as Williams showed a distinct lack of conviction about coming for Bobby Ryan's corner from the left a minute or so later and Paul Keegan rose high to head home his third goal in as many games for the visitors.

The remaining 34 minutes of the half were subdued by comparison but either side could have added to the tally of goals, with Baker forcing a good save from Kelly, Jason Byrne going close with a curling shot struck from a tight angle and, at the other end, Ryan having a low drive blocked not far short of the line by Dave Rogers.

By the time of this last chance, six minutes before the break, Fenlon had been forced into making two substitutions by the loss of first Kevin Doherty and then Ollie Cahill to injury.

Things got worse again for Shelbourne with 42 minutes played when Thomas Heary, fresh from his right-footed goal from 30 yards against St Patrick's a couple of weeks ago, caught Williams fractionally off his line with a looping left-footed strike that sparked wild celebrations in the Riverside stand.

The party continued through much of the second half when the visiting fans' chants about retaining the title rang through the air on a night when Shelbourne's supporters, like the club's players, were painfully short of answers.

SHELBOURNE: Williams; Heary, Doherty (McCarthy, 28 mins), Rogers, Crawley (Rowe, 79 mins); R Baker, Crawford, S Byrne, Cahill (Hoolahan, 33 mins); J Byrne, Harris.

BOHEMIANS: Kelly; Lynch, Hawkins, Oman, Webb; Ryan, Heary, Hunt, Morrison; Keegan, Crowe (Doyle, 79 mins).

Referee: E Barr (Dublin).