It may or may not prove to be the week when things started to turn ugly for Shelbourne, but at least Liam Coyle's goal at the Brandywell on Sunday has given the top of the Eircom-sponsored Premier Division table a more interesting look.

For most neutrals the main question concerning Dermot Keely's side is just how they managed to get to the middle of January without losing a few more games. With none of their strikers really clicking, they've struggled to turn their superiority against weaker teams into the sort of clear-cut wins that might have been expected.

And far too often for a team that has led the table since early on, they've played rather poorly but got away with it against teams who had scoring problems of their own.

Under Keely the Dublin club play a more cautious brand of football, something which was underlined in Drogheda on St Stephen's Day. In the face of a tough and determined defensive display by United, Shelbourne plugged away fruitlessly in search of a winner.

When asked afterwards about why he hadn't seen fit to move Pat Scully forward during the closing stages (as Damien Richardson regularly did when things weren't quite going to plan), Keely seemed to view the idea as slightly absurd.

He had, he insisted not entirely unreasonably, wanted to avoid sacrificing the shape of his side or tinkering too much with a system that had served him well.

However, Shelbourne's repeated inability to put away the Premier Division strugglers has been their major weakness. Of the four leading teams, Keely's side actually has the poorest record against the five main relegation candidates.

It may have taken a strong performance from a decidedly erratic Derry City to end the league leaders' unbeaten run, but in 10 games against the clubs at the bottom end of the table they have won only five. Cork City have won seven, Shamrock Rovers eight, while Bohemians have won seven of nine meetings with the bottom five.

That Rovers have fared best against the strugglers - taking 25 of their 36 points from games involving Finn Harps, Sligo, Drogheda, Galway and Waterford - is ironic given Richardson's comments after Sunday's match regarding the desirability of reducing the Premier Division from 12 to 10 teams.

Over recent seasons Rovers have been a good deal better at putting away poorer teams than at holding their own against sides they might reasonably feel to be their rivals.

During that time they have been too soft, particularly defensively, with the result that, having strung together a few solid looking performances against mid to lower table sides, they have been made to pay the price when it comes to make-or-break matches.

Richardson has put together an attacking unit capable of troubling the better sides, but still needs to shore up his defence. Sunday's win over St Patrick's shows that the balance is improving, but the number of times that Pat Dolan's side carved open the Rovers defence at Santry underlines how much work remains to be done in that department.

If the defeat of the title holders does provide the basis for a late Rovers championship charge, Richardson should remember that he'll owe the success in part to those less glamorous sides that he would willingly see cast out of the top flight.

More immediately, his team will have to inflict another defeat on Shelbourne, something they never looked capable of when the two sides met at Morton Stadium on a wild and windy Saturday afternoon back in October.

It won't be any easier this time. Given the respective strengths and weaknesses of both sides, the televised game should make for interesting viewing. Emmet Malone can be contacted at emalone@irish-times.ie