SEAN BOYD’S early double gave Shelbourne a licence to thrill at the Carlisle Grounds tonight.
Damien Duff’s side got their FAI Cup campaign off to a flying start against Bray Wanderers, with Boyd, Jack Moylan, Shane Farrell and newcomer Matty Smith all catching the eye.
Conor Kane was another impressive performer for the Reds as they made light work of their first round trip to the seaside.
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Boyd bagged his two goals inside the opening 11 minutes to effectively kill off the tie.
Either side of his brace, the talented striker smashed a 20-yarder against the crossbar and saw a close-range strike come back off the right-hand post.
The hat-trick his performance deserved didn’t come, but thanks to his early exploits manager Duff was able to rest the former Shamrock Rovers and Finn Harps man for the final 30 minutes.
Smith was already on the pitch by the time Boyd made way.
He arrived on-loan from Derry City on Thursday and was introduced shortly after the break - and it didn’t take long for the attacking ace to settle in.
Shels played some lovely football tonight, with Moylan and Farrell linking up superbly throughout.
When Smith joined in, it was as if the trio had been playing together for months.
Shelbourne’s third goal, which finally arrived on 67 minutes, was an outstanding passage of one-touch play between the three.
Farrell fed a slide-rule pass into Smith on the edge of the six-yard box, he produced a sensational back-heel into the path of Moylan and the attacking midfielder passed the ball into the net from 15 yards.
It was both the goal of the night and the move of the night, but Moylan and Farrell had threatened throughout to conjure up something special.
There was something special too about Boyd’s display.
With just three minutes on the clock he rattled the woodwork from 20 yards.
Two minutes later he opened the scoring when he stabbed home Conor Kane’s low cross at the near post.
He drilled his second low beyond the reach of Stephen McGuinness in the Bray goal in the 11th minute after racing onto Luke Byrne’s pass.
Boyd could have netted his third on 17 minutes when he raced unmarked to the near post to meet Farrell’s corner, but headed across goal and wide.
And when the ball broke to him inside the area four minutes later, he could only divert it onto the foot of the right-hand post.
There were more chances for Farrell, Gavin Molloy and Kane as Shels dominated - and they were rewarded with a richly deserved third midway through the second-half.
BRAY WANDERERS: Stephen McGuinness; Jamie Callaghan (Keith Dalton 87), Hugh Douglas, Jack Hudson, Kevin Knight; Callum Thompson (Evan Harte 63), Jamie Hollywood, Conor Clifford, Paul Fox, Ben Feeney (Eoin Massey 87); Kurtis Byrne (Darragh Lynch 63).
SUBS NOT USED: Ben Clark, Billy Hendley, Conor Knight, Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters, Dean Zambra.
SHELBOURNE: Brendan Clarke; Shane Griffin, Luke Byrne (Lewis Temple 73), Kameron Ledwidge; Shane Farrell, Gavin Molloy, JJ Lunney (Brian McManus 61), Conor Kane; Josh Giurgi (Matty Smith 52), Sean Boyd (Daniel Carr 61), Jack Moylan (JR Wilson 73).
SUBS NOT USED: Scott van der Sluis, Aaron O’Driscoll, Aodh Dervin, Gavin Hodgins.
REFEREE: Sean Grant
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