THERE’S life in this title race yet.
Shamrock Rovers’ stalemate at Tolka Park tonight would have been cheered as loudly on the Bogside as on a Riverside Stand that housed the majority of Shelbourne fans.
The Hoops extended their lead over second placed Derry City to two points - and it should be five after next Monday’s home game against UCD.
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But the same old problems are appearing time and again for the three-in-a-row chasing side.
Rovers boss Stephen Bradley admitted after last Sunday’s FAI Cup defeat to Derry that slow starts had cost his side in recent weeks.
It wasn’t just a slow start tonight, but a sluggish evening throughout.
When even Jack Byrne struggles with the basics you know you are in trouble.
The Ireland international misplaced two short passes early on, setting the tone on an exasperating evening for the Hoops.
There was genuine warmth between the two benches before kick-off - a Rovers reunion between Hoops boss Stephen Bradley and Shelbourne’s former Tallaght contingent.
Bradley and his Reds counterpart Damien Duff were deep in conversation early in the pre-match warm-up.
And as they made their way to the dugouts, there were handshakes all around.
But once the whistle went, Duff and his assistant Joey O’Brien, who left Rovers last winter, had one thing in mind - frustrating their old pals.
Shelbourne pressed high and hard, egged on by O’Brien from the bench, who was on a mission to make sure the visitors hadn’t a second to settle on the ball.
Often when they won possession back, Shels turned to Shane Farrell to get their attack going.
On many occasions that involved a long ball in the direction of their towering striker Sean Boyd, but Farrell was also capable of more subtle switches of play.
Ultimately, however, neither goalkeeper was troubled in a desperately dull first-half, while their workload was minimal in the second.
The few half-chances that fell Rovers’ way saw Ronan Finn head a Sean Kavanagh cross wide at the back-post and Dan Cleary nod over from a corner.
The most dramatic moment of the opening period was when play was stopped for a few minutes, after an object was thrown at assistant referee Christopher Campbell from the Riverside.
Shelbourne were clearly buoyed by their resounding FAI Cup quarter-final win over Bohemians as they stuck resolutely to the game-plan.
It was telling that the closest Rovers came to scoring was on the hour mark when centre-half Daniel Cleary advanced before letting fly from at least 35 yards.
His shot dipped and swerved before the ball smashed off the underside of Brendan Clarke’s crossbar.
A long-range Sean Boyd effort 15 minutes from time forced Hoops keeper Alan Mannus into a rare and comfortable save.
Shels finished in the ascendancy but neither side looked like breaking the deadlock.
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