Finn Harps suffered defeat at the hands of Shelbourne as they lost 3-1 at Tolka Park.
Shelbourne 3 Finn Harps 1
Ethan Boyle equalised in the first half but Gavin Molloy had a brace at half-time, while Jack Moylan made it 3-1 with 15 minutes remaining to ensure all three points stayed in Dublin.
Going into the game Harps were desperate for points, having picked up just one point in the three games they had played since the return from the summer break, but they did have three tough games.
A 3-0 loss in the Showgrounds followed by a 2-2 draw with St. Patrick’s Athletic before a narrow 1-0 loss to league leaders Shamrock Rovers at home had Ollie Horgan’s side looking to pick themselves back up.
Photography by Joe Boland, North West Newspix
Shelbourne had saw the same sort of results, drawing with Dundalk in between losses to Bohemians and Sligo.
Harps made three changes, with Robert Jones making his debut, while Ethan Boyle returned from suspension and Ryan Rainey and Dylan Duncan came back into the first team.
José Carrillo and Bastien Héry dropped to the bench Conor Tourish and Eric McWoods were both not in the squad.
Jack Moylan was the first man to test his luck in the game after three minutes, but he dragged his shot outside the box well wide.
Ten minutes later though, Shelbourne would take the lead.
A great delivery from Shane Farrell found Molloy who lost his marker and headed into the net on his first home start of the season.
Harps would come back at the home side and Robert Jones had his first half chance but it was too tight of an angle to test Brendan Clarke and he smashed his shot over the bar.
But just before the 20th minute, a Donelon in swinging cross from a free kick 30 yards out was headed back across the goal by Boyle and the June Player of the Month nominee found the back of the net for his third goal of the season, and his second in as many games.
The game began to open up a bit more but chances were few and far between, as both teams took turns with their chances.
Firstly, Moylan’s shot outside the box saved easily by Mulreany, while a Jones flick on to McNamee saw the Ramelton man catch the ball on the volley but his right footed shot at a tight angle was pushed over the bar by Clarke.
Another dangerous Farrell delivery, this time from a free-kick, was headed by Luke Byrne 15 yards out but Mulreany saved well.
Next, almost a carbon copy of the Harps goal, with Donelon swinging the ball in from a similar position again found Boyle but his header this time went wide of the near post.
Shelbourne would retake the lead on the 38th minute as Jad Hakiki found space in the box and found Molloy 25 yards out and the midfielder curled his shot into the bottom corner.
Sean Boyd could have made it 3-1 but the former Harps man couldn’t connect and moments later Boyle got there just before the big striker to clear for a corner.
Farrell was enjoying space on the right and he found Moylan but he hit it straight at Mulreany.
With 15 minutes to go Moylan played a 1-2 with Boyd and at the third time of asking, he finished past Mulreany into the far corner to make it 3-1.
Horgan made changes in the hope of staging a late comeback but Harps failed to create any real chances in the remaining minutes.
Harps stay 9th after UCD were defeated 3-1 by Bohemians at the UCD Bowl, while Shelbourne also stay 7th without gaining on Drogheda in 8th after they beat Louth rivals Dundalk 1-0 at Head in the Game Park.
Shelbourne: Brendan Clarke; Conor Kane, Kameron Ledwidge, Luke Byrne, Shane Griffin; Shane Farrell Gavin Molloy, JJ Lunney, Jad Hakiki, Jack Moylan; Sean Boyd.
Subs: Brian McManus for Hakiki (80 mins), Mark Coyle for Lunney (84 mins) Daniel Carr for Boyd (86 mins).
Finn Harps: Gavin Mulreany; Ethan Boyle, Rob Slevin, Élie-Gaël N’Zeyi, Regan Donelon; Ryan Rainey, Ryan Connolly, Barry McNamee, Dylan Duncan, Filip Mihaljević, Robert Jones.
Subs: Adam McCaffrey for Duncan (60 mins), Bastien Héry for N’Zeyi (69 mins) Luke Rudden and Liam McGing for Mihaljević and Rainey (83 mins).
Referee: Kevin O’Sullivan
