By Aidan Geraghty @1895Aidan
Shelbourne progressed to the quarter-final of the FAI Cup on Friday night, one step closer to what might be their eleventh national cup victory. But Reds fans will be more concerned about other things; namely their substandard performance against non-league opposition and a nasty looking injury to captain Glenn Cronin.
The killer blow in this one came in just the fifth minute. Seán Brennan delivered a corner-kick into the box and Dean Kelly rose above the Corinthians defence to put the League club 1-0 up.
The amateur Corkonian side gave Shels some minor worries in the first-half but inefficiency meant Niall Burdon's job wasn't too difficult. The most notable chance ended up in a double-save by the young Frenchman after two successive shots by Peter Moreland.
A penalty claim and two or three inaccurate shots were as close as the game came to a goal before the interval and both sides would have considered themselves fortunate not to concede any more than they did.
After the restart, Adam Hanlon's pace caused nightmares for the Corinthians defence. It was evident that the winger had an extra yard (or ten) over both full-backs and he made sure the small crowd knew it. He delivered a number of quality balls into the box, none of which were converted into shots by Kelly or Murtagh. A good team move ended in a powerful shot outside of Power's right hand post after 53 minutes but it was downhill from here for the Reds.
Shelbourne had a nervy final half hour and David Welch forged a number of chances for Corinthians which ended in near-misses, the most significant of which was a looping header that eventually fell into Burdon's hands.
Shelbourne fans collectively worried for the welfare of their captain Glenn Cronin when he was on the receiving end of a malicious tackle from a Corinthians player. The Ballyfermot-native needed two-men to help him leave the pitch and early reports suggest he has sustained a serious knee injury.
The final opportunity of the game was for the visitors. Luke Connolly found himself in some space to pass to Welch who, again, narrowly missed the Ballybough End goal. This time, he hit it wide of the target.
Shelbourne: Niall Burdon; Rob Cornwall, Ian Ryan, Paul Andrews, Pat Flynn; Adam Hanlon, Glenn Cronin (Sheerin), Stephen Hurley, Seán Brennan (Tinnelly); Dean Kelly, Lee Murtagh.
College Corinthians: Mark Power; Richard Cronin, Josh Kra, Colin O’Shea, Robbie Brohan; Peter Moreland, Chris Madden (Stihler), Ricky O’Sullivan, Edwin Buckley (Browne); David Welch, Luke Connolly.
Attendance: 336
Referee: Rob Rogers
OnTheSidelines Man of the Match: Adam Hanlon (Shelbourne)
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