Two goals from leading goalscorer Jason Byrne brought his tally for the season to 11 and gave Shelbourne a valuable away leg advantage in their first round Champions League meeting with Irish League Champions, Glentoran in Belfast tonight.

Shelbourne, playing in their away strip of blue shirts and black shorts dominated the first half and playing some innovative football created several chances. Opportunities were presented to both, Jason and Stuart Byrne, Ritchie Baker, Glen Crowe, Wes Hoolihan and Colin Hawkins, but with the exception of Crowe’s mistimed lob, were all repelled by the excellent Elliott Morris in goals for Glentoran.

The second half continued in similar vein with Shelbourne in complete control. Nine minutes into the half, a Baker header was parried away by Morris and fell to skipper Owen Heary who set up Crowe for what looked like a simple tap in but the striker somehow curled the ball wide of the post.

If the failure to score was beginning to play on the mind of the Shelbourne players, their concerns were soon alleviated when the Crowe/Byrne combination produced a fine goal with Byrne slotting home Crowe’s left wing cross. Ten minutes later, the score was doubled when Crowe was brought crashing down in the box and Byrne stepped up to hammer home the resultant penalty.

Shelbourne’s fine performance did lose a little gloss with twelve minutes to go when Glentoran striker Sean Ward, with their first effort on target, pulled a goal back with an accurate shot. Indeed, Ward had a further opportunity in the dying minutes but a last ditch tackle from Baker saved the day. The goal will offer Glentoran a lifeline for the second leg at Tolka Park on Wednesday evening next, however a performance matching that of tonight from Shelbourne should see them safely through to the next round.

Following the match, Shelbourne manager Pat Fenlon was full of praise for his team and expressed his pleasure at the manner in which they retained possession of the ball, the quality of their passing and the number of chances they created. Although disappointed at the concession of the late goal, Fenlon was full of optimism for the return fixture.