Shamrock Rovers 0
Shelbourne 2
WILL JARVIS WENT low and then high with his two penalty kicks.
The bottom line, though, is that Shelbourne are even further clear on top of the Premier Division.
Shamrock Rovers trail them by nine after this defeat on their own patch while Derry City are six adrift are their draw at home to Sligo Rovers.
Shels only have to worry about themselves now.
Jarvis was bruised, bloodied and required stitches against St Patrick’s Athletic on Monday night.
He responded four days on with two dead-eyed finishes from the spot in what felt like a statement win for the league leaders over the side chasing a fifth title in a row.
No one can doubt Shels’ credentials now.
Their fans revelled in the occasion from the moment Jarvis arrowed his second spot kick into the top right corner on 58 minutes.
He won the battle of wills with Rovers goalkeeper Leon Pohls having gone low on that same side in the first half.
When he was subbed with 20 minutes remaining he got a kiss from manager Damien Duff.
Nothing is sealed with this win but belief and confidence will only continue to grow for the challengers.
The champions will have to dig deep again to salvage this situation, nine points off a side that seemed primed and determined for glory.
To compound matters, Hoops captain Roberto Lopes was shown two yellow cards for his part in conceding both spot kicks, bringing down Matty Smith twice.
Stephen Bradley’s miserable night also saw three enforced substitutions in the opening 45 minutes with injuries to key defenders Daniel Clary and Josh Honohan as well as the attacking threat of Trevor Clarke on the left.
There are bigger issues to worry about as we pass the halfway stage of the season.
The only goal of the first half came in the 18th minute and the 60 seconds or so in the build up highlighted some of the differences in approach.
A nice Jack Byrne diagonal pass was collected by Clarke on the left wing. His first touch was pristine and his next opened up the space inside.
Graham Burke ran off his shoulder and was fed down the line, his driven cross low into the six-yard box met by Johnny Kenny who somehow miscued his side-foot finish wide of the post.
The breakthrough came from the resulting goal kick, a combination of poor judgement and desperation leading to the award of the penalty which Jarvis calmly converted.
Honohan’s baffling decision to allow goalkeeper Conor Kearns’ punt forward go over his head was punished when Smith anticipated the chance and got the run on Cleary.
Lopes was the one who brought the Shels frontman down – shown a yellow card as a result – and Jarvis stepped up to beat Leon Pohls despite the Rovers goalkeeper guessing right and diving to his right.
Rovers’ night progressively got worse from that point, forced into those three substitutions before the break.
First, Cleary limped off on 26 minutes, followed on the half hour mark by Honohan who was also booked in the process of colliding with Jarvis in the air.
Markus Poom was then deployed on the left side of the back three, with Lee Grace introduced on the right and Aaron McEneff taking the Estonian international’s place in midfield.
Bradley had to make another change on the stroke of half time when an injury to Clarke saw Aaron Greene replace him.
Rovers needed to find some rhythm in their play but Shels continue to stifle them and they showed their danger again on the counter attack to make the game safe before the hour.
Smith saw the game open up in front of him at the halfway line and fed Jarvis through the middle.
He supported his teammate with a run and the favour was returned with a square pass in the box.
Smith was brought down by Lopes as he cut inside and Jarvis again stepped up to rifle the
Rovers may look back at two of Clarke’s half chances in the first half that clipped the crossbar and post but when it really mattered they couldn’t find a way through.
Bradley seemed to accept as such, shaking every Shelbourne’s player hand as they left the pitch at full-time.
Duff gestured to the away fans for calm at the same time as they teed him up to fire fist pumps their way.
Instead he was restrained, the significance of this victory clear for all to see.
Shamrock Rovers: Pohls; Cleary (Grace 28), Lopes (captain), Honohan (McEneff 34); Farrugia, Byrne (Noonan 82), Nugent, Poom, Burke, Clarke (Greene 45); Kenny.
Shelbourne: Kearns; Gannon, Barrett, Molloy, Ledwidge; O’Sullivan (Wilson 56), Lunney (Williams 76), Coyle (captain), Smith (Hakiki 76), Caffrey (Farrell 90+2), Jarvis (Boyd 72).
Referee: P McLaughlin
Attendance: 8,276
