Shelbourne extended their lead at the top of the WNL table with a 1-0 win over Peamount thanks to Jessie Stapleton’s first-half strike.

Stapleton’s fourth goal of the season means that The Reds are now five points clear of a Peamount side that failed to make their early dominance count today.

The Peas had the lionshare of chances in the opening 15 minutes with Áine O’Gorman seeing her header from close range go wide. 

Alannah McEvoy had a chance cleared off the line soon after. 

Play began to open up after those early exchanges but neither side was really able to produce any clear-cut opportunities. 

Amanda Budden denied Sadbh Doyle from distance with a great save to bring the game back to life just before the half hour mark. 

At 30 minutes Shelbourne bagged the opener.

A great run by Jess Gargan ended in her shot being spilled by Niamh Reid-Burke and falling to Jessie Stapleton who buried the chance to send Tolka Park into a frenzy. 

Shels led at the break and looked the most likely to score after the restart. 

A handful of corners from Noelle Murray caused problems for Peamount. 

Two of those deliveries found Jessica Ziu but she failed to find the target with a header at the near post and her volley at the back bounced off of the crossbar. 

Peamount didn’t look as dominant as they had in the first-half and they squandered the few chances they did create. 

O’Gorman latched onto a loose ball inside the Shels box but fired well over the bar. 

United looked as though they had been gifted an equaliser when Sadbh Doyle found herself unmarked inside the six-yard box but a heroic tackle from Chloe Mustaki kept the Shels lead intact. 

Today’s result is a huge three points for Shelbourne in what has been a week to remember for the club and they will be back in action next week as they make the short trip to Dalymount Park to face Bohemians. 

Peamount will look to bounce back and get back in the title race when they welcome Athlone Town to Greenogue.