Shelbourne moved to the top of the table with a comfortable 1-0 win over Treaty United at Tolka Park this afternoon. A Noelle Murray close range tap in was enough to give the defending champions all three points even after missing a late penalty.

Noel King’s side will be relatively happy with their performance which flattered their visitors but will rue plenty of missed chances which meant the score board didn’t reflect their dominance of the game. 

Alban Hysa and his coaching staff will be delighted with the result and the excellent defensive performance with only the single goal between the sides at the end of the 90 minutes.

With thirteen minutes on the clock Alex Kavanagh had a speculative effort from long range which Treaty keeper Anne Marie Ulliac was not able to hold on to. The ball dropped to the poaching Murray who tucked it into the back of the net for one of the most straight forward goals the veteran will ever get.

Shelbourne dominated the remainder of the half but were unable to find a way past a resolute Treaty defence.

Shels continued their stranglehold on proceedings in the second half with the impressive Kavanagh smashing the crossbar from a long range free kick with Ulliac appearing to have been beaten in the goal.

It was backs to the wall stuff for the visitors with chances few and far between against the experienced home side. They did threaten with twenty minutes left on the clock as they capitalised on a slow reaction in the Shels defence as Hannah Saidi found a yard of space and forced a great save from Courtney Maguire in the Shelbourne net.

Noel King rang the changes late on with Jemma Quinn, Siobhan Killeen and Nadine Clare all appearing off the bench but it didn’t lessen the pattern of the game as the red’s continued to dominate the clash.

Shelbourne were awarded a penalty but Alex Kavanagh saw her effort come back of the woodwork with Jessie Stapleton following up with a header which was well saved by Ulliac to keep Treaty in touch on the scoreboard.

Nadine Clare had an opportunity in the closing stages with a great burst down the left wing from Siobhan Killeen and the cross finding the midfielder on the back post but she was unable to get her effort on target.