A Conor Crowley 60th minute own goal fired to Shelbourne to a 1-nil win over Wexford Youths at Tolka Park on Friday night.

The opening half was highlighted by a controversial decision regarding a Shels penalty and half chances that they might look back on forlornly.

The Dublin outfit consistently found joy down the left flank with Dayle Rooney and Georgie Poynton putting in dangerous crosses that they weren’t able to convert into anything meaningful.

However, in the 8th minute one of Poynton’s crosses found Michael O’Connor who skilfully spun away from his defender before being hauled down.

The hosts rightly appealed for a penalty, but their calls were denied and play continued. If they felt aggrieved, it didn’t show as Ian Morris' side continued to push forward and dominate possession.

On 14 minutes a cross from the right fell to Georgie Poynton’s feet but Wexford’s defence was quick enough to scramble across to deny his shot from getting on target. 

Shelbourne pushed forward for large parts of the first 20 minutes; but their great work still failed to produce a goal. Even when some beautiful interplay between Ryan Brennan and Michael O’Connor created an opening, the hosts were still unable to get a shot on target.

Wexford’s participation throughout all of this had been purely to stop their opponents. The visitors only highlight of the first half was a half chance that fell to Connor Crowley. Apart from that Youths were held quiet for nearly all the opening half.

Yoyo Mahdy on the other hand was in fighting form; first winning a pair of dangerous headers in the box but he was unable to get them on target. 

Shelbourne took their foot of the gas towards the end of the first half, but while they appeared to be taking a breather, they were just saving up for a big second half push.

After the break Wexford had a brief period of possession where they were able to make inroads down the left side but were not able to make anything of it. Shels meanwhile were aggressively looking to get the ball into the box at every chance possible.

Firstly Michael O’Connor having a flash at goal from a corner before another Kevin O’Connor corner found Poynton, whose header cannoned into the net off of Wexford’s Crowley.

Mahdy continued to be a threat in the box and was unlucky to not find the net from another corner in the 63rd minute. Shelbourne continued to limit Wexford’s possession, and on the rare occasion that the Slaneysiders were able to get on the ball they struggled to make anything of the possession that they did have. Jack Doherty was able to spin away from his man to put in a dangerous cross but Connor Crowley was unable to convert.

Wexford’s best chance of the night arguably came in the 84th minute where James Carroll had a completely free header from a Wexford free kick. Carroll was unfortunately unable to direct it anywhere but at Brendan Clarke’s chest.

Shelbourne spent the last few minutes carefully working down the clock to secure the victory and finally get their first win of the season.