You could spot the sceptics up at Tolka Park yesterday. The ones, that is, who had said all along that the Rovers run would come to spluttering halt as soon as they ran into the teams they would like to think of as their main title rivals. A sequence of games involving St Patrick's, Shelbourne and Cork would appear to have proven them right for, after taking one point from nine, the bubble appears to have burst for Mick Byrne's team who desperately need to start winning again if they are not to become mere also rans.

The strange thing is that this, as Byrne conceded afterwards, was as good it gets for Rovers. It was a game that they dominated for long spells and one in which they moved the ball with as much fluency as they have shown all season. Yet when the chances came they were squandered. Tony Cousins might have had a couple, Derek Tracey a handful while at the other end Cork grabbed what they could which turned out to be more than enough to ensure that it was they who went home with the points.

"It's very frustrating," said Byrne afterwards "to create that much and to lose 3-1. Overall, it was probably our best performance of the season and still we have nothing to show for it, it could easily have been 6-3 if we'd put our chances away."

Dave Barry, by contrast, was beaming. He pointed to the long list of injury problems which have afflicted his team in recent weeks and to their determination to win regardless. "They just don't know when they're beaten," he said adding that "every week new players come into the side and they just keep going out there and surprising me."

The Corkmen could certainly be proud of the way they battled to the end. For most of the first half they had led thanks to a long range Ollie Cahill goal that had come out of nothing more than a careless piece of passing by Marc Kenny in midfield.

From then on they shut up shop, pulling John Caulfield back into midfield and switching Patsy Freyne to a sweeper's role, an approach which seemed to pay off as their hosts repeatedly moved the ball at speed down field only, without fail, to have their passing fall apart around a densely crowded City area.

Tracey, although still playing in midfield, was given a licence to get forward while the switch to the use of wing backs was proving useful but, as long as their final balls remained poor, the big men at the centre of City's defence had little difficulty keeping goalkeeper Noel Mooney out of trouble.

Cousins and Tracey had both fired wide in the second half before Mooney was genuinely tested. Then, in the 73rd minute, Cousins' header off a Kenny cross from the right drew a spectacular save which the keeper was unfortunate to see drop nicely for Richie Purdy a couple of yards out.

At that stage a draw seemed to be the brightest prospect open to Cork but they should have had that struck off the list of options within a few of minutes. After Cousins and Tracey linked up well on the right the latter's cross should have been slotted home at the far post by Tommy Dunne while moments later Dunne's through ball for Tracey left the midfielder with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Instead he put it wide and Rovers were duly punished over the last three minutes with Philip Long's cross and Kelvin Flangan's flick on setting up Jason Kabia for his first goal since the opening day of the campaign before Stephen Napier rounded off a fine run from midfield with a scorching 20-yard shot to wrap it up.

Shamrock Rovers: Forde; Britton, Whelan, Brazil, Purdy, Dunne; Kenny, Colwell, O'Neill, Tracey; Cousins. Sub: Francis for O'Neill (61 mins).

Cork City: Mooney; Napier, Hartigan, Cronin, Long; O'Brien, Flanagan, Freyne, Cahill; Kabia, Caulfield. Sub: Cotter for Caulfield (83 mins).

Referee: P Dempsey (Dublin).