AN Owen Heery goal gave Shelbourne a seventh successive win and sent them four points clear of their rivals for third place in the league. But at the other end of the table their visitors last night will be looking even more nervously over their shoulders.

As games go it wasn't much to look at. Shelbourne were clearly the neater footballers but Sligo made up for much of what they lacked in technique with gritty application.

Their defending, as it had been in the cup games against Bray, was clumsy for the most part but effective. Wesley Charles once again mopped up most of what came his way, and Steve Birks clattered away anything his defensive partner missed. In midfield Johnny Hoecks looked far more effective than he had done up front in his earlier outings, and Rovers' other imported striker, Marcus Hallows, had clearly regained the match fitness he has lacked since returning from a long lay-off through injury. Still, Nicky Reid's side remain terribly short of punch, and, against a Shelbourne side that have been on quite a roll lately, they gave away far too much possession to get out of Tolka Park with even a point.

Had they taken their chances they actually might have won the game, but Alan Gough did well to push Conor O'Grady's long-range drive wide in the 24th minute, Wesley Charles headed right across the face of the goal from the resulting corner and Marcus Hallows could only find the side netting when sent clean through late in the half.

For Gough the save from O'Grady was enough to ensure a seventh clean sheet on the trot. It was against Cork late January when he was last beaten, and last night made it 648 minutes of play since he has had to turn and pick the ball out of the net.

Matt Boswell, of course, hadn't had the experience since the start of December, but having returned last night after nearly four months out with a broken leg it never seemed likely that he was going to avoid it for much longer. The home side were frustrated through the first period when Charles' constant harrying, combined with their own poor finishing, prevented the Rovers goalkeeper from having to do much by way of work.

In the second half, though, the cracks began to appear. Rovers had a good deal of possession, but increasingly it was the Dubliners who looked more capable of carving something out when they had the ball.

The goal, when it came, was one of the few moments of genuine quality in the game, and for that alone it was a worthy decider. Dessie Baker started the move with a throw from the right, Paul Doolin fed Tony Sheridan on the edge of the box, and his quick pass to Heery and the full-back's nifty footwork and perfectly placed leftfooted shot left Boswell with no real chance of blocking the ball's path into the bottom right corner.

A goal behind, Rovers threw Hoecks and Charles forward in the hope of salvaging something, but Shelbourne's early season habit of undoing all their good work late on has been knocked out of them recently, and though there were a couple of scares late on they held on to take the points they had earned.

SHELBOURNE: Gough; Heery, Scully, McCarthy, D Geoghegan; D Baker, Campbell, Doolin, Kelly; Sheridan, S Geoghegan. Subs: Fitzgerald for McCarthy (36 mins).

SLIGO: Boswell; McLynn, Charles, Birks, Hutchison; Kennedy, O'Grady, Hoecks, Ogden; Flannery, Hallows. Subs: Oates for O'Grady (30 mins), Shannon for Ogden (76 mins).

Referee: J Feighery (Dublin).