A GAME that had pretty much everything, and though it ended 3-2, in truth 6-3 would have told a truer tale.

You take UCD lightly at your peril, as Bohemians discovered at Belfield Park last month. Shelbourne came here on a 13-game unbeaten run, culminating in seven straight wins, with league leadership firmly in sight, and their only defensive blemish in eight outings was a dubious penalty.

UCD shredded them in the first minute and in the last, and although Shelbourne survived those scares in between times an effervescent UCD indulged themselves as if they had found the keys to Fort Knox.

Reuniting Jason Sherlock with Mick O'Byrne up front UCD became the first team to score three times against Shelbourne in domestic fare since November 1994, hit the upright, and missed a penalty and several other supremely carved, gilt-edged openings.

A fitter, more focussed Sherlock - making his first start since January 5th and his first home appearance since being sent-off on New Year's Eve - celebrated with his second league goal of the season and first Belfield goal in the Premier division. Roving across the line, and first on to everything, O'Byrne was a constant pain in the rear for Ray Duffy.

Discarding an orthodox right-sided player in a revised 4-4-2, this time the UCD tacticians employed the outstanding Jason Colwell in a roving role from the right. Colwell won every 50-50 he contested and ran at a ragged opposition, making incisions with accurate distribution.

Oozing confidence, Packie Lynch nullified John O'Rourke's runs completely and applied a steadying hand in front of the back four. James Keddy also outshone Gary Howlett in the middle as Robbie Griffin switched to the left. Behind him, crucially, an utterly unfazed Jonathan Treacy subdued Tony Sheridan so effectively that he was ultimately switched inside.

Stephen Geoghegan was kept well shackled by Terry Palmer after an early tap-in, his 15th league goal of the campaign. The scoreline flattered Shelbourne, for whom few if any will be happy with their performances. It took them 60 minutes to pass the ball out from the back.

The Shelbourne manager, Damien Richardson, admitted that UCD were far superior to us in every facet of the game. It's almost a pastoral setting here and I think my players thought they were out picking apples. And these boys (UCD) are dangerous if you're not in the right frame of mind."

By contrast UCD's manager, Theo Dunne, was in purring mode. His boys had done just fine, and reiterating a constant theme, he maintained: "When our team is at its strongest it's probably as good as most of them and when they battle like that they're as good as any of them."

Shelbourne, misleadingly, struck first after six minutes. O'Rourke beat Seamus Kelly to Howlett's near post corner, Keddy blocked on the line and Stephen Geoghegan converted a close-range rebound. Five minutes later Colwell won the ball from Dave Smith on half-way, released O'Byrne up the right and Sherlock converted the ensuing pull-back. One-one.

A minute before the break O'Byrne was played in by Sherlock after he had turned Greg "Costello, rounding Gough before tucking the ball away left-footed from an angle for his 10th of the season.

The game further tilted UCD's way within four minutes of the resumption. First a low cross by Sheridan somehow eluded everybody and hit the far upright, then Colwell hooked a cross inside the far post beyond the despairing Gough. Three-one.

Shelbourne rolled up their sleeves and went for it. Neville struck the angle of bar and upright from 25 yards; Gough clawed away an inswinging Lynch corner from under his bar; O'Rourke's header from Howlett's deep corner was cleared off the line by Keddy. Shelbourne threw Mick Byrne on, gambled on three at the back, switched Sheridan inside and regularly pushed Duffy up as UCD were forced back.

Then came a stunning finale. Duffy, denied at the far post by Kelly's legs beforehand, extracted a flying save with a meaty drive when unattended again, Byrne converting the rebound after 87 minutes.

Far from panicking, UCD rediscovered their earlier tempo. Treacy overlapped to play in Colwell who was upended by Flood after rounding him. But O'Byrne stroked the penalty wide and in the last minute, when teed up by Sherlock, he smacked the upright.