A brief outbreak of trouble at the end of yesterday's match between St Patrick's Athletic and Shamrock Rovers in Inchicore may yet prove costly for the visiting club.

Legal advisers to the residents' groups which had opposed Rovers' planning permission for the proposed new stadium in Tallaght were at the game to witness the supporters' behaviour at a typical game.

Although one missile had been thrown on to the pitch during the game, there was no trouble between the rival sets of supports until after the final whistle when around 50 youths, supporters of St Patrick's, ran onto the pitch and taunted the departing visitors over the 2-0 scoreline.

A handful of Rovers fans then moved on to the pitch themselves and a number of minor scuffles ensued between them and Richmond Park stewards. Within a matter of minutes the trouble died down.

St Patrick's manager Pat Dolan said afterwards that he had been alarmed by the aggressiveness displayed by the opposition's supporters during the game and had actually felt nervous for Thomas Molloy who position, on the left side of the home side's attack, had involved him playing just in front of them throughout most of the second half.

Dolan's subsequently expressed concern, however, that a number of what he believed had been "nazi and German flags" in the Rovers section might be evidence of some sinister element to the crowd turned out to be a misunderstanding.

Other club officials were anxious to point out that no nazi flags or paraphernalia of any description had been displayed. The German flags, of which there were several, belonged to a group of 35 supporters from Germany whose club back home have endured similar problems to Rovers in recent years and who, following last week's announcement regarding the planning permission for the Tallaght stadium development, had decided to drop in on their friends in Dublin for a bit of a celebration.