PADDY WHACKED

Barrett's unfortunate last gasp OG sees Shels leave Macedonia with nothing

- BY MARK McCADDEN in Skopje

ONE lapse. That's all it takes.

For Shelbourne last night in Skopje, Milan Mbeng was the guilty party. For much of the game he had the better of his personal battle with Ronaldo Webster down the visitors' right flank.

Yet deep into injury time, maybe tired from his rampaging up and down the wing, he made a costly misjudgement, stretching to get his head onto a cross that was drifting harmlessly away.

Mbeng turned the ball behind, despite goalkeeper Wessel Speel's best efforts to stop it from crossing the line.

Speel immediately turned to the Frenchman and threw his arms in the air, aware that 10-man Shels had gifted their hosts one more chance to do something they'd struggled with all evening - carve out a clear-cut opportunity.

Joey O'Brien's men, down a player after Sean Boyd picked up an injury with all five substitutes already used, dealt with the initial ball. But when Webster raced onto a loose ball and drilled the ball low into the six-yard box, all those losing battles with Mbeng were forgotten, as Paddy Barrett turned the cross into his own net. There was little Barrett could do.

Disaster for Shels, who looked comfortable throughout and were millimetres from taking the lead when John Martin's header cannoned off the foot of the Shkendija post.