THE SHELBOURNE FANS occupied a tight corner of the Brandywell on Monday night and struck up a novel song for them.

‘Shelbourne, top of the league! Shelbourne, Shelbourne! Top of the league!’

For a little while, they were silenced. Paul McMullan’s goal five minutes after the break felt like a long time coming for the home side and for a decent period, Derry were in that moment, top of the league themselves.

And then came Sean Boyd’s equaliser on 90 minutes. ‘Shelbourne, Shelbourne, top of the league,’ all over again.

It’s gone beyond a novelty now that they might add to their Baker’s Dozen of league titles. To listen to manager Damien Duff though, you’d swear there was nothing but the few inches in front of his face as he plays it down.

“I won’t say what is said in private, but it is one game at a time. Two home games coming up, but all eyes are on Drogheda (on Friday night).

“For me it’s Derry-Rovers, Rovers-Derry with their amazing squad, footballing squads. Are we punching above our weight? I dunno, we have no right to be hanging around for two months but it has flown. We are probably like a bad smell, but we will see how we go.

“In this league, a week off or two weeks off and you could be fourth. We don’t get carried away, maybe people have in the past but we don’t.”

This was a performance to be filed under ‘workmanlike.’ Shelbourne had a decent share of possession, but did little with it other than occasionally bang it forward for a runner. No wonder that Derry City manager Ruaidhrí Higgins picked a great expression to describe this league afterwards, when he said, “It’s a slog.”

That was the gameplan, with Duff entirely delighted by how it worked. A point in the bag against Derry away from home is inflicting damage on them as much as it is helping your own cause.

“Deserved,” he says of the result.

“Without a doubt. Didn’t deserve to go behind, it was our own fault. You always run that risk when you try to keep the ball for long spells which we did. So, so pleased with it, along with the point, that’s the most pleasing thing.

“I think you don’t see many of the teams, or any teams at all coming up here and dominating the ball for large spells. So brilliant, brilliant night’s work.”

Although they barely had a sniff of Brian Maher’s Derry goal, Duff wasn’t painting it as such.

“You usually come up here and sit on the edge of your box against Derry, when they are peppering you,” he said.

“Whereas, when you have the ball, you have a chance of scoring and they don’t.

“We coughed up in transition for their goal really. But that was the plan and we tweaked a few things. A quick turnaround from Friday to Monday, giving them new information, doing stuff we have never done before.

“Absolutely amazing from the guys and I can’t speak highly enough of them. Just a brilliant, brilliant performance.”

Paul McMullan scored for Derry City. Lorcan Doherty / INPHO Lorcan Doherty / INPHO / INPHO

Come back to that point about doing stuff they had never done before?

“I guess just tweaking shape. Personnel,” explains Duff.

“It’s there for everyone to see, we didn’t play with a striker. In the first half we played with one lower. An extra body gives you more in the build-up.

“We said we wanted to keep the ball, first and foremost. You just have to keep the ball against Derry, you can’t just soak it up for 90 minutes. So for long spells tonight, I thought we did that.”

The final night of the season, Shelbourne are in the Brandywell to meet Derry again. Could be a lot riding on it.