Shelbourne 0-3 Town - Half-Time Saturday, 11th Jul 2015 16:02 by Josh Prenderville Town lead 3-0 at half time in their opening pre-season friendly against Shelbourne thanks to goals from Alex Henshall, Darren Ambrose and Cole Skuse. The Blues were rarely troubled in the first half at Tolka Park and were in the lead inside the opening minute of the game. Alex Henshall jinked his way past several defenders after being fed by Adam McDonnell before finishing sweetly in at the near post after just 52 seconds. In the following few minutes, Shelbourne attempted to settle into the game with Town putting together a range of neat passing moves that failed to trouble the opposition. Town were guilty on occasion of giving away needless freekicks in the centre of the park but Shelbourne's young side still couldn't manage to warm Dean Gerken's gloves. A 15th minute corner from Ainsley Maitland-Niles, making his first appearance in a Town shirt, was headed well over the bar by captain Luke Chambers. A Cole Skuse interception in the 22nd minute allowed him to feed Freddie Sears, who planted the ball into the top corner, but the goal was disallowed for offside. A minute later and it was 2-0. Sears picked up the ball about 35 yards from goal before picking out Darren Ambrose, who stuck the ball into the bottom corner of the net from just inside the penalty area. Shelbourne began to struggle to get out of their own half as Town upped the tempo, with Cole Skuse and Adam McDonnell, making his return to the club from which Town signed him last summer, dictating things from midfield. Just after the half hour, however, Shelbourne midfielder Aaron Robinson shot just wide of the mark from 25 yards, with Gerken watching the ball fly past his post. A mix-up between Gerken and Matthew Clarke two minutes later almost allowed Robinson in again, but the midfielder struck wide once more. In the 37th minute Town made it 3-0. A freekick won by Josh Emmanuel was floated into the box by Alex Henshall. Shelbourne's clearance only made it as far as the boot of Cole Skuse on the edge of the box, who struck the ball on the volley through a crowd of players and into the net. Just after the restart, Freddie Sears robbed Shelbourne's Andy Gorman just past the halfway line before feeding Henshall out on the left. Henshall had another mazy run at the defence but his cross was cleared away. Town failed to carve out any clear cut chances before the end of the first half but weren't troubled any further by an inexperienced Shelbourne outfit. Town boss Mick McCarthy will field a different XI in the second half, in line with previous years' matches in Ireland. First half: Gerken, Emmanuel, Chambers, Clarke, Parr, Skuse, McDonnell, Henshall, Maitland-Niles, Ambrose, Sears. Second half: Bialkowski, Hammond, Smith, Yorwerth, Kenlock, Bru, Tabb, Connolly, Fraser, Bishop, Pitman. Att: 690.
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