Dateline, Thursday August 5, 2004. For every Shelbourne fan who breakfasted (or lunched) with their daily newspaper, a quick look to the front page saw the usual diet of pestilence on the cover; tax hikes, cancer scares, bank machines low on cash. Oh and the small matter of Shelbourne's history making victory the day previous.

The Irish Times carried a small banner ad on the result, guiding readers to the sports pages. There, we were treated to Emmet Malone, who observed "It was hard to fault the performances of any of the locals..." before referring to a certain Scouse rouge. To be fair, Davy Rogers was not the only man mentioned specifically; the work ethic of Stuart Byrne and Alan Moore also being mentioned, while Jason Byrne was earmarked for his wide role. A large picture of Stu and Davy celebrating filled the page up nicely, giving all that looked at the article some food for though as to who won the game.

Not to be outdone, the page of the Indo made for interesting reading. "SHEL SHOCK: €1m PAYDAY LOOMS" declared the headline in the Bean Machines flagship, with a exhilerating picture of the BD lads dropping their flags to light up the night with more than their smiles. The article continued to tell us about how much money Shels will be rolling in next week, "An Unprecedented Windfall." A flick to the back page, and football reporting thankfully took precedense, though only after David Kelly told us all how we can be proud to be Eircom League supporters after all. "Now, they (Shels fans I assume) can hold their heads high and declare from their rooftops their pride in the domestic game...". One would be hard pushed to get this man out in his Bohs scarf now.A great match report did follow this, calling the match as it was seen to be; a Royal thrashing for Spilt by the better team. "For this was a professional job, exercised by expedient caution when necessary and incisive attacking when opportunities presented themselves. Every player player performed his role with distinction and flair jostled with force throughout the pulsating 90 minutes". And judging by the snap of Alan Moore after he scored his goal at the death, it is hard to deny that they did anything but that.

More of the same moneymaking appeared in their late sister, the Herald. "€1M Reasons To Smile For Shelbourne" boomed the front page, informing us that "Irish Minnows Shelbourne are set for a massive payday", with a figure of "As much as €500,000 to go to Shelbourne" for television rights...". One would think Ollie would be sleeping in the money anytime soon given the figures so far! If he was, he wasn't showing it just yet. "The fans, as always, were magnificent, and we would want to thank the fans in all the clubs that supported us." Inside, the talk was more based on the fans, a huge picture of familiar faces all jubilantly celebrating in Section C. The reading was in line with the people feel of the pictures, with particular mention going to Frank Ryan, George Breadon and 4 year old Dean McDermott, who was probably the youngest Shels fan to be in Split at the first leg. On the back page, it was pretty much more to sing about; another shot of the New Stand in raptures, with Aidan Fitzmaurice reporting on the pro's and cons of moving to Lansdowne Road. Inside, he concentrates in the matter at hand; football. He contends that it was a throughly deserved win, claiming "There was no mention of the luck of the Irish." Bah, luck, who need it?

The back page of theIrish Star had two great snaps; one of Davy waving his fist at the fans and one of Nutsy and his daughter celebrating. "Shels do the Splits" proclaimed the headline. Inside, Mark McCadden told us "You Couldn' Ask For Moore" as he reported on the match itself, with a good flow blow by blow account of the game, not forgetting to mention the defense and their stout job on the day.

Meanwhile, the Irish Mirror gets another angle on it (Davy's fist and the money), telling us that "Shels Split With Cash", and that "Shelbourne gave Hadjuk Split a good Rogering...". Less said the better on that! Inside Michael Scully gives one of the best blow by blow accounts of the game, and the circumstances into it. Accompanying this article, a fabulous shot of Ollie and Pat, fist raised in victory, and Davy Rogers singing his heart out.

However, pictures of the day had got to be in the Irish Sun. One, of a certain man's volley; the other of a pile on said man 3 seconds later. Neil O'Riordan plagurised a Reds Legend when he declared Rogers 'the Hero of the Nation" On the back page, Stephen Finn declared it as only the Sun can; "Shels Split Em To Bits"

Outside of the pale, D'paper, AKA the Irish Examiner, gave a page to our exploits. Mark Gallagher claimed that "..Shels dominated their much vaunted-opponents with a European Pedigree for most of this match." His capturing of the second goals birth deserves mention."Pat Fenlon, the mastermind of this wonderful success, called Jason Byrne ashore..""Joeseph Ndo was sent into the fray, just to kill time. Fair enough." "Suddenly there was space....McCarthy played Ndo, who played a trick inside the box, twisting the defender and goalkeeper inside the box. Moore darted forward, Ndo spotted him. Two-nil." "There was a collective run of the eyes in Tolka."

Our friends in Belfast also got in on the act, the Irish News running Alan Moore and Stu Byrnes bear hug on their back page, and local news orientated Belfast Telegraph running with our success in their sports pages.