when a Greg Costello header was enough to defeat Dundalk in Lansdowne Road. The club made a return to European competitions after a 21-year wait in 1992 when they faced Ukrainian club SC Tavriya Simferopol in the newly formed UEFA Champions League, despite holding the Ukrainians to a scoreless draw in Dublin they were beaten 2–1 in Ukraine and eliminated from the competition. the following season Shelbourne won their first game in Europe for 30 years when they beat FC Karpaty Lviv of Ukraine, They advanced to play Greek Giants Panathinaikos and were beaten 5–1 on aggregate. Later that season the Reds won yet another Leinster Senior Cup. Two seasons later they were hammered 6–0 on aggregate by Icelandic club ÍA Akraness in the UEFA Cup, the previous season they finished third in the league and just two points behind winners Dundalk. Both the League Cup and the FAI Cup were won in sensational circumstances in 1996 under Damien Richardson. The League Cup was won, for the first time, in a penalty shootout against Sligo Rovers after Shels had come from two down late on. In the FAI Cup Final against St. Patrick's, Shels were reduced early on to ten men as keeper Alan Gough was sent off, and with no sub keeper, midfielder Brian Flood played seventy minutes in goal. Despite trailing 1–0, Tony Sheridan equalised with a stunning lob in the last couple of minutes to force a replay. With Alan Gough back in goal for the rematch, Shels won the trophy after Gough saved a late penalty and Stephen Geoghegan scored an even later winner. Shels became only the third club to retain the FAI Cup when they defeated Derry City 2–0 in the 1997 final. Shelbourne fell to SK Brann in the 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Preliminary round. The 1997/98 season brought heartbreak. Shels lost the League Cup Final to Sligo Rovers, the FAI Cup Final to Cork City after a replay, and worst of all, missed out on the league title on the last day of the season, they were also narrowly eliminated from the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup by Kilmarnock. Richardson departed after this failure and in stepped the uncompromising Dermot Keely. Keely's first season ended in disappointment, Shelbourne finished third in the league and were knocked out of the FAI Cup at the Semifinal stage. In the first Qualifying round of the