Shelbourne 3-1 Derry City Sean Boyd was Shelbourne’s leading light as the League of Ireland champions got their title defence off to an electrifying start on Friday night - with a huge assist from a Shels supporting sparky! With the Reds leading 3-1 at the break, the lights went out as a blown fuse plunged Tolka Park into darkness. The players had just left the pitch and music was blaring out over the PA system when the electrics dramatically failed. A group of youngsters were ready to play an exhibition match on the pitch at half-time, but the power cut put an end to that. A decision on whether the second-half could take place was due to be made by the referee at 9.10pm, but that deadline was extended as technicians worked at replacing the blown fuse, with Shels fans chanting, 'ESB, ESB' as the repair work continued. Meanwhile, there were frantic calls between visiting club Derry City and the FAI to see if there were protocols for such an event. After a 45-minute delay, during which it was felt that the match would be abandoned and the score reset to 0-0, play finally resumed. It was thanks to the fact that a Shels-supporting ESB worker was at the game, was able to quickly identify the problem and get the on-call team out quickly to restore power. Reds fans let out a huge roar once electricity returned to light up Tolka Park once again. It was then announced that the game would resume at 9.35pm. Damien Duff's men made a storming start to the night by firing three goals past Derry City in a blistering first-half. If anyone needed the power to stay off, it was Candystripes defender Sam Todd, who endured a nightmare start to the new campaign. He had a hand in all three Shels goals. The hosts raced into an 11th minute lead when Boyd scored from 35 yards, as he latched onto a poor Todd clearance. Shels went route one, with Harry Wood sending the ball forward after new signing Kerr McInroy dispossessed recent Derry arrival Liam Boyce. Todd’s attempt to clear the danger was far too casual, Boyd ran onto the loose ball and finished first-time with a composed side-footed strike past stranded goalkeeper Brian Maher. Derry were level three minutes later as Michael Duffy headed home Dom Thomas's cross, but their joy was short-lived as Todd, battling with Boyd, inadvertently teed up Evan Caffrey for Shelbourne's second within a minute of the restart. Caffrey’s 20-yarder took a nick off Mark Connolly on its way into the net. And Boyd made it three from the spot after he was sent tumbling by the luckless Todd. He picked himself up and squeezed his penalty through Maher’s hands and inside the right-hand post. Then came the half-time drama and a delayed restart. Unsurprisingly, the tempo dropped, but Shels still looked threatening going forward. Former West Ham striker Mipo Odubeko went close three times to marking his competitive debut with a goal, but was denied by the post and a couple of narrow misses in quick succession. You couldn’t fault the energy of Shelbourne’s display as they powered their way to an impressive win over a Derry City side that blew a fuse long before the Tolka Park lights went out. SHELS: Conor Kearns; Sean Gannon, Paddy Barrett, Sam Bone, Kameron Ledwidge; Evan Caffrey (Ryan O’Kane 87), Mark Coyle, Kerr McInroy (JJ Lunney 66), Harry Wood (Rayhan Tulloch 87); Sean Boyd (Ellis Chapman 81), Mipo Odubeko (John Martin 87). DERRY: Brian Maher; Ronan Boyce, Mark Connolly, Sam Todd, Shane Ferguson; Dom Thomas (Paul McMullan 78), Adam O’Reilly, Carl Winchester (Sadou Diallo 61), Michael Duffy; Liam Boyce (Sean Patton 69), Patrick Hoban (Gavin Whyte 69). REFEREE: Rob Harvey Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.