For Palace, this result continues a superb phase in the club’s history that has seen them win the FA Cup in May, the Community Shield in August and now sit fourth in the Premier League table.
The Eagles’ FA Cup success should have earned them a place in the second-tier Europa League, only for them to be demoted into the Conference League as Uefa ruled that Palace were in breach of multi-club ownership rules.
However, they were then installed as one of the favourites to win this competition, with two of the previous four winners being Premier League sides – West Ham in 2023 and Chelsea last season.
Two losses in their opening four games, 1-0 at home to Cypriot side Larnaca and a 2-1 reverse against Strasbourg in France, meant Palace needed to gain a positive result against the 2024 League of Ireland champions.
That was reflected in Glasner’s team selection, with only four changes to the starting 11 from the side that beat Fulham on Sunday. Uche was one of those and came in to score and get an assist on his first start for the club.
It was hard to see how the evening could have gone better for Glasner, whose side are in the middle of a frantic 15-game run between 22 November and 10 January.
This was their third of eight games in December and they entertain Manchester City on Sunday before the final Conference League match of this stage against KuPS.
But Glasner will have to keep rotating his squad with the KuPS clash coming only 48 hours before Palace play at Leeds in the Premier League.
With the three points quickly secured, Palace were able to then rest key players.
Daichi Kamada, Wharton and Pino were all taken off at half-time, with Nketiah being replaced midway through the second half. Glasner was also able to hand a debut to 17-year-old striker Benji Casey.
Shelbourne finished the match still yet to score in this tournament although Daniel Kelly had an injury-time effort saved by visiting goalkeeper Walter Benitez.
