A double from defender Luke Nolan and a Victor Lace strike helped Bohemians secure a 3-0 victory against Finn Harps in the Oscar Traynor Centre on Saturday in the EA Sports MU17 LOI Academy League 2023.

Bohs dominated the early exchanges against a well-organised Finn Harps side with Reilly going close in the 8th minute with a powerful drive that went just wide.

As the first half progressed, Bohs continued to attack with Christopher Conlan and Victor Lace linking up well together to cause Finn Harps problems. Aaron Culleton impressed for Bohs passing the ball from midfield effectively.

Victor Lace came close to breaking the deadlock on the 30-minute mark with a long-range effort. Samuel Collins followed two minutes later with an attempt from the edge of the box that narrowly missed the target. Just before half-time, an excellent run and well-timed cutback by Christopher Conlan set up Victor Lace for a tidy finish to open the scoring for Bohemians.

Harps made a goalkeeper switch at half time and were unfortunate to lose their substitute goalkeeper Ronan Callaghan to a hand injury early in the second half, forcing an outfield player to step into goal for the remainder of the match.

Harps, to their credit, began to grow into the game and attack more but in the 58th minute Bohs’ full back Luke Nolan doubled Bohs’ lead with a nice finish. Nolan then added to his tally to make it 3-0 to Bohs in the 62nd minute, capitalising on another assist from the impressive Christopher Conlan.

Bohs then saw out the game well with substitute Joey Chad going close to making it 4-0 with an effort late in the game.

In the end, Bohemians emerged with a well-earned 3-0 victory against a competitive Finn Harps team. Next weekend, Bohs travel away to St. Patrick’s Athletic on Saturday afternoon.