Bohs welcomed back captain Owen Heary in the only change from Friday’s battling draw with Drogheda United. The 37 year old started the game in an unfamiliar right wing back role before being shifted to centre half after an uncomfortable opening period. Just like that Drogheda game, Bohs started sluggishly. The pitch at the UCD Bowl is deceptively bobbly, but that didn’t stop the Students from playing the ball around with ease. After just 8 minutes of mostly home possession, David McMillan slipped a cute ball through to Dean Clarke, whose first time shot easily beat Dean Delany for an all-too-easy opening goal.

The home side clearly settled better, and had a succession of corners which troubled Delany and the Bohs defence who struggled to clear their lines on more than one occasion. Some respite came on 17 minutes when Chris Lyons had Bohs’ first shot in anger – but it was fired straight at Conor O’Donnell. Unfortunately for Bohs, that was as good as it got in the opening half. Heary seemed lost on the right flank and was switched to centre back as Callaghan stuck with the 3-5-2. The half time whistle came just as Bohs seemed to be finding some kind of rhythm. Happily, this continued after the break – with the now midfield-lying Dave Mulcahy producing a smart save from O’Donnell after a 25 yard shot.

Perhaps the key moment of the game came on 69 minutes. Andy Mulligan was probably Bohs’ shining light on the left hand side, and when his shot was parried, Chris Lyons looked odds-on to score the rebound. However, his shot was miraculously cleared off the line by Tomás Boyle. Bohs players, staff, and fans all screamed for a handball, but referee Padraig Sutton was having none of it, and waved away the fervent protests. From first glance it seemed inconclusive, and Sutton would have had to have been 100 per cent sure to award a penalty and inevitable red card.

Bohs again felt hard done by ten minutes later when sub Kevin Devaney’s headed effort was ruled out for offside, but the ex-Sligo man did look a yard off. Frustration grew and grew for Bohs both on and off the pitch, and culminated in Keith Buckley’s dismissal with just a minute to go. He must have said something to the linesman on the far side, as he flagged before Sutton produced the straight red. If the red card was indeed for dissent, it was a ridiculous action from Buckley, who was perhaps frustrated most at his own performance, which was littered with misplaced passes and poor control. He will most likely miss the league games against Cork City and Shamrock Rovers, as well as the EA Sports Cup tie with Bray.

UCD easily saw out the 4 minutes of additional time to earn a valuable three points in their fight to avoid the drop. More performances like this, and Bohs will be part of that fight.

UCD: Conor O’Donnell; Hugh Douglas, David O’Connor, Tomas Boyle, Gareth Matthews, Cillian Morrison (James Kavanagh 73), Gary Burke, Robbie Creevy, Robbie Benson, Dean Clarke (Samir Belhout 77), David McMillan (Dinny Corcoran 86).
Subs not used: Mark McGinley, Barry McCabe, Tyrone McNelis, Craig Walsh.

Bohemians: Dean Delany, Roberto Lopes, Dave Mulcahy, Luke Byrne; Owen Heary, Derek Pender, Keith Buckley, Ryan McEvoy (Karl Moore 84), Andy Mulligan, Dwayne Wilson (Dave Scully 59), Chris Lyons (Kevin Devaney 73). Subs not used: Greg Murray, Ciaran Nangle, Shane Fitzgerald, Stephen Traynor.

Bohs Man of the Match: Andy Mulligan

Unfortunately for the visitors, they slept their way through the opening minute, and Drogheda were ahead in no time.  After ex-Bohs man Gary O’Neill had forced a corner straight from the kick off, Ryan Brennan caught the Bohs defence napping by taking it quick and whipping in a devilish cross.  Michael Daly rose to meet the ball at the height of his jump, giving Dean Delany no chance, stunning the travelling Bohs faithful.

A howling gale was blowing straight in Delany’s face in the first half and the Drogs were well on top, playing the kind of neat football that saw them finish a surprise 2^nd in the league last year. Graham Rusk and Brennan both flashed shots across goal as Bohs struggled to get the ball down and play.

When the equaliser came, it was totally against the run of play. Michael Barker played the ball forward to the previously anonymous Dwayne Wilson who’s first touch took him past United defender Shane Grimes.  Wilson then showed an incredible burst of pace and was suddenly through on goal.  For a man who hadn’t yet scored this season, he showed remarkable composure to slide a neat, right-footed finish passed Gabriel Sava into the bottom corner.

The Drogheda response was immediate, and almost produced one of the goals of the season.  Gary O’Neill may not be as nippy as he once was, but he showed incredible control to wrong foot Roberto Lopes.  Just as it looked like he was about to let fly with a screamer – he stopped, checked and chipped Dean Delany – Cantona-esque,  from 25 yards.  The Bohs keeper could only watch as the ball sailed over him and cannoned off the cross bar, with Michael Barker completing a great clearance under pressure from Brennan.

Drogheda didn’t take long to reassert their dominance, and re-took the lead with another sloppy goal for Bohs to concede.  Paul O’Conor’s header was tamely parried back into the danger zone by Dean Delany and O’Conor himself followed up to restore the home side’s lead.  Although it was from close range, Delany might well be disappointed that he didn’t keep the rebound out – as it rather squirmed under his body.

Aided by the wind, Bohs started the 2^nd half much brighter – and were level within just 6 minutes.  Chris Lyons came short, and sent an ambitious ball ahead of Andy Mulligan down the left.  Many players would have given up on the pass, but Mulligan’s lightning pace allowed him to amazingly reach it – before getting to the by-line and pulling it back.  The ball ricocheted off two Drogheda defenders before falling on a plate for Ryan McEvoy who buried past Sava from 12 yards.

Again, Drogheda reacted smartly to being pegged back.  The impressive Ryan Brennan did well down the left and fired a dangerous ball across the face of the goal.  It fell to Gary O’Neill just two yards out with the goal at his mercy – but he inexplicably skewed it over the bar when scoring would have been easier.

You almost felt that Bohs would get a chance to win it, and that chance came on 75 minutes.  Wilson’s pace caused Drogheda problems all night, and again took him clear down the right side.  He clipped a lovely ball that sailed over Chris Lyons head but found Andy Mulligan unmarked in acres of space, just 15 yards out.  If ever a player panicked with the result as his feet, it was then.  Mulligan lost his footing, and fell flat on his face.  He was in so much space that he even had time to pick himself up, jink around the on-rushing Sava before firing a shot disappointingly high and wide.

The home side searched for a winner but couldn’t find a way past a steadfast Bohs defence marshalled well once again by new cult hero Dave Mulcahy. That’s two welcome away points for the Gypsies, with the 3^rd of a travelling trilogy to come against UCD on Tuesday.

Drogheda United: Gabriel Sava, Derek Prendergast, Alan McNally, Shane Grimes, Brian Gannon, Graham Rusk (Declan “Fabio” O’Brien, 74), Paul O’Conor (Eric Foley, 64), Michael Daly, David Cassidy, Gavin Brennan, Gary O’Neill (Peter Hynes, 86). Subs not used: Stephen Quigley, Philip Hand, Cathal Brady, Michael Schlingermann

Bohemians: Dean Delany, Roberto Lopes, Dave Mulcahy, Luke Byrne, Michael Barker, Derek Pender, Keith Buckley, Ryan McEvoy, Andy Mulligan,  Dwayne Wilson (Kevin O’Leary, 86), Chris Lyons (Kevin Devaney, 90). Subs not used: Greg Murray, Ciaran Nangle, Owen Heary, Shane Murray, Stephen Traynor.

Bohs Man of the Match: Dwayne Wilson

Bohs made the short trip across the city without the injured Derek Pender and Dave Scully. Conor O’Brien and Dwayne Wilson were drafted into the 3-5-2 formation that began the game against Bray Wanderers on Friday. Initial signs were good, with the visitors’ tactics seeming to catch St Pats off guard in the opening quarter. Chris Lyons was a constant menace, and he created the first chance of the game for himself after 4 minutes. He collected Andy Mulligan’s cross, swiveled on a sixpence, and fired over the bar all in one movement. How many more points would Bohs have if the former UCD striker hadn’t missed half of the 10 league games so far?

Bohs were definitely the brighter team, with Lyons again causing trouble for the Pats defence. He received the ball out on the right from Wilson, and skipped past the lunging Kenny Browne inside the box. The Bohs crowd in the Shed End begged, nay,  implored Lyons to go down, but the honest striker stayed on his feet and crossed for Wilson, whose eventual pass toward Mulligan came to nothing.

With the Gypsies bossing the opening half hour, a sucker punch was almost inevitable, and it came courtesy of ex-Bohs striker Anto Flood. Putting it kindly, Dean Delany is struggling for confidence, and he wont be happy again with his role in the opening goal here. A routine short corner wasn’t reacted to by the Bohs defence, and the cross was floated in by Ian Bermingham. Delany came, flapped, and didnt connect, leaving ‘Bisto’ Flood with the simple task of rising above Luke Byrne to head the Saints into the lead.

The home side’s confidence grew from that point, and they really took control before and after half time. Kevin Devaney came on for the struggling Conor O’Brien at the break, but Pats were well on top by that stage. Delany spilled a Bermingham shot, but recovered in time to collect in front of an on-coming Flood. The introduction of Jake Kelly for Pats added an extra dimension to their game. His slid pass found Conan Byrne who dinked it over Delany, only for Roberto Lopes to clear off the line. Just a minute later, Kelly again found Byrne with a low cross, but the ball inexplicably came back off the crossbar.

A rare glimpse of the Pats goal came for Bohs on 70 minutes when Michael Barker showed great composure to beat two players and let fly with a stinging shot that Brandan Clarke tipped over the bar. From the resulting corner, Ryan McEvoy’s whipped cross was met with blunt force by Dave Mulcahy at the near post. Two men on the line couldnt stop it, and Bohs had smash-and-grabbed an equaliser!

Almost instantly, Pats hit the woodwork again, Conor Kenna’s header was clawed onto the post by Delany, as the home side searched for a winner. Up stepped Mulcahy, who started to produce a string of amazing last-ditch blocks. At one stage, he had been laid out on the ground by a clash of heads with Christy Fagan – but even his prone, spread-eagled body managed to get in the way of a Chris Forrester shot. Jake Kelly blazed over from 8 yards after a slaloming Forrester run, and it started to look like one of those nights.

Bohs almost pulled off an amazing win when sub Shane Fitzgerald crossed for Lyons, but Conor Kenna pulled a Mulcahy-esque block out of nowhere to deny the quiffed forward a fourth league goal. Dean Delany weighed in with a couple of smart injury time saves to deny Fagan and Kelly, and a hard-fought point was amazingly secured. Next up for Bohs, they conclude the first round of league fixtures with a trip to Drogheda on Friday.

St Patrick’s Athletic: Brendan Clarke; Ger O’Brien, Connor Kenna, Kenny Browne, Ian Bermingham; Sean Gannon (Jake Kelly, 60), John Russell, Shane McFaul; Conan Byrne, Anthony Flood (Christy Fagan, 65), Christopher Forrester. Subs not used: Dave Ryan, Aidan Price, Jake Carroll, Stephen Maher, Conor Murphy. 

Bohemians: Dean Delaney; Roberto Lopes, Dave Mulcahy, Luke Byrne; Michael Barker, Conor O’Brien (Kevin Devaney, 46), Keith Buckley, Ryan McEvoy, Andy Mulligan;  Dwayne Wilson (Shane Fitzgerald, 73); Chris Lyons. Subs not used: Greg Murray, Ciaran Nangle, Michael Scott, Darragh Reynor, Kevin O’Leary.

Bohs Man of the Match: Dave Mulcahy