Despite a howling gale blowing towards Dean Delany at the Shopping Centre end, Bohs started brightly, with Andy Mulligan and Shane Fitzgerald making their season debuts out wide in a 3-5-2 formation at the start of the game. The opening 15 minutes belonged to Bohs, and they deservedly took the lead after 12. Lovely footwork from Ryan McEvoy split the Bray defence as they tried to get out from a cleared corner. McEvoy slipped in Andy Mulligan, and the young winger showed great composure to square the ball to Chris Lyons, who had the simple task of tapping in from 6 yards.

After that promising start, things started to go pear-shaped for the home side. Aided by the wind, Bray piled on the pressure. Ex-Bohs goal machine Jason Byrne almost scored an outrageous volley before the equaliser inevitably came. Again, it was a sloppy goal for Bohs to concede. In fact, it was somewhat of a freak goal. After Kieran “Marty” Waters was tackled by Luke Byrne on the edge of the box, the ball broke to Gary Dempsey, who let fly from 25 yards. The ball amazingly canonned off the spread-eagled Waters, looped into the air, and went in off what looked like a ricochet between the crossbar and Dean Delany’s head.

Pat Devlin’s men were unlucky not to get to half time in the lead. Delany pulled off some smart saves from Waters, Byrne, and John Mulroy as Aaron Callaghan abandoned the 3-5-2 and switched to an orthodox 4-4-2. There’s no doubt the Bohs manager would have been happy to hear the half time whistle.

The first 15 minutes of the second half were cagey, then Bohs burst into life. Dave Scully had what was surely his best performance in a Bohs shirt. He held the ball up magnificently, brought others into play, and was a general nuisance for the Bray defence all night. He was almost rewarded with a goal on the hour mark, but his toe poked effort from Mulligan’s cross was well saved by Darren Quigley.

The lead goal was coming, and it was no surprise that the ultra-sharp Lyons was again on the end of it. Keith Buckley, playing in a central midfield role, played it forward to McEvoy, who controlled brilliantly and sent Lyons through over the top. With Quigley coming to meet him, Lyons deflty lifted it over the keeper from the corner of the 18 yard box. It seemed to take an age to come down, but when it did – it nestled in the back of the net.

The home fans had hardly retaken their seats when the third goal arrived. A lovely whipped free kick from Buckley found Dave Mulcahy unmarked on the penalty spot. The big man made no mistake, rocketing his header into the top corner.

There was still 25 minutes left, and Bray came back into it in the final quarter. There was clear jitters in the air as Bohs struggled to keep the ball. Many long clearances were aimlessly directed, and the nerves were clearly on show. These nerves werent helped when Kevin Knight’s pull-back was neatly finished by John Mulroy on 75 minutes. There could have been a capitulation, but credit to the Bohs backline. Marshalled by Mulcahy, they stayed strong and restricted Bray to long range efforts. Jason Byrne dragged one wide, and Bohs held out for a priceless three points.

Next up, a crunch tie in Inchicore on Monday for the re-arranged tie with St Patrick’s Athletic.

Bohemians: Dean Delany, Roberto Lopes, Dave Mulcahy, Luke Byrne, Derek Pender (Michael Barker, 72), Keith Buckley, Ryan McEvoy, Andy Mulligan (Kevin Devaney, 83), Shane Fitzgerald (Karl Moore, 75), Dave Scully, Chris Lyons. Subs not used: Greg Murray, Michael Scott, Dwayne Wilson, Shane Murray.

Bray Wanderers: Darren Quigley, Danny O’Connor, Danny Webster, Kevin Knight, Conor Earley (Ishmail Akinade, 76), Dean Zambra, Gary Dempsey (Shane O’Neill, 87), Paul Malone, Keiran ‘Marty’ Waters, Jason Byrne. Subs not used: Shane O’Connor, Stephen McGuiness, Daniel Joyce, Eoin Hyland, Daire Doyle.

Bohs Men of the Match: Dave Scully / Dave Mulcahy.

Indeed, attacking options are in desperate need for Bohs. Unfortunately for the home fans, they were treated to another 90 minutes of frustrating action, with the team in red and black struggling to create any clear cut chances. The Lilywhites featured former Bohs men Stephen O’Donnell and Keith Ward in central midfield, and that duo were the dominant force in a classy performance from the visitors, who continued their 100% away record.

After a relatively promising start, Dundalk began to take control after 15 minutes, and took the lead in the 20^th. Dean Delany has had what can only be described as a nightmare week. After arguably being at fault for both Limerick goals on Tuesday, he made another error here. Richie Towell’s 30 yard free kick was struck well enough, but the former Shelbourne keeper only parried the shot in front of him. The ball dropped kindly for Tiernan Mulvenna, who had an easy 4 yard finish.

Credit to Delany, he picked himself up, shrugged off the ire from large sections of the Jodi Stand, and made a string of impressive saves. Mulvenna struck a low shot that Delany tipped around the post, and saved well again from John Dillon after the resulting corner. Mulvenna probably should have doubled the visitor’s lead after 35 minutes, but couldn’t connect with Ward’s devilishly whipped free kick.

Half time brought changes for Bohs as Dave Scully and Chris Lyons entered the fray. The isolated Kevin Devaney was hooked along with Shane Murray, and the subs formed a two-man strike force in the second 45. For the first 15 minutes, things looked up, with the lively Lyons latching onto some of Scully’s bustling knock-ons. Still, no real chances fell for Bohs, and you felt the second goal was always going to come.

When it did, it was yet another sloppy goal for Bohs to concede. A Roberto Lopes header was cleared out to Richie Towell, who let fly with a speculative 25 yard effort. The shot would almost certainly have gone wide, but took a wicked deflection off the charging Lopes, and wrong-footed Delany to seal the deal for Dundalk.

The last ten minutes were as frustrating as the first 80. Set-piece delivery was simply awful all night, with long range free kicks being floated out of play or failing to beat the first man on more than one occasion. When chances are few and far between, set pieces need to yield better results. Bohs have a full week to prepare for what becomes a crunch clash with Bray Wanderers in a week’s time.

Worryingly for Bohs, they now have an identical record to last season – 7 points from the opening 8 games. Given this season’s squad have had a much more settled pre-season, the home fans will be hoping for a repeat of the last term’s mid-season kick-on in the coming weeks.

Bohemians: Dean Delany, Derek Pender, Roberto Lopes, Stephen Paisley, Luke Byrne; Ciaran Nangle, Shane Murray (Dave Scully ’46), Michael Barker, Ryan McEvoy (Conor O’Brien ’75), Karl Moore; Kevin Devaney (Chris Lyons ’46). Subs not used: Keith Buckley, Michael Scott, Greg Murray, Shane Fitzgerald. 

Dundalk: Peter Cherrie; John Sullivan, Andy Boyle, Mark Rossiter, Dane Massey; John Dillon, Richard Towell, Stephen O’Donnell, Keith Ward (John Mountney ’64); Tiarnan Mulvenna (Darren Meenan ’70), Vinny Faherty (Pat Hoban ’80). Subs not used: Kurtis Byrne, Stephen McDonnell, Sami Osobi,  Aaron Shanahan.

Aaron Callaghan’s side should have taken the lead right the beginning when Kevin Devaney was presented with a great opportunity after a mix-up in the Limerick defence between Aaron Brown and goalkeeper Barry Ryan. But the 22-year-old, who usually keeps his composure in front of goal, couldn’t do so this time.

Despite that setback, Bohs began to dominate the game and it was Shane Murray who was looking the most impressive in the centre of the park. A darting run and a superb ball to the back post from the Arklow man should have found Devaney but once again the former Finn Harps and Sligo player failed to convert as the ball just evaded him.

After a pretty uneventful first half, the game sprung into life in the second. Limerick began to get on the front foot and a powerful shot from Daniel Galbraith tested Dean Delany but the Bohs No 1 held on.

Then, Bohemians struck the first blow. A diagonal ball found its way to Buckley. The No 7 was getting ready to shoot when he was tumbled over from behind. Alan Kelly was left with no option to point to the spot and show Nzuzi a red card. McEvoy stepped up and side-footed the ball past Ryan in the Limerick goal.

Bohs seemed to be in the ascendancy but five minutes after taking the lead, Shane Treacy stepped up and fired a free-kick past Delany. It beat him at his near post; the ex-Shelbourne stopper really should have done better. After this, the home side began to take control, despite Callaghan introducing Dave Scully and Kevin O’Leary into the fold.

Limerick had numerous chances to win it before they finally sealed the deal as Bohs seemed to run out of ideas playing against 10 ten men. Brown wasted a golden opportunity after he fired wide from a Treacy cross but, against the run of play,  Scully should have been the Bohs supersub when he found himself in on goal, but he blasted over the bar.

That was the last chance for the Gypsies as Treacy delivered a ball into the six-yard box. Delany opted to stay on his line and for the second time of the match, his poor positioning proved costly as David O’Leary was left with the easiest of headers to nod to back of the net as the home crowd erupted.

Limerick FC: Barry Ryan; Shaun Kelly, Aaron Brown, Stephen Folan, Patrick Nzuzi; Shane Tracy, Stephen Bradley, David O’Leary; Axel Bossekota (Rory Gaffney 66), Craig Curran, Danny Galbraith. Subs not used: Shane Cusack, Shane Costelloe, Val Feeney, Pat Purcell, Steven McGann, Darragh Rainsford.

Bohemians: Dean Delany; Michael Barker, Roberto Lopes, Derek Pender, Luke Byrne; Keith Buckley (Karl Moore 86), Dave Mulcahy, Ryan McEvoy, Shane Murray (Dave Scully 69) Ciaran Nangle; Kevin Devaney (Kevin O’Leary 78). Subs not used: Greg Murray, Conor O’Brien, Stephen Paisley, Dwayne Wilson.

Referee: Alan Kelly.