And the game looked to be going on recent form as the home side drew first blood early on.

A long ball from the hosts went over the head of Kevin Feely, who looked to have the situation under control before slipping under pressure from Danny Ledwith.

The quick-footed Ledwith stole in to take the ball off Feely’s toes and fell to the ground himself after a clumsy challenge just outside the box from the 20-year-old defender.

Referee Seán Grant adjudged the Kildare man’s foul to have prevented a goal-scoring opportunity and had no hesitation in giving the fuming youngster his marching orders.

To compound Bohs’ misery, Ledwith dispatched the resultant free-kick past Greg Murray in the Bohemian goal to give the hosts an early lead.

Things went from bad to worse for the Gypsies as they went 2-0 behind 14 minutes later.

Paul O’Conor was pulling the strings for the Students in the middle of the field, and it was the 25-year-old who struck the second blow as his speculative effort found the net thanks to a wicked deflection.

The ball bobbled around on the edge of the box before O’Conor struck a low shot, which looked to be heading away from danger until Evan McMillan stuck out his leg to divert it past the flat-footed Murray.

John O’Connor came close to getting Bohs back in the game after 27 minutes. The striker, 20, was well positioned at the back post to meet Karl Moore’s cross but his faint touch saw the ball flash wide.UCD then went looking for the vital third and O’Conor’s midfield partner Barry McCabe nearly put the game to bed with a long-range effort that flashed wide of Murray’s left-hand post.

Moments later, Callaghan opted to shuffle his pack as Derek Pender came on in place of O’Connor.

The change failed to halt the Students’ blitzing of Murray’s goal in the second half, however. O’Conor was dangerous from long range and the inexperienced Murray, 19, did well to keep the scoreline down to 2-0.

Dave Mulcahy, Pender and Scully all went close to getting Bohs back into the game. Yet as the clock ticked ticked towards the full-time whistle, it looked like it was going to be the Students’ night.Callaghan used his final two rolls of the dice on 66 minutes as Moore and Kevin Devaney were sacrificed for Scully and Dinny Corcoran. And it was the former who proved to be the hero of the day.

But as the fourth official signaled there was to be three minutes’ injury-time, ex-Monaghan United man Scully found himself running through on goal after a superb through ball.

He composed himself and fired home past Ger Barron from the edge of the area.

Too little, too late? So it seemed. But a hopeful punt up the field from Bohs skipper Owen Heary saw Michael Leahy nearly head past his own keeper in the dying embers.

But it was supersub Scully again, this time from Ryan McEvoy’s placed ball, who was on hand to head home a late and unlikely leveler.The ball went out for a corner and Murray and his glistening silver jersey joined in on one last Bohemian attack.

Next up for the Gypsies is an away trip to Oriel Park to take on Dundalk on Saturday week.

Originally due to host Monaghan United this Friday, after a busy campaign, the Bohs players can take a breather this weekend due to the Mons’ unfortunate demise.

UCD: Barron; Douglas (Russell, 82), Leahy, O’Connor, Nangle; Clarke (Mulhall, 72), O’Conor, McCabe (Kavanagh, 59), Ledwith; Benson; McMillan.

BOHEMIANS: Murray; Heary, Feely, Lopez; Barker, McEvoy, Mulcahy, O’Connor (Pender, 28), Moore (Scully, 64); McMillan, Devaney (Corcoran, 64).

MAN OF THE MATCH: Dave Scully.

With both sides knocked out of all cup competitions and fighting for a fifth-place finish in the league, the early exchanges were understandably slow-paced.

There was very little action in terms of scoring opportunities, so perhaps it came as a surprise when the first chance yielded a goal.

The Bohs defence, which has been one of the positives of Aaron Callaghan’s first season, fell asleep as it allowed Vinny Sullivan surge into the box and superbly volleyed home past Greg Murray.

Most people would have thought that this would shock the Gypsies into action but the problems that were evident in the home defeat by Dundalk were still present and Cork nearly went two goals ahead when another cross by Daryl Horgan was headed onto the post by Sullivan.

The home side were restricted to crosses from Andy Mulligan and Owen Heary, which weren’t causing Tommy Dunne’s side many problems.

On the stroke of half-time, referee Rob Rodgers waved away a Bohs penalty appeal for handball, which on another night could well have been given.

The half-time break saw Callaghan turn to his subs bench to make the difference.

On came Dave Scully for Ken Carr as he partnered the versatile Evan McMillan, who had played at centre-back in the first half. up front.

And straight away the changes began to have an effect. McMillan made a nuisance of himself and chances were being created.

Keith Ward delivered a free-kick, which nearly found its way to McMillan and Scully should have done better from a great cross from Mulligan but headed wide.

It wasn’t long after that the equaliser came, though. Some terrific work from McMillan again led to him getting the ball at his feet 25 yards from goal. The former St Patrick’s Athletic man showed great composure to curl in his sixth goal of the season.

It looked like Bohs would power on to to win but it could have been oh so different two minutes later as Sullivan hit the post for the second time.

McMillan continued to win more aerial duels as the Cork defence just about dealt with the constant aerial bombardment.

Both sides had moments of hope near the end. After a through ball from Stephen Kenny, Horgan found himself 20 yards from goal but he tried a deft chip which sailed over the bar.

Shortly afterwards, Ward ran into the and fell to ground from what looked like a mistimed challenge from Dan Murray.

The referee saw otherwise and booked Ward for simulation, which meant he was sent off having already been shown a yellow card earlier in the second half. This proved to be the last kick of the game as the referee blew for full time.

Next up for Bohs is a short trip out to the Belfield Bowl to face Martin Russell’s UCD.

Man Of The Match: Evan McMillan

As FAI Cup quarter finals go, the first half of this one will not live long in the memory. There was little or no goalmouth action at all. Kevin Devaney flashed a cross along the six yard box in the opening minutes, but that was as threatening as it got for either side in the first 45 minutes. Bohs played marginally the better football, with Keith Buckley particularly impressive on the right side.

Before the game, Aaron Callaghan praised Dundalk manager Darius Kierans for making the Lilywhites a team that were ‘hard to beat’, and the away side lived up to that billing – Liam Burns and Derek Foran were rock solid at centre back.

Following a toothless 45 minutes for Bohs, Evan McMillan was shifted up front for the second period. He offered a better outlet for the home side, but the spark just wasnt there for Bohs. Dundalk slowly started to come into the game, taking control around the hour mark. Mark Griffin looked particularly skillful and dangerous – his goal against Drogheda last month is widely regarded as the leading contender for Goal of the Season.

Griffin’s delivery from a left-sided free kick should have yielded the opener for Chris Shields, but the Dundalk captain completely missed his header. With 15 minutes to go, it was looking like a replay – unless a moment of magic was to settle matters. That moment arrived when Dave Mulcahy’s clumsy challenge felled Michael Rafter 25 yards out from Greg Murray’s goal.

Griffin stepped up, and let fly with an unstoppable right-footed effort that soared into the top corner. The travelling fans in the Des Kelly Stand went ballistic, and Bohs found themselves backed into a corner.

Callaghan threw on Andy Mulligan and John O’Connor for a hectic last ten minutes. Mulligan provided some much-needed penetration down the left flank. and with 5 minutes to go, his pullback agonizingly avoided everyone in the box as Bohs grew more and more desperate. A Keith Ward cross was headed down to Dave Mulcahy as the game entered injury time – but Mulcahy’s twisting volley clipped the top of the bar and went over. The last throw of the dice was a Ryan McEvoy corner which goalkeeper Murray went up for. Fittingly, Liam Burns headed away – and Bohs FAI Cup dreams were left in tatters.

Five league games remain for Callaghan’s young side. With a top-half finish absolutely within reach, that would be a truly admirable achievement considering the position the club were in when he took over. As for trophys, they’ll have to wait for another year to come back to the home of Irish football.  

Bohemians: Greg Murray, Dave Mulcahy, Owen Heary (John O’Connor, 82), Kevin Feely, Roberto Lopes, Karl Moore (Ryan McEvoy, 69), Keith Buckley, Keith Ward, Derek Pender, Evan McMillan, Kevin Devaney (Andy Mulligan 82). Subs not used: Andy McNulty, Michael Barker, Dave Scully, Ken Carr.

Dundalk: Peter Cherrie, Derek Foran, Liam Burns, Chris Shields, Nathan Murphy (Eoghan Osbourne, 90), Mark O’Brien, John Mountney, Stephen McDonnell, Mark Griffin, Gary Shanahan, Michael Rafter (Paul Walsh, 86).Subs not used: Chris Reilly, Lorcan Shannon, Bob McKenna, Conor McDonnell, William Woods.