SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division
Friday May 19 2023, Oriel Park, 7.45pm

Bohemians boss Declan Devine says he believes his side are capable of beating anyone in this league when they bring their best to the party.

Bohs go into tonight’s game after successive defeats for the first time this season and are looking to get back to winning ways against Dundalk at Oriel Park.

Devine’s side faced an uphill struggle against Derry City last week after being reduced to 10 men on 14 minutes when Grant Horton was given his marching orders.

The Candystripes duly turned the screw two minutes later when former Bohemian Ryan Graydon scored the only goal of the game.

Bohs were disappointed that they could not get anything out of the game despite a much-improved second-half performance.

Devine said: ”From our point of view, I couldn’t have asked more of our players last week. The sending-off of Grant was devastating for us so early in the game and it affected us.

”We know that we have to learn from that. If we suffer any type of setback we can’t let another one happen, which is what happened when we conceded.

‘’But the players showed hunger and desire to go after the game and, apart from that crazy four or five minutes, I can’t fault the players.

‘’Every single one put in some shift against a side that has been building to challenge for a league title for a number of years now.

”And over the course of the last two games against established sides like Derry and Shamrock Rovers, I don’t think there was much between the teams.

”The two results haven’t gone our way. But we certainly feel as if we deserved something from the games.

”We didn’t lose because of a lack of effort and desire. But look, we’ve got to also understand that we cannot be losing those games either.

”We have got to make sure that we get something out of them. That’s something that we need to get right but we are a new group one and I can’t fault the players on their effort and their quality since the first game of the season.

”We played some fantastic stuff with ten men last Friday and the week before in Tallaght. We played a really good brand of football so those results are hard on everyone.

”But ultimately we want to get back to winning ways and that’s what it’s all about this week.

”We want to go and get points. We want to turn performances into wins again.

”We’ll be going to Dundalk to play at the levels we have played at over previous weeks but also be more of a threat and nullify what Dundalk’s threats will be.

”Defeats all hurt. But at the same time we just have to put it to the back of our minds like we do with wins.

”We have to get on with it and hopefully get a good performance that will enable us, in what is a really difficult venue on a difficult surface, and try get three points.”

Dundalk too come into this game after losing to Derry City.

Stephen O’Donnell’s side suffered a 3-0 defeat on Foyleside on Monday night but Devine added: ”I was at the game. Dundalk were unlucky. Even at 2-0 down they had two great chances.

”Even the character they showed the previous week to come back really late against Cork will stand them in good stead in terms of their hunger and their ability to keep going.

”So we’re under no illusions that we are in for another tough, tough game. But we have to bring our best to the party and if we can do that, I fancy us against anybody.”

TEAM NEWS

James Akintunde (hamstring) and Dylan Connolly (rib) are out, while Grant Horton is suspended.

SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division
Friday May 12 2023, Dalymount Park, 7.45pm

Declan Devine says his side must take last week’s Dublin Derby setback on the chin when they host his hometown club Derry City at Dalymount Park.

Controversial decisions, including an offside goal and the denial of a stonewall penalty, contributed to Bohemians’ 2-0 defeat to Shamrock Rovers last week.

But despite the frustration of that result, Devine saw plenty in his side’s performance to inspire confidence going into another tough game.

Devine said: “The decisions were just ludicrous but we have to move on. We’ve got to get back on the horse this week.

“The boys were trained brilliantly. We know we’re playing a real top side again and we’re gonna have to go up the gears again.

“That’s the reality of this league. You have to get over setbacks and you have to get over any wins quickly as well.

“We’ve been able to respond after defeats we’ve had this season very positively and it’s something we’ll have to do again on Friday.

“That’s something that we’ve done all year. We have gone to difficult venues and we have dealt with tough opponents in Dalymount, so there will be no difference in our mentality setting up trying to win against Derry City.“

In Ruaidhrí Higgins’ Candystripes, Bohs, still top of the table despite last week’s setback, face a side with designs on a league title.

A Dean Williams penalty gave Bohs all three points when the sides met on Foyleside last month, but Devine knows his players will have to pull out all the stops to repeat that outcome.

Devine said: “Derry have invested really well in their squad. When you have a team that has the likes of Michael Duffy, you know you’re going to have tough opponents. We have to be ready for that.

“Derry will fancy their chances pushing for a league title. We’re just looking to try and make sure that our level of performance will give us an opportunity of taking three points and that’s what we want to do, no matter who we play, and where we play them, we want to take the points.“

Devine admitted his players were both gutted and frustrated by the manner of last week’s defeat, but believes they can channel that disappointment into delivering against his former club.

He said: “It was a long weekend. The result was hard to take because of our performance. The performance did not warrant a 2-0 defeat. The first goal is 100% offside, whether you slow down, whether you don’t, he is standing on the line.

“As I said at the time, the penalty has got to be given. We have to accept that decisions that will go for us and that decisions will go against us. But that doesn’t make going there and losing in the manner that we did any easier to take.

“But it was great to get the lads in training during the week because you know what, our performance was positive, and we said that to them.

“Now we are going to have to make sure that we give the same level of performance, and even more, against Derry because it’s another top side coming to Dalymount and we have to be ready for that.

“There were huge positives, I think with the exception of the first 15 minutes, we were the dominant side for long periods. We were the team that controlled the tempo of the game.

“They got the offside goal, which knocked us for a few moments, but we again came back and we were very positive in our approach, dominating the ball in such a high profile game.

“That’s something that players have to take huge confidence from because over recent years, we might have had it set up just to contain and frustrate but our performances shows so far this group of players have come in terms of their belief in each other, their ability to dominate possession of the ball and to create opportunities.

“And we did have opportunities. Declan has a chance at the back post, Johnny has a chance that is saved on the one v one. And then obviously not giving the penalty was a huge turning point in the game.

“Even if we had been awarded the penalty and scored, I think we would have still gone after them trying to win the game. That is the kind of energy we need against Derry City.”

TEAM NEWS

Ali Coote, who has seen training and game-time since returning from a thigh injury curtailed due to a bug, has played a full part in training this week.

James Akintunde (hamstring) remains out, while Jordan Flores and Jay Benn are doubts.

SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division
Friday May 5 2023
Tallaght Stadium, 7.45pm

Declan Devine believes his side have learnt lessons from their last Dublin Derby and says Bohemians know the level of performance they must deliver to get a result in Tallaght.

Bohs go into the game top of the table with four points separating them and tomorrow’s opponents in second.

Their hosts have lost just once this season and come into this game after impressive back-to-back wins against Sligo Rovers, St Pat’s and Derry City.

Bohs cross town with their tails up too as well after a convincing 5-0 against 10-man Cork City on May Day.

Devine was delighted with the response of his side in that game, having frustratingly conceded a late equaliser in a below-par performance away to UCD on Monday.

He said: “It was important to start the match positively. It would have been easy at five o’clock on a Bank Holiday Monday after the disappointment of conceding late on Friday to start slowly and sluggishly.

“But that is something we spoke to the players about and full credit to them, they started really well. Their ability to be patient and move the ball was excellent.

“And sometimes when you are playing against 10 men, it is not as easy as people think. You look at our performance with 10 men against St Pat’s, you look at Sligo with 10 men against St Pat’s. So the way we won the game was very pleasing.

“Again, we got three goals from our subs. That is the fourth game in a row that players coming off the bench have scored. That is a real ace up your sleeve to have – quality players who can come on and really influence a performance and result.

“Throughout the season we have shown great character and we have scored 14 goals in our first six home games. We want to score goals at home and we want to entertain.

“Some of the football we have played in the early part of the season has been pleasing. We have gone away from home and dug out clean sheets too.

“It is finding that happy medium going out to Tallaght to get a positive performance and a positive result.”

That game could have gone so differently were it not for James Talbot’s world class save after 27 seconds from Ruairi Keating’s free header.

Devine, himself a former goalkeeper, hailed his No 1, and said: “That’s not surprising from James. The only surprising thing was the fact we gave them that opportunity to score in the first place.

“James has been an outstanding player for this club and he will continue to be in the years to come.

“A really pleasing thing for me was we have Keith Buckley as captain, Jordan Flores as vice-captain, and when neither of those have played, Adam McDonnell has captained the side.

“But to see Jordan Flores coming off, and take the decision himself to run to James and give him the armband, I think that shows the esteem in which James is held by his fellow players.”

Devine was also relieved to see the return of Jordan Flores from suspension and Ali Coote from injury. The former opened the scoring with a stunning free-kick, while the latter helped himself to two goals having been introduced as a second-half substitute.

During his brief absence, Flores and his partner celebrated the arrival of their daughter Sophia and Devine said: “He and his partner have just had a baby girl.

“It’s a fantastic time in his life – his second child, and it is so important that family life is good and strong.

“Jordan is a wonderful person and everyone at the club is delighted for him – the boys all chipped in to buy them a nice present that Bucko presented to them last week.

“Having Jordan back in from the start against Cork was massive for us. He has been a top, top player for a long, long time. He has really hit the ground running this season too.

“Ali, Jordan and James Akintunde would be massive losses for any squad but thankfully we have had big performances and have been able to pick up results without them too.”

Underlining what a loss Coote was to the team, his form prior to being struck down with a thigh injury saw him named the SSE Airtricity / Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month for March.

Devine said: “Ali has really lit it up this season. He is a very talented lad and it is great to have him back. He is instrumental to how we want to play.

“But we also have to understand that he hasn’t played in three or four weeks and we have to see how he is.

“He was actually very sick over the weekend. He was very doubtful for Monday as, having returned to training at the start of the week, he didn’t train with the group over the weekend because of illness.

“So for him to come in and perform how he did was brilliant. The threat he can pose to teams is very important to us.

“He is going to be massive for us with so many games coming up in the next few weeks before the break – as will James Akintunde when we get him back in the next week or so.”

Devine believes his side have learned lessons from their previous Dublin Derby against Rovers, which ended in a 2-0 defeat at Dalymount last month.

Devine added: “We have come a long way in a short space of time. It is only 20 weeks since we finished sixth last season.

“But there is a lot to learn from the last time we played them. To give away a goal in the 46th minute of the first half was a big blow for us having dealt with the opening 25/30 minutes being on top, creating chances, and being positive in our approach.

“As a new group we have to accept and realise that we are going to have setbacks. But this is another game where we really want to go and perform to our highest levels. We want to win. We have played positively away in other games in difficult venues.

“This is another difficult venue, and we go into this game with our eyes wide open.

“We want to play to the highest level we can. We certainly won’t be going there to sit back. We have got to go there and try to attack, and be better defensively than what we were when we played them at home.

“We know the intensity we have to bring to this game and we know what it means to players, players’ families and supporters. But ultimately it is just another opportunity for us to try to get another three points.

“We have got to bring our A game and we know if we can do that, we will do ourselves justice because we have players that can hurt any team.”

TEAM NEWS

This game is likely to come too soon for James Akintunde (hamstring).

SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division
Friday April 28 2023, UCD Bowl, 7.45pm

Declan Devine says Bohemians need to bring the right attitude and intensity to Belfield tomorrow if they want to beat UCD.

It is top against bottom at the UCD Bowl but Devine says his side cannot afford to underestimate any team in this league.

Devine said: “We had a very difficult game against them when we played them at home. I expect nothing different.

“We will take a big crowd there and I ask our fans to come out and really get behind the team and generate the kind of atmosphere we had in Drogheda, the Brandywell and Sligo.

“I ask every fan to help us because it can be a difficult venue – UCD always go on a run, every year, and we have got to make sure we go there with the right attitude and intensity.

“If we can get our fans to push us on, it will be a massive help for us.”

His side come into this game on the back of a 2-0 win away to Drogheda United last week, which extended their lead at the top of the table to five points.

Bohs started that game at full pelt, and their pressure paid off when Paddy Kirk claimed his second goal of the season on 17 minutes.

Drogheda came out all guns blazing in the second half, however, and piled bodies forward in search of an equaliser.

Bohs stood firm though, and Declan McDaid swooped to put the game beyond doubt in injury-time.

Devine said: “I think for half an hour of the game we were fantastic – the opening period where we moved the ball really well.

“If you look back at Paddy’s goal, it was a fantastic team goal. We worked it in from one side, switched play, a really good effort from the edge of the box and then Paddy does magnificently well to score.

“One of the things said about us last season was that we were a bit soft in our defending but we showed great improvement in that regard against Drogheda.

“The players showed great willingness to defend on the back of disappointing goals conceded against St Pat’s the week previously, so I have nothing but praise for them.

“Every three points in this league are difficult to get and when you play so well for the opening 20 minutes and move the ball so well, and then Drogheda, who are a good side, come after you, I am pleased that we stood firm against that.

“There are going to be games where mistakes happen – any team in this league is capable of scoring against anyone. We just have to make sure we are as defensively solid as we can be and do our jobs for every second of the game.

“There are going to be ups and downs. The biggest compliment I can give our players is that they have always responded after a low.

“We took our defeat against St Pat’s on the chin and went up to a very difficult venue, won and kept a clean sheet.”

Devine was particularly delighted that father-to-be McDaid soaked in the atmosphere when he sealed all three points in the fourth minute of injury-time.

He said: “Declan has had great news – his partner is going to have a baby soon.

“You see from the enjoyment on his face in Drogheda, when he grabbed the ball and ran to the crowd, that this is an important time in his life.

“To have that emotion and that feeling when he got the goal, to be able to run to that magnificent support, I am just delighted for him.

“We asked for that relationship between players and supporters, and I feel the players are giving supporters something to cheer about.

“The supporters have really bought into the desire and work ethic of the team. Long may that continue.”

Devine was also pleased that the opening goal came once again from one of his defenders.

He said: “If you look through the group, defence have chipped in with five goals, midfield have chipped in with six goals, and our attackers have chipped in with six goals.

“There’s a massive spread. Whenever teams set up against us, they try to block off certain avenues of our attacking play, but we have shown that we have others across the team who can chip in, which is really pleasing.

“I still feel we can add more to our game but I would bite your hand off for that return.”

He joked that the only position that has not chipped in with a goal so far is his goalkeeper.

But that could have changed when James Talbot misheard instructions from the dugout and raced up to the opposition’s box when Bohs, trailing St Pat’s 3-2 a fortnight ago, won a free-kick in injury time a fortnight ago.

Devine added: “I told him to go up and take the kick but he misheard me and I look around and he’s running past defenders in their 18-yard box. I thought, ‘Jesus Christ! There’s about six minutes left’.”

TEAM NEWS

Ali Coote (thigh) returned to training this week and will be assessed before the game.

James Akintune (hamstring) and Jay Benn (calf) are out, while Jordan Flores is suspended.

SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division
Friday April 21 2023
Weavers Park, 7.45pm

Declan Devine has demanded intensity from start to finish from his Bohemians players against Drogheda United tomorrow night and says their eyes are wide open about how tough a game it will be.

Last time out, Bohs lost 3-2 at home to St Patrick’s Athletic. A cracking strike from Adam McDonnell had given Devine’s men the lead in the 14th minute.

But they were carved open far too easily in a crazy 12-minute spell where they conceded three times before going down to 10 men on the stroke of half-time when Jordan Flores was given his marching orders.

Despite that mountain to climb, they had the Saints on the ropes in the second half and will have been disappointed not to have got anything out of the game having pulled one back through substitute Dean Williams.

Now Devine wants to see that second-half performance replicated for the full 90 minutes when his side travel to Weavers Park tomorrow to face a Drogheda side who, like Bohs, have lost just three of their opening 10 games.

Devine said: “We played at our levels in the second half. I don’t think there was anything surprising about that, that has to be the starting point.

“That has to be the intensity we play at all the time whether it’s 10 men or 11 men or first half or second half. So the second half was pleasing, but it has to be the norm from the start.

“That kind of intensity has brought us a lot of joy this year. We have to understand that they are the levels we have to reach for every minute of every game.

“There were a lot of positives. The 15-minute period in the first half where we conceded the three goals has to be a once-off.

“It is something we have discussed and is something we have to take on board; that is the nature of this league. If you lose concentration, then it will cause you problems.

“We have hopefully learned from that. We have experienced it, and we have to make sure we don’t let it happen again.”

Despite his frustration with that first half performance, he is full of praise for their positive start to the season, which sees them four points clear at the top of the table, and is thoroughly enjoying working with the group of players he has assembled.

Devine said: “We have to understand that we are such a new group that there will be rollercoasters; highs and lows. We are all finding out about each other, and it has been very, very positive.

“I love coming in everyday and working with this group. But we are going to have days where we have to do ugly stuff well.

“Things aren’t always going to be plain sailing, and when it’s not plain sailing, we have to have that ability to dig in and grind out.

“These boys fill me with energy, they fill me with happiness. They are so together. I know they will be hurting more than anybody about last week.

“But when we win a game, we put it to the back of our minds. And when we lose a game, we put it to the back of our minds.

“After we discussed it, it was put to the back of our minds. Now we are completely focused on going to Drogheda and trying to win.

“We have a lot of boys pushing to start. We have boys eager to play whether they start or whether they come on.

“We have had 11 different goalscorers in all competitions this year in 11 games. That in itself shows you the strength right through our squad and our ability to get goals from anywhere on the pitch. That is really pleasing, but we have to keep going.”

But that will be easier said than done against Kevin Doherty’s Drogheda side who have once again put it up to teams this season.

Devine added: “They are a very good side. They are a side that have impressed me this year. Even when we played them at home, we were fortunate to come out on the right side of the result.

“Especially at home, Kevin will have them really well drilled. They have a lot of experience in their team in Gary Deegan and Ryan Brennan. They have added a lot of exciting players, and Darragh Markey is a very talented boy.

“They are working really hard to get results, and have been really impressive in the opening series of games.

“We have discussed where we think we can have joy, and we have also discussed where they can hurt us.

“But we are going in with our eyes wide open – we are facing a difficult team at a difficult venue.”

TEAM NEWS

Ali Coote (thigh) and James Akintunde (hamstring) are doubts. Jordan Flores is suspended.