Corcoran bagged the winner and said: “It wasn’t the prettiest of games at times but it was the perfect result to start of the season with.

“The new lads settled in and adapted and they’re all looking to continue to improve.

“We have some technically gifted players and I think that will show as the season progresses.

“We’ve got competition in the squad now and that is pushing everyone on. I’m being kept on my toes!”

It took Corcoran seven league games to net his first league goal in 2018 so the fans’ favourite was relieved to start 2019 with an early goal.

He said: “It took me a while to get off the mark last season so I was delighted to score in the first game.”

Bohs go into tonight’s game looking to make it two wins from two against the division’s newly-promoted sides.

But Corcoran warned: “We’re in no position to take any team for granted. We have to be on top of our game.

“They’re a young team with a lot of good, technical players. They’re a bit like ourselves in that way – although we have one or two oldies too!”

He hopes that last week’s sold-out Jodi Stand is a sign of things to come this season and that the Gypsies will have a big support behind them out in Belfield, adding: “It’s a good game for fans, they can make it feel like a home game out there.

“In previous seasons when UCD were in the division before our fans always travelled out in numbers so we should have a big crowd there like we had in Dalymount last week.”

TEAM NEWS

Michael Barker (hamstring), Promise Omochere (ankle) and Cristian Magerusan (cruciate) remain out.

Kevin Devaney (knee) was a late withdrawal against Finn Harps and remains a doubt. Danny Grant (hamstring) comes back into contention.

He said: “It’s going to be a tough game but we’re really looking forward to it. Even though we’re starting our season a bit earlier than other teams, it’s still been a long off-season so we hope there’ll be a big crowd behind us.

“It’s a quarter-final and a huge opportunity for us to progress and that’s what we want to do. We want to get to a final. It would huge for the club and the supporters.

“To do that, we need to play to our utmost ability and have our fans be patient and right behind us if the tie is in the balance.

“It’s going to be a measure of where we’re at as a team. The timing of this game presents mitigating factors against us.

“That’s not looking for excuses but you have to be realistic when you have so many new players. It can take time to gel and find our feet, so we hope the personalities and ability of our players can shine through.

“We know we are not the finished article but we have some excellent new young players in the team but there is still work to be done and we will continue to evolve.

“We’ve rebuilt our squad, this is our first competitive fixture. In many ways we are coming into this game undercooked in comparison to the opposition.

“They’re third in their league, they’re flying high and they’ll be coming over confident. They’re bang in-season and in a good run of form.

“In my mind they are coming over as favourites. The bookies mightn’t agree but reality suggests otherwise. It’s very much a new team coming up against a settled, confident one.

“That’s not being trying to play mind games or knocking ourselves at all. We have real quality and potential. It’s just a reflection of where both teams are in their respective seasons at the moment.”

Prior to beating Sutton United on penalties after a 0-0 draw at Dalymount in the last round, Bohs have played and beaten Scottish opposition in this tournament already.

In September, a much-changed Bohs team beat Peterhead with Kevin Devaney’s effort the only goal of the game.

That scoreline did not quite reflect Bohs’ superiority on the day but Long doesn’t believe there are many comparisons to be made between the opposition that day and what they face at Dalymount this afternoon.

East Fife are third in Scottish League 1 with Peterhead occupying the same position in their league – a division lower.

Long said: “East Fife are third and the teams ahead of them are full-time and with good budgets in Raith and Arbroath.

“We’ve played Scottish opposition already in this tournament but we only won 1-0, albeit in a game we dominated, against a Peterhead side who are a division lower

“There is going to be a quantum difference in the standard of East Fife in comparison.”

Bohs come into this game with mixed results performances in their three pre-season games played to date.

They kicked off their pre-season campaign with a 2-2 draw with Shelbourne at Abbotstown, followed it up with a 0-0 draw with the Defence Forces in Crumlin and appeared to find their groove with a 4-0 win against Longford Town at the AUL on Tuesday night.

Long said: “Pre-season can be misleading. It’s wrong to get carried away with results whether they’re good or bad as pre-season games are about a lot of things – getting minutes spread out across the players to try bring them up to speed, trying out different combinations and structures across the team and all that.

“We’ve shown quality in patches – most notably in the first half against Shelbourne and in the second half against Longford – but it would be wrong to read too much into those at this stage.”

TEAM NEWS

Kevin Devaney (groin) and Darragh Leahy (hip) are likely to sit this one out. Cristian Magerusan (cruciate) is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines, while Scott Allardice is cup-tied having played for Dundee United’s U20s earlier in the competition.

Sexton’s side have dusted themselves down after that disappointment and are refreshed and ready to go toe to toe with Aidan Price’s Hoops in the league decider.

He said: “It’ll be an interesting game, it’ll be a tight one I think. But we have to give it go and let’s see where that takes us.

“I think we will get a crowd there with it being a Dublin derby, it’ll appeal to a wider audience.

“I think it’s the first time Bohs and Rovers have played in a big final since I played in the U20s final in 2010.

“We were beaten on penos that night, so hopefully the result will go the other way this time around!”

While trophies and the honour of representing the country in Uefa competition have been obvious highlights, Sexton sees the progression of players to Keith Long’s first team as the real sign of success.

The pathway for players is clear, from the joint Bohs-SKB U15 and U17 teams right through to the U19s and on to the first team. 

Ali Reghba, Andy Lyons, Cristian Magerusan, Danny Grant, Jamie Hamilton, Promise Omochere and Ryan Graydon have all featured for the first team this season as well as starring for Sexton’s U19s, while Paddy Kirk, now 20, has this season established himself as a first-team squad regular having shone for the U19s in recent seasons.

Sexton said: “Either way the game goes, this group have been fantastic. What they’ve achieved this season and last has been unbelievable.

“For the first team, the amount of players we’ve been able to bring through has been extremely pleasing.

“That’s where our success lies and I’m extremely proud of all the boys.”

Their route to the final has proved difficult, however, having had to dig deep in the knockout stages of the league against both Waterford and UCD.

In the quarter-final against Waterford, Bohs trailed 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before eventually coming out on top 4-3 after extra time. In the semi-final, Bohs relinquished a 2-0 lead to need penalties to defeat UCD.

Sexton added: “We played Waterford, we scored with five or ten to go having been behind the whole game.

“Against UCD we were 2-0 up, cruising in the game, concede one and concede another just on the stroke of full-time.

“For the players to press the restart button and go again for another 30 minutes and win the shootout after that set-back was excellent.

“It shows you the type of group we have that they were able to dig deep and get those results.”

Long said: “We looked on Saturday’s game as an opportunity to shake the disappointment of going out of the FAI Cup. We wanted a win to put that out of our minds as best we could.

“It was good to have a game against different opposition, against a team with a different style of play.

“We played very well in patches but we looked tired towards the end so we’re glad it went straight to penalties and there was no extra-time.

“We’re delighted to progress in the tournament, it’s something very different for the club but the players and supporters have bought into it.

“We’re hoping we can bring forward the quarter-final as the players don’t want to extend our season too much.

“But they were determined to get through. That was the same for both rounds, no matter what team we put out, they wanted to progress.”

Bohs found themselves 3-1 down in the shootout after Oscar Brennan and Eoghan Stokes saw their efforts saved.

But up stepped goalkeeper Shane Supple to save one, score one and save another to turn the shootout on its head.

Long said: “Supps was actually a bit disappointed he wasn’t further up the list to take penalties!

“That’s the kind of character he is. Supps has been outstanding since day one he came to the club.

“But to win a shootout like that was unique – it might be a quiz question in years to come!”

Tomorrow the Gypsies face a relegated Bray side with little more than pride to play for.

But Long, who has fond memories of his own time with the Seagulls as a player and coach, is never one to take any team for granted.

He added: “We don’t take any opposition lightly. Bray may be down but they are doing a lot of good work behind the scenes now and are in a better place as a club now.

“We have to focus on ourselves. We always bring a big crowd out to Bray and we want to get a result.

“We want to finish the season strongly and as high up the table as possible.

“We have to make sure we deliver a good performance and impose ourselves on the game.

“When we do that, we’re capable of beating any team in the league but the performance has to be right.”

TEAM NEWS

Darragh Leahy is out with a recurrence of a thigh injury. Ryan Swan (cruciate) and Ryan Masterson (quad) remain on the sidelines.