“Beating Limerick (2-0, Friday) puts us four points clear of them in seventh. If we were to beat Pat’s, that would leave us level on points with Sligo Rovers who are in fifth and come to Dalymount next week.”

St Pat’s are familiar opposition for Bohs this season. As well as the two previous league encounters, the sides also faced off in both the EA Sports Cup and Ford FAI Cup.

Bohs’ only victory in those four meetings came in the EA Sports Cup (3-2) in May but Heary’s men can feel unlucky not to have won the drawn league game at Dalymount in July (1-1) and not to have forced a replay in the Ford FAI Cup quarter-final at Richmond Park earlier this month (2-3).

“Bar the first league game at Richmond in April (1-3), we’ve always given them a game,” he said. “We threw everything at them in the Cup game. We were very disappointed to come out with nothing having been in touching distance of bringing them to a replay.”

The date for this game was brought forward to Tuesday due to St Pat’s Ford FAI Cup semi-final against Finn Harps this Sunday in a competition they have not won since 1961.

Even though the defending league champions are all but out of the title race and have a massive Cup tie looming, Heary is not expecting the game to be any easier.

“We can’t be worrying about what Pat’s are thinking. We have to do our own job,” he said.

Younger members of the Bohs squad have come in for much praise this season, but it was the experienced trio of Jason Byrne (36), Dave Mulcahy (36) and Anto Murphy (32) that provided the talking points after the win against Limerick.

Byrne and Mulcahy grabbed the goals, while Murphy returned after seven weeks out with an ankle injury.

Heary added: “It was great to have Anto back. In the last few minutes, we were able to throw him on to get some game-time to get his sharpness and awareness back up.

“He had a tough tackle put in on him too, so that was a good test. He’s back sooner than we expected but you could see he was exhausted after five minutes.

“Jayo came up trumps with a lovely little dink and Muller, who was unlucky not to score against Rovers too, had a good finish to allow us to see out the game easily enough in the end.”

Paddy Kavanagh (personal commitments) returns to the squad, but Jason Byrne (knee) and Eoin Wearen (foot) are minor doubts. Kevin Devaney (toe) and Dano Byrne (cruciate) remain sidelined.

Pic by Eddie Lennon: eddielennonsportingimages.com

The game had an ‘end of season’ feel about it. Two teams with no relegation fears and no cup priorities cancelled each other out for the first 20 minutes before Dinny Corcoran burst through the Limerick defence for the first real chance. His left-footed effort wrong-footed Barry Ryan, but the Limerick keeper was able to stick out a toe and deflect the ball over the bar. The Limerick defence looked vulnerable when on the back foot, and wide runners Steven Beattie and Karl Moore were causing problems at will.

The opening goal stemmed from a Beattie run down the right. He found Jason Byrne at the edge of the box, and the Bohs veteran stepped inside the defender before shooting low at Ryan. The Limerick shot-stopper could only parry the ball back out to Byrne, who squeezed the ball in from 6 yards. His Samuel Eto’o-esque old man celebration was made all the more ironic when he was removed at half time following what looked like a muscle injury!

Limerick came out of the blocks at a ferocious pace in the second half. The visitors really deserved an equaliser, and only two last-ditch blocks from Roberto Lopes denied Rory Gaffney. Dean Delany was also called into action when he clawed the ball off the line following a goalmouth scramble. Limerick appealed that the ball was over the line, but the linesman wasn’t for moving.

Bohs’ killer goal came against the run of play, and was painfully easy from a Limerick point of view. A Karl Moore corner was floated all the way to the back post – and Bohs captain Dave Mulcahy simply nodded it in from 8 yards. Limerick had no man on the far post – and the ball flopped meekly into the goal with Barry Ryan flailing. Sub Adam Evans should have made it three in injury time, but his effort skewed horribly wide.

Four games left for Bohemians in a promising season. Owen Heary will be targeting a top half finish as the Gypsies travel to Inchicore to face St Pats next Tuesday.

Bohemians; Dean Delany, Derek Pender, Roberto Lopes, Aidan Price, Jack Memery, Steven Beattie, Dave Mulcahy, Eoin Wearen (Anto Murphy, 82), Karl Moore (Adam Evans, 91), Jason Byrne (Keith Buckley, 46), Dinny Corcoran. Subs not used: Ryan McEvoy, Jake Hyland, Stephen Best, Aaron Shanahan.

Limerick: Barry Ryan, Patrick Nzuzi, Samuel Oji, Stephen Folan, Prince Agyemang (Ian Turner, 56), Shane Duggan, Shane Tracy, Lee Lynch, Ross Mann (Keiran Djalili, 56), Shane O’Connor, Rory Gaffney. Subs not used: Shane Cusack, Michael Leahy, Darragh Rainsford, Val Feeney, Colm Feeney.

Mr. Green Bohemian Man of the Match: Roberto Lopes

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As seen in recent games, his squad has bought into that approach fully. They faced Shamrock Rovers with a depleted squad: Steven Beattie and Roberto Lopes played 90 minutes despite being weakened by flu and finished “flat-out”.

“We work hard for each other. We close down the team facing us. We work as a unit. People can see the transformation since the start of the season,” said Heary.

“I thought we deserved the three points on Tuesday, but before the match, knowing we were down a lot of bodies, we would have taken the one point.”

Paddy Kavanagh and Keith Buckley covered very effectively for injured Kevin Devaney (toe) and suspended Eoin Wearen respectively.

“It was a very disciplined performance by the team. They were aggressive, they were on the front foot from the word ‘go’,” said Heary.

Strong tackles early in the game set the tone for Bohemians’ performance. “That’s what the game is missing at times. You should be allowed make aggressive tackles. There was nothing malicious there. I think referees are seeing that strong tackles can be good tackles, and they’re letting them go.”

Bohemians have overtaken Limerick in the league table but Heary expects another stiff test for his players, who also face a trip to Inchicore next Tuesday.

Limerick manager Martin Russell watched Bohemians in their last two league games and will have his team well prepared.

“We have beaten Limerick twice this year, in the cup and in the league. But they are like ourselves, they work hard and they have some strong, physical players. It will be another battle,” said Heary.

For Friday, Eoin Wearen and Jake Hyland return from suspension and Craig Walsh has served his ban but he is likely to be out with a quad injury. Kevin Devaney (toe) and Dan Byrne (cruciate) remain out.

Anto Murphy, who has been sidelined with an ankle injury, was on the bench on Tuesday and was trying to come on in added time for one of his trade-mark long throws. He is likely to a sub again on Friday as he continues to regain fitness

Coming off a difficult cup defeat to St Pats and a dour draw with Athlone, Bohs were definitely the better side against their supposedly more illustrious visitors. Pat Fenlon’s team produced a Stoke-esque display of long ball punting, and Dean Delany only had to make one save all night. Unfortunately for the home side, his 84th minute penalty save fell straight to Shane Robinson – who cancelled out Derek Pender’s fantastic opener.

Despite Heary’s pre-game talk of playing some fringe players, only Keith Buckley would be considered in that bracket for the Bohs starting 11. He partnered Dave Mulcahy in midfield, with Paddy Kavanagh in front of them in a 4-4-1-1 formation. Bohs started the game well, displaying an intensity that you would associate with this fixture. An early corner floated all the way to the back post, but Dinny Corcoran couldn’t quite make meaningful contact. The Jodi Stand thought it was in, but the angle was deceiving – and Rovers cleared.

Luke Byrne’s move to Shamrock Rovers and subsequent Twitter tomfoolery has left a bad taste in many a Bohs mouth, and there was mass joy when Pender clattered the former Bohs left back on 10 minutes. Byrne had a poor game, struggled to cope with Steven Beattie, and could be easily blamed for the Bohs goal when it arrived. Rovers themselves offered little going forward in the first half. Despite their finances, B-teams, stadium etc, when the most oft-used option is Jason McGuinness lumping balls forward – it isn’t pretty to watch.

Bohs continued to press into the second half, and Dave Mulcahy went close with a looping header before the game exploded into life on 65 minutes. Beautiful interplay from Beattie and Kavanagh put Pender in on the right flank. The full back beat his man and let fly with a rocket of a shot which, despite the tight angle, screamed into the roof of Barry Murphy’s net.

The Gypsies looked relatively comfortable until the 84th minute, when Roberto Lopes hung out a leg and sub Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters went down. It was right on the corner of the box, but referee Paul Tuite pointed instantly to the spot. Dean Kelly took the penalty, put placed it weakly to Delany’s left. The Bohs keeper palmed it away, but Shane Robinson was on hand to fire in the rebound. Bohs could have won it late on, but Steven Beattie’s glancing header was brilliantly turned around the post by Murphy. A share of the spoils – and just to confirm – the pitch was absolutely fine!

Bohemians; Dean Delany, Derek Pender, Roberto Lopes, Aidan Price, Jack Memery, Steven Beattie, Dave Mulcahy, Keith Buckley, Karl Moore, Paddy Kavanagh, Dinny Corcoran. Subs not used: Ryan McEvoy, Jason Byrne, Anto Murphy, Adam Evans, Stephen Best, Paddy Collins, Aaron Shanahan.

Shamrock Rovers; Barry Murphy, Simon Madden, Conor Kenna, Jason McGuinness, Luke Byrne, Shane Robinson, Sean O’ Connor (Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters, 53), Ryan Brennan (Stephen McPhail, 68), Gary McCabe (Dean Kelly, 80), Ronan Finn, Ciaran Kilduff. Subs not used: Robert Cornwall, Karl Sheppard, Patrick Cregg, Craig Hyland.

Mr. Green Bohemian Man of the Match: Dave Mulcahy

Heary will not want to take chances with players who are less than fully fit, as he expects the derby to be “pacey” and “asking a lot of the players”.

“It will be a chance for other players to come in and play for their positions. Hopefully, they’ll take that opportunity,” he said.

Ryan McEvoy and Keith Buckley, ‘veterans’ of many Bohs-Rovers games, are likely to feature. “Bucko is a good player and he’s a bit unfortunate that Kevin Devaney has been playing so well. But Bucko knows what to expect coming into a game like Tuesday’s. He has that bit of experience.”

Heary thought his side were “unfortunate not to get three points” from Friday’s “scrappy enough” game in Athlone. “But our attitude was right going into the game and we took the game to them.  We need to have the same attitude on Tuesday.”

“But the positive thing for me was that we didn’t go out with a whimper. We gave it everything.”

Bohemians are now fully concentrated on securing maximum points from the remaining league games to secure at least a mid-table finish.

“Last year the target was to avoid relegation, this year eighth or better, next year we’ll be aiming to go higher. If we can keep the basis of the team we now have for next season, we can improve further.”

Training has focused on set-pieces as half of the ten goals conceded in the last four games have come that source.

“We tidied up on that during the year, so it’s disappointing that we conceded from set pieces in recent games when we were well in the game or getting back into it,” said Heary. “That’s down to a lack of concentration and maybe thinking we’re safe.”

Bohemians face an Athlone side with a target to make it into the play-offs at worst. “Athlone have done well over recent weeks, they’ve turned a corner and I’m they’ll be fired up for Friday,” said Heary.

All Bohemians’ opponents in the coming games, including next Tuesday’s opposition, Shamrock Rovers, still with European ambitions, have something to fight for. “We have all the top teams, bar Dundalk, to play and I’m sure the fans would like to see us compete against these teams.”

For Friday Bohemians will be without Eoin Wearen (suspended), Ryan McEvoy (back injury), Dan Byrne (cruciate) and Anto Murphy (ankle). However, Murphy has returned to training and may make it back for next weekend.

His return would be a boost to the team, which has had to be shuffled and reshuffled to cover for absences at the back. Last Friday Steven Beattie was at left back, having earlier played at right back, on the wing and in attack.

“He has played every position except in goal. With our resources, those are kind of players we have to sign, who can play in numerous positions,” said Heary. Along with Beattie, Derek Pender, Kevin Devaney, Dave Mulcahy, Roberto Lopes and Keith Buckley are among those who have featured in two positions or more.