The wind and rain kept the crowd low, but those who did turn out got to see new signing Steven Beattie operate with menace from the right flank. The former Northern Kentucky University star looked extremely sharp from the outset, and shone alongside Jack Memery, Aidan Price, and Jason Byrne as the 4 new / returning faces in the starting line-up. Beattie and Byrne linked up for the first shot of the night, but record-chasing Byrne’s curling effort was deflected over on 5 minutes. Midfielder Darragh Reynor will be looking for more game time this season, and he forced an unorthodox save from Tolka ‘keeper Gavin Brown in what was the only other Bohs effort in a tight opening half hour.

Bohs had the ball in the net on 33 minutes, but Dinny Corcoran’s header was ruled out by Rhona Daly, who correctly adjudged that Aidan Price was climbing all over Tolka’s John Brophy. Centre half Brophy was in action again just two minutes later when he headed against his own post under pressure from Jason Byrne. From the resulting corner, Roberto Lopes hit the opposite post with a towering header. The Gypsies were well on top at this stage, and got a deserved opening goal with three minutes to go before half time.  Captain Derek Pender played a crisp one-two with Beattie down the right hand side, out-muscled his full-back opponent, and pulled a by-line cross to the onrushing Stephen Traynor, who scooped the ball past Brown from close range.

Although Heary would have been happy to have the lead, he looked for more creativity in the second half, and his side responded almost immediately. A pinpoint cross-field ball from left full Jack Memery found right winger Steven Beattie, who showed a burst of real pace to beat his man on the inside before unleashing a strong left-footed shot that Brown could only parry for a corner. Beattie was hitting his stride and found himself in behind 5 minutes later when Dinny Corcoran slipped him in. His pulled-back cross was perfect for Byrne, but the veteran’s dragged effort was disappointing for a finisher of his high standards.

On the opposite flank, Andy Mulligan got in on the creative act with a lovely cross that Corcoran headed wide before Tolka scored a very fine equalizer against the run of play. The hour mark had just arrived when Luke Kelly found himself with space, and he spliced the Bohs defence apart with a delicious through ball for Shane Hughes, who finished neatly past the onrushing Dean Delany. Bohs resumed their attacking threat from the right almost at once, with a Pender cross and Corcoran lay-off paving the way for Reynor to hit the angle of post and bar with an 18-yard effort. The offensive triangle of Byrne, Corcoran and Beattie combined in the best move of the match on 63 minutes, but Corcoran’s eventual shot was well saved by Brown in the Tolka goal.

Beattie made way for Keith Buckley before Bohs got the lead goal on 67 minutes. Mulligan was clattered by Aaron Henderson, which set up a free-kick about 35 yards out on the left flank. Reynor’s left-footed cross soared all the way to the back post, where the ever-lurking, always-predatory Jason Byrne was waiting. His first-time volley was the classiest piece of skill in the entire 90 minutes, nestled in the far corner, and proved to be the winner.

It wasn’t the last piece of action however, as Tolka Rovers were awarded a penalty in the 71st minute. Substitute Ryan McEvoy tangled with the onrushing Carl Somers, and referee Rhona Daly pointed to the spot. The penalty was particularly soft – the most dangerous thing about McEvoy’s challenge was the Bohs man’s beard. Tolka goalscorer Shane Hughed stepped up, but his penalty was well-saved by the knee of Delany.

Heary emptied his bench in the last 20 minutes to give much-needed game time to Dave Mulcahy, Anto Murphy, Craig Walsh, Paddy Collins, and another Monday afternoon signing, Philip McCabe. The game petered out with no more incidents to report. Next up for Bohs is a tie with local rivals Shelbourne on Friday evening. Two weeks from that night, the league campaign gets under way. It’s getting close.

Bohemians: Dean Delany, Derek Pender, Roberto Lopes, Aidan Price, Jack Memery (Philip McCabe, 72), Steven Beattie (Keith Buckley, 63), Darragh Reynor (Craig Walsh, 68), Stephen Traynor (Ryan McEvoy, 68), Andy Mulligan, Dinny Corcoran (Paddy Collins, 74), Jason Byrne (Dave Mulcahy, 74).

Tolka Rovers: Gavin Brown, Derek Swan, Aaron Henderson, Niall O’Reilly, John Brophy, Wayne Byrne, Dennis Moran, Brian Fitzpatrick, David Somers, Carl Somers, Luke Kelly. Substitutes: Shane Hughes, Tony Collins, Eamon Moylan, Sean Kelly, Paul Fitzpatrick, Robert Keegan.

Referee: Rhona Daly

Pic by A. Baldiemann: Stephen Traynor scoops home Bohs’ opener.

Heary said: “I won’t be pushing for Saturday’s game to be called off, that’s for sure. I want to us to play in Dalymount. We’ve barely played. We need games and we need games in Dalymount before the season starts.

“Weather hasn’t disrupted training too much. One day last week, it was pretty hectic so we only trained for an hour. It was the same on Wednesday – the cones were blowing all over the place – but we still managed to get a good 70 to 80 minutes out of it.

“But in terms of match practice, it has affected us. We played Swords and hoped to progress into the Waterford game but we went down and got 45 minutes where the pitch was flooded and the ball wasn’t moving. We didn’t get much match practice out of it but it was a good pre-season workout for the lads who played as it dragged the legs out of them.

“Fitness-wise, we’re where we want to be. There’s a few of them playing college games too, the likes of Roberto Lopes and Andy Mulligan. But as a team, we’re not there yet. We should be there before the start of the league season, which is the most important thing.”

With Sunday’s friendly against Sandyhill/Shangan also falling foul of the weather, Heary moved quickly to bolster his side’s preparations for the league season with a friendly against Tolka Rovers now scheduled  - subject to FAI approval – for Monday evening (IT Blanchardstown, 7pm).

“As soon as we heard Sandyhill’s pitch was unplayable, we started trying to organise a game for Monday,” he said. “If we get that and then play Shelbourne on Thursday, we’ll have three games in the space of a week, so we’ll have a good idea of where we’re at by the end of it.”

While the priority is getting his players primed for the league kick-off against UCD on March 7, Heary is still treating the Leinster Senior Cup – a competition Bohs have won a record 31 times – seriously.

He said: “It’s a challenge for us at this stage of the year. It’s a cup game, a one-off and we want to progress. But we’ll have to use it as part of our pre-season too and as a guide to where we’re at in terms of preparations for the league.”

Heary’s opposite number in the visitors’ dugout on Saturday is Alan Mathews and he is backing him to bounce back from his turbulent tenure at Shelbourne and rise above the controversy surrounding his appointment as successor to “Mr Bray”, Pat Devlin.

Heary, captain at Shels during Mathews’ spell there as assistant manager to Dermot Keely from 1998 to 2002, said: “Knowing Alan, he’ll get the team right and get the team prepared.

“Alan’s brought in some good players and kept some good ones too. Losing Jason Byrne to us and Kieran Marty Waters to Rovers is a blow but Alan’s proved himself before, winning cups at Longford and Cork. What happened at Shels happened but if you look at most managers, sometimes it doesn’t happen for them at one club but they move on and they do extremely well elsewhere.”

When these sides met in October, Bohs needed just a point with a game to go to avoid a relegation play-off but lost 1-0 at Dalymount Park before stumbling to safety as both clubs lost a week later. Heary said: “Dave Mulcahy was out, Anto Murphy was out and it was clear we struggled for experience in such an important game. Derek Pender and Dean Delany were the only experienced players out there.

“Games like that were the reason we added in the likes of Jay, Paddy Kavanagh and Aidan Price to give us a bit more balance between youth and experience. Hopefully the younger players learn from them and we won’t be fighting down the bottom of the table again.”

Heary has no injury concerns to report ahead of Saturday’s game, adding: “Training has been intense but the lads are looking after themselves. Nobody has taken any knocks but, then again, you can’t take too many knocks when you’re not playing matches!”