“I thought we were the better side against Cork for most of the match. Tommy Dunne [Cork City manager] said to me after the match they had got out of jail.

“Against UCD one or two contentious decisions swung the match. Those games turned on slight errors.”

Motivating the players has not been an issue but a derby match against Shamrock Rovers represents a particular challenge. “The magnitude of the game speaks for itself, given the past encounters between the sides. But I don’t do the history side of things. Every game is taken on its merits,” said Callaghan.

“Shamrock Rovers have shown what they can achieve when they’re on form. If we’re not 100 per cent on the night it’s going to be very difficult.”

Bohemians’ 1-0 win in Tallaght last September marked 19-year-old Greg Murray’s second league appearance in goal for Bohemians and, on Friday, he is likely to make his first league start this season. Dean Delany’s groin injury will probably rule him out after 13 successive league starts.

This is one of several enforced changes to the Bohemian line-up, as striker Chris Lyons and defender Roberto Lopes, both of them central to the team’s endeavours this season, are suspended.

The 3-5-2 formation used in recent games is likely to be set aside and Callaghan will consider the claims of Dwayne Wilson, Kevin Devaney and Dave Scully to start up-front or in a position just off the furthest forward.

Lopes was rested against Cork City after starting all 12 league games in the season up to that. “I knew the suspension was coming and the rest won’t do him any harm,” said his manager.

Looking forward to next Monday’s EA Sports Cup match at home to Bray Wanderers, Callaghan insisted that “the plan for the season was to win a trophy and this is a trophy we could win”.

“If you get the right draws and right results you find yourself all of a sudden in a semi-final. It’s a very important game from the club’s perspective,” he added.

The manager expects “to rotate one or two players” but is hoping that there are no injuries coming out of Friday’s match that require more changes than that.

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After a run of games with a 3-5-2 formation, Bohs switched to an orthodox 4-4-2 with Dave Scully returning to partner Chris Lyons up front. Derek Pender looked much more comfortable at right back rather than right wing back, and his pinpoint cross set up the first chance of the game. Unfortunately for Bohs, Ryan McEvoy just couldn’t quite get enough on his header.

A first half of few chances exploded into life with 9 minutes to go. Good work from Andy Mulligan down the left forced a Bohs corner, which was whipped in by Stephen Traynor. With the ball about to reach Owen Heary at the back post, Colin Healy stretched out a leg but only managed to divert the ball into his own net.

Aaron Callaghan will be extremely frustrated not to hang onto the lead at least until half time. Denis Behan and Gearoid Morrissey played a simple one-two on the edge of the Bohs box before Morrissey skipped past Heary. The Bohs captain’s outstretched leg clearly caught the Cork forward, and referee Paul Tuite had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Denis Behan sent Dean Delany the wrong way in front of the disappointingly small away contingent in the Des Kelly Stand.

Bohs clearly stepped up their game in the second half, and should really have taken the lead on more than one occasion. Dave Scully had three chances in close succession. The first saw him caught for pace by Kalen Spillane when pretty much through on goal. His second chance came when his header was tipped around the post by Mark McNulty, while his third chance was a header that was wonderfully blocked by John Dunleavy.

A large contingent of the Bohs fans have been calling for Greg Murray to be given his chance in goal, and the Palmerstown man did make his season debut when Delany was forced off with what looked like a muscle strain on the hour mark. The sub keeper could do nothing as Cork got their winner totally against the run of play. Karl Moore, who had a wretched evening, was caught in possession down the Bohs right. Gearoid Morrissey raced away down the left and pulled it back for his namesake Danny, who blasted it in from six yards.

Bohs huffed and puffed for the final 10 minutes, and could have snatched an equaliser when Cork keeper McNulty miscontrolled and allowed Mulligan to square it. Kalen Spillane just got there ahead of the sluggish Chris Lyons and Bohs hopes of a point were snuffed out. With two difficult games against Shamrock Rovers and St Pats to come, things could get squeaky for Bohs before the mid-season break in June.

Bohemians: Dean Delany (Greg Murray, 59), Owen Heary, Derek Pender, Luke Byrne, Dave Mulcahy, Ryan McEvoy, Stephen Traynor (Michael Barker, 81), Andy Mulligan, Karl Moore (Kevin Devaney, 81), Dave Scully, Chris Lyons. Subs not used: Roberto Lopes, Darragh Reynor, Dwayne Wilson, Kevin O’Leary.

Cork City: Mark McNulty, Danny Murphy, Kalen Spillane, Neal Horgan, John Dunleavy (Gary Buckley, 87), Colin Healy, Shane Duggan, Gearóid Morrissey, Daryl Horgan (Ian Turner, 65), Danny Morrissey, Denis Behan (Daryl Kavanagh, 74). Subs not used: Kevin Burns, Ian Turner, Daryl Kavanagh, Adam Rundle, Danny Furlong, Stephen Kenny, Garry Buckley.

As well as the trophies, Young also presided over some of the club’s most memorable European adventures, including Bohemians’ first-ever outing in the European Cup in 1975 and the historic victory over Rangers in 1984.

But perhaps what fans will remember most was Young’s ability to spot and nurture talent, with the late, great Jackie Jameson the most notable example of prospects rising to stardom during his tenure.

We would ask fans to show their support and gratitude for Billy at half-time, when a presentation will be made.

The flatness in UCD can probably partly be explained by the effort invested in taking away draws from fixtures against two sides much higher than us in the table, but it begs the question of whether we can realistically finish much higher in the table than we currently are. Hopefully the lads are well rested for the visit of Cork City to the Home of Football tonight.

Cork’s bank holiday weekend couldn’t have been much worse, with a home defeat against St Pat’s last Friday followed by a home defeat to Limerick on Monday in a game in which they finished with ten men. It’s probably a little surprising that more clubs didn’t take the decision UCD did, and give the players an extra day’s rest. Financial concerns were probably to the fore in clubs preferring to play on the bank holiday Monday.

Those two home defeats in a row for Cork means that they didn’t move any further ahead of us in the table, and being realistic, a home draw for us tonight would again keep them in our sights as a team we can overtake in the coming weeks. Needless to say a home win would be great but considering the bookmakers rate us a 9/4 shot to claim the three points, it’s easy to see why we’re just not a team that punters are trusting with their money at present.

One thing that punters can and should be trusting more with their money is the draw. Even apart from last week, this season has been kinder to us when we resist investing in the short ones and try to pick a result that has a realistic chance of occurring but which not many punters are going to be backing. Again this weekend I am going to swerve Derry (7/19) at home to UCD and Sligo (3/10) away to Bray. Given the doubts we’ve had about Sligo of late and their record against Bray last season, 3/10 away from home is an extremely short price to be investing in.

The flipside is obviously that Bray look considerably worse than last season and look the weakest team in the league. Punters will be backing this double but we don’t want anything to do with it. We’ve pointed out before that Derry sometimes look a better side on the road where teams don’t set up to pack the middle and frustrate them, as tends to happen at the Brandywell.

The Setanta Cup final looks a trappy affair to be betting on. One suspects that Drogheda have been eyeing this one for a while and will feel they have every chance of causing an upset, but the home side are definitely improving so it’s one to watch more than anything else.

The bet this weekend is again a draw, in the game between Dundalk and Shelbourne. Shels have taken draws at home to Shamrock Rovers and away o Cork this season, so can grind out results if teams underestimate them. There is no guarantee that Dundalk will underestimate them, but as we said last week (even though they won), there could be an angle opposing Dundalk as they might just be a little over-rated at present. The home side is 8/15, and the draw, which you can have at bigger than 2/1 with BetVictor.

The end of the first series of fixtures would have been as good a time as any to provide P&L for the season. We will do this next week, but it’s been a decent season and hopefully it keeps up.

Recommended:
Dundalk – Shelbourne draw, 1pt 31/10 (BetVictor) Column

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The matchday sponsorship package is an excellent way to reward your company’s staff or your clients with a good night out, whilst at the same time promoting your business.