BOHEMIANS 0 ST PAT’S 1
A wet Dalymount Park played host to its second Dublin Derby of the season as Liam Buckley’s St. Pats side came to Phibsboro in a fixture that produced 13 goals over three games last season, including one of the League of Ireland’s great strikes from Conan Byrne.
With just minutes played the home side got a golden opportunity for a dream start, when a scramble just inside the box saw Lee Desmond catch Oscar Brennan.
But for the second time in as many games The Gypsies failed to make it count. A combination of the post and Barry Murphy’s sharp reactions saw the Pat’s keeper hold on, much to the delight of the visiting fans.
The visitors punished the miss almost instantly when Simon Madden went on a marauding run down the right wing. The right backs initial effort from a tight angle was blocked but bounced straight back to his feet, and quickly squared to Dean Clarke to tap home.
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The end-to-end game saw some heroic defending Chiellini would have been proud of. First up Rob Cornwall threw himself at the feet of Ryan Brennan as the midfielder lined up a shot from the edge of the box. Ex-Aston Villa defender, repeated the feat when Eoghan Stoke lined up an effort from the right hand side of the box.
The home supporters thought they had equalized when Kevin Devaney picked out Dinny Corcoran at the back post, but the big strikers downward header was saved sharply again by Murphy.
As the second half wore on, the pattern was much the same as the first. Bohs having much more of the ball but lacking the cutting edge in the final third. Eoghan Stokes and Keith Ward went close with efforts but weren’t troubling Murphy.
The visitors, who looked dangerous on the break, went closest to scoring just before the 70th minute mark when Madden, again, clipped a delightful ball onto the head of sub Darragh Markey who directed his header down to the far post, forcing Supple to make one of the saves of the season so far.
As the clock ticked and the minutes trickled away, much like the performance against Derry City last time out, the Gypsies failed to muster that one big chance to get the equalizer as the Saint’s held on for a huge win and to take all three points back to Richmond Park.
Bohemian FC: Shane Supple, Derek Pender, Darragh Leahy, Dan Casey, Rob Cornwall, Dinny Corcoran, Keith Ward, Kevin Devaney, Oscar Brennan, Keith Buckley, Eoghan Stokes
Subs: Colin McCabe, Dan Byrne, Karl Moore, Paddy Kavanagh, Ian Morris, Dylan Watts, Rob Manley
St Pat’s: Barry murphy, Ian Bermingham, Kevin Toner, Lee Desmond, Owen Garvan, Conan Byrne, Christy Fagan, Ryan Brennan, Simon Madden, Dean Clarke, Jamie Lennon
Subs: Brian Maher, Michael Barker, Graham Kelly, James Doona, Ian Turner, Darragh Markey, Jake Keegan
