PREVIEW: CORK CITY V BOHEMIANS (Friday March 15th, Turner’s Cross, KO 7.45pm)
Bohemians face a challenging trip to Cork City for their first away assignment in this season’s Airtricity League Premier Division, writes KEVIN FAGAN.
Having lost out after extra-time to UCD in the Leinster Senior Cup last month, the Gypsies came out on top in the two key games of an exhausting Dalymount trilogy against College – winning 2-1 in the league on Friday and 3-2 after extra-time in the EA Sports Cup on Monday.
And Bohs boss Aaron Callaghan is delighted to be preparing for a game against someone other than the Belfield outfit!
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“Three games in 15 days against UCD is a bit much – but we came out on top in two of them, which is the main thing.
“I wasn’t overly pleased with the performance in the league game but the second-half performance in the cup game was probably our best performance to date, culminating in us getting a last-minute goal and bringing it to extra-time.”
Callaghan was also pleased with the fact that he could afford to change nine players from the starting line-up for the league victory and still progress in the EA Sports Cup with that thrilling extra-time winner from Chris Lyons.
He said: “For the squad, I was trying to get two players to compete for every position, and I think we’ve done that. When you can change eight or nine players and still get the result, it’s definitely pleasing for me.”
What will also please the Gypsies’ boss is the form of his attacking players. Out of the six goals scored against UCD over the three ties, five were from strikers and the other from the attack-minded Karl Moore (pictured). Firepower up front is a big priority for Callaghan this term. He said: “It’s an area that we’ve tried to improve on and hopefully that can continue”.
This weekend’s opponents Cork City have one of the most-changed squads in the league this term and Callaghan is expecting a tough fixture, adding: “They’ve spent wisely, brought in a lot of players. They have quite a decent budget down there by all accounts and we’re expecting nothing but a tough game. I watched their draw against Limerick and I think it was pretty even. We’re looking forward to it now.”
On the injury front, Bohemians have a few doubts for the trip. As well as a few players carrying knocks from Monday, Stephen Paisley has been ill over the past few days, Kevin Devaney is nursing a knock on his ankle and Dave Scully has a back strain. Those three will be assessed at training tonight before Callaghan decides who to bring on the trip down South.
