Bohemians 3
St. Patrick’s Athletic 2
Harry Manning reports from Dalymount Park.
AN IZZY AKINADE strike and a brace from Dinny Corcoran ensured Bohemians came out on top of an explosive Dublin derby against St Patrick’s Athletic at Dalymount Park.
Akinade’s 2nd minute opener was cancelled out within seconds thanks to Christy Fagan before a Dinny double handed Keith Long’s side the initiative. Conan Byrne pulled one back for the Saints midway through the second-half, however Long’s side held out to secure a precious three points.
The game got off to a blistering start with Akinade powering home a sublime Paddy Kavanagh cross after just two minutes. However, St Pat’s hit straight back when Christy Fagan latched onto a Michael Barker loft before blasting it beneath Shane Supple.
The chances continued to pour in at either end with Akinade’s prodding effort brushing the post on five minutes before Fagan and Byrne tested Supple at his nearside within minutes of each other, however, the stopper made solid saves on both occasions.
On 15 minutes Akinade picked up the ball outside the box before showing tremendous strength to force his way into the area. His marker, Gavin Peers, couldn’t handle the striker’s brilliant robustness and clumsily brought him down, leaving referee Ben Connolly little choice but to reach for his back pocket.
Corcoran then stepped up confidently and dispatched it low into the bottom right corner to round off an explosive opening 15 minutes.
Lukasz Skowron, making his league debut for inside the Pats’ nets, had to be at his best to deny Bohs a two-goal advantage going into the break. His brilliant fingertip save tipped Keith Ward’s 25-yard thunderbolt over the bar in what was the save of the game.
Following the restart, the hosts wasted no time in grabbing their third of the night when Dinny Corcoran capitalised on a loose ball high up the pitch before blasting it the top corner on 52 minutes for his 15th of the season.
On 65 minutes, the visiting support were handed a lifeline when Byrne darted into the box before cutting inside and neatly placing the ball into the corner to set up a grand slam finish.
And a grand slam finish it was, with both sides continuing to mount attack after attack, however, it was the Saints who spurned the best chance of the closing stages.
On 84 minutes Killian Brennan’s low right centre found Byrne at the backpost but he scuppered his shot onto the crossbar with Fagan’s resulting effort blocked off the line before being hacked away.
The win all but secures Bohemians’ Premier Division status for 2018 as they now sit 10 points above St Pat’s who now slip into the final relegation spot with just five games to play.
Bohemians: Shane Supple; Derek Pender (C), Rob Cornwall, Warren O’Hora, Ian Morris (Dan Casey, 87); Patrick Kavanagh, Dan Byrne, Fuad Sule, Keith Ward (Philip Gannon, 90); Ismahil Akinade (Georgie Poynton, 87), Dinny Corcoran
St Patrick’s Athletic: Lukasz Skowron; Michael Barker (Josh O’Hanlon, 88), Jordi Balk, Lee Desmond, Gavin Peers; Owen Garvan (Darragh Markey, 81), Graham Kelly, Killian Brennan (C); Conan Byrne, Christy Fagan, Billy Dennehy (Kurtis Byrne, 63)
Referee: Ben Connolly
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