Bohemians 1
Shamrock Rovers 1
SHANE ROBINSON STRUCK late on the rebound for Shamrock Rovers to ensure a share of the spoils at a chilly Dalymount Park.
Derek Pender had sparked the game into life when he hammered the ball home after a neat one-two with Paddy Kavanagh midway through the second period.
What turned out to be a cagey and uneventful first-half started brightly. Seconds after kick-off, Steven Beattie made a burst through the middle and shot just over from twenty yards.
The only effort on target before half-time came seven minutes later when an off-balance Dinny Corcoran attempted to overhead Karl Moore’s corner at the back post. The lack of power in the kick allowed Barry Murphy to pick it up on the line.
Rovers had a 15-minute spell of dominance later in the half but Ronan Finn was the only player who could muster a decent shot at goal. Aidan Price’s sliding block made sure Dean Delany remained untroubled.
It was as you were after the restart until Pender supplied Dave Mulcahy with a cross 64 minutes in. The midfielder got over Simon Madden but his header was just half-an-inch to high.
The goal came from the resulting corner. Kavanagh and Pender teamed up before the latter streaked past the opposition defence and hammered the ball into Murphy’s net.
Substitute Marty Waters almost had Delany scrambling with less than 20 minutes to go. The winger’s cross drifted towards goal and kissed the crossbar before going over but he was to have a big part to play in the equaliser.
With seven minutes left on the clock, Roberto Lopes made a rash challenge on Waters who had cut in off the wing and just about made his way into the box. As soon as he hit the ground, the referee rightly blew and pointed to the spot.
Dean Kelly, who had replaced Gary McCabe just three minutes earlier, stepped up to take the kick. Delany managed to save but Robinson was the first to react and rushed in to stab the ball home.
Beattie went agonisingly close to winning all three points in the last minute of normal time. The winger’s header after Keith Buckley’s pinpoint cross had Murphy at full stretch to turn the ball around the post.
Bohemians: Delany, Pender, Lopes, Price, Memery, Buckley, Mulcahy (C), Kavanagh, Moore, Beattie, Corcoran. Substitutes: McEvoy, Byrne, Murphy, Evans, Collins, Shanahan.
Shamrock Rovers: Murphy, Madden, Kenna (C), McGuinness, Byrne, Brennan (McPhail 68), Robinson, Finn, McCabe (Kelly 80), Kilduff, O’Connor (Waters 53). Substitutes: Cornwall, Sheppard, Cregg, Hyland.