Bohemians 1
St Patrick’s Athletic 0
Aaron Gallagher reports from Dalymount Park
BOHEMIANS MADE IT four wins from their opening seven Premier Division games on Friday night, securing the Dublin derby bragging rights with a scrappy 1-0 victory over 10-man St Patrick’s Athletic at Dalymount Park.
Keith Buckley’s composed strike just before half-time was the difference during a stop-start affair in Phibsborough, where Mikey Drennan was sent off late on for dissent. Tickets for the Jodi Stand sold out days in advance, as healthy crowds continue to flock to the Home of Irish Football; over 3,600 in attendance on Friday.
This victory maintains Bohs’ hold on third place in the Premier Division, with Friday night’s other results seeing Keith Long’s men open up an intriguing four point gap on Cork City in the European places.
As early starts to a season can go, the Gypsies have exceeded all expectations. Four wins in seven, two of which now rank as Dublin derby triumphs, mean the excited vibes which preceded kick-off were carried beyond full-time with all three points in the back pocket.
St Pat’s gave a poor account of themselves during the derby, with Harry Kenny’s men now suffering three defeats in succession. An early chance for Scottish midfielder Rhys McCabe within the opening five minutes almost saw the visitors snatch the lead, but for a superb low save from goalkeeper James Talbot from point blank range.
As the half-hour mark approached, Bohemians took hold of proceedings to kick the crowd back into life after a prolonged lull in play. A stray pass across the penalty area was picked up by Dinny Corcoran, who saw his two chances, one on either boot, both denied by some measured defending.
Simon Madden successfully cleared Corcoran’s initial right-footed strike off the line, before a second effort on the Dubliner’s left peg was blocked down by Dave Webster inside the box to keep it at 0-0.
Keith Ward had the home fans standing to their feet just a few minutes later with a brilliant free-kick. His right-footed shot was hooked over the wall with pinpoint precision. The effort had the better of Brendan Clarke, only to whack the bottom of the post and fly away.
Bohemians 1-0 St Patrick's Athletic. The Dublin derby bragging rights go to Bohs who continued their fine early season form. #rtesoccer pic.twitter.com/ohfkKOYwL0
— Soccer Republic (@SoccRepublic) March 29, 2019
Long’s side were beginning to build momentum and their willingness to go forward was repaid two minutes before referee Rob Rogers blew his whistle for half-time. An initial shot by Devaney was palmed away with a brilliant save by Clarke, only for Keith Buckley to smash home with a second effort in quick succession.
The Bohemians midfielder saw the ball fall invitingly just past the penalty spot after Clarke’s save, with Buckley slicing a composed effort high into the top corner to make it 1-0 and give Bohs a deserved lead.
St Pat’s boss Kenny switched things up before and after the interval. Brandon Miele was brought off before half-time to be replaced by promising young midfielder Jamie Lennon, who made his Ireland U21 debut on Sunday against Luxembourg.
Gary Shaw was also introduced in place of McCabe, but the Saints still struggled to create any dangerous patterns of attacking play.
The Inchicore club had scored just three goals in six games coming into Friday’s game and their struggles in front of goal continued against the challenge of former Sunderland goalkeeper Talbot between the sticks for Bohs.
Corcoran came close to doubling his side’s lead with a second close effort against his old club. While another dangerous free-kick from Devaney simmering just wide of the post also went close as Long’s men looked increasingly likely to put the game to bed.
A bad night got worse for St Pat’s late on, as the visitors were reduced to 10 men for the final 10 minutes of play — a goal down and soon to be a man down too.
Top scorer this season Drennan was shown a second yellow card by referee Rogers for dissent, compounding the Saints’ frustrations on a poor night where they now drop down into seventh place.
BOHEMIANS: James Talbot; Derek Pender, Rob Cornwall, James Finnerty, Darragh Leahy; Keith Buckley, Conor Levingston; Danny Grant (Ryan Swan 92), Keith Ward (Danny Mandroiu 85), Kevin Devaney; Dinny Corcoran
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC: Brendan Clarke; Simon Madden, David Webster, Lee Desmond, Ian Bermingham; Conor Clifford, Chris Forrester (James Doona 81), Rhys McCabe (Gary Shaw 69); Dean Clarke, Brandon Miele (Jamie Lennon 40), Mikey Drennan
Referee: Rob Rogers
Murray Kinsella and Bernard Jackman look ahead to a huge weekend for the provinces in Europe and Ryan Bailey catches up with Ian Keatley on the latest episode of The42 Rugby Weekly:
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