Bohemians 0
St Patrick’s Athletic 2
Darryl Geraghty reports from Dalymount Park
ST. PATRICK’S ATHLETIC dug deep to earn a hard-fought three points in brutal conditions to go level with Derry City in second and put pressure on Shamrock Rovers who sit just three points ahead, albeit with a game in hand for the champions
4,084 brave souls watched on as second-half goals from Mark Doyle and Conor Carty did the damage, and potentially landed a huge psychological blow ahead of next month’s showpiece.
Special mention to the ground staff at Dalymount who deserve huge credit for ensuring the game even went ahead, having earlier in the day seen both UCD and Shamrock Rovers home games fall by the wayside thanks to Storm Babet.
The home side started well, forcing a number of set-pieces but failed to make the breakthrough and almost fell behind midway through the first half.
The talismanic Chris Forrester was cleverly played through on goal on the inside left channel but, just as he pulled the trigger, was met by the big frame of James Talbot who stood up bravely until the last second.
Saints keeper, Dean Lyness, was certainly the busier of the two goalkeepers from then on, pulling off two world-class saves to keep his side level.
First, Bohs right back Bartlomiej Kukulowicz lined up a free kick from 20 yards that looked destined for the top corner only to be denied at the last second from the fingertips of the English stopper.
Minutes later, the 32-year-old showed all the agility of a keeper half his age to pull Adam McDonnell’s header out of the same top corner, with some inside the ground thinking the ball was destined to nestle in the back of the net.
Declan Devine’s side suffered a massive blow — and a big scare ahead of the FAI Cup Final — just before the end of a feisty first half when influential skipper, Keith Buckley, came off worse in a crunching 50-50 in the middle of the park.
Following the restart, the hosts missed another gilt-edged chance when McDonnell, with acres of space on the edge of the area, was teed up by the relatively anonymous Jonathan Afolabi, before dragging his shot low straight at the grateful Lyness
The home side were made to pay for their slackness in front of goal when Pat’s snatched the lead on the hour mark. Following a well-worked move down the right, Sam Curtis delivered a whipped cross to the back post finding Mark Doyle, who made a darting run across Nowak before heading down into the bottom corner.
While chasing an equaliser, Bohs were undone with some sloppy defending. The relentless Conor Carty did well to follow up substitute Jake Mulraney’s effort and saw the clearance hit off the front man and in to secure all three points for the visitors.
Next up for The Gypsies is a tough-looking trip up the M1 to face Dundalk, whilst the Athletic face the second part of their three-game week at home to Sligo Rovers on Monday evening.
Bohemian FC: James Talbot; Bartlomiej Kukulowicz, Krystian Nowak, Kacper Radkowski, Paddy Kirk; Dylan Connolly (John O’Sullivan, 77’), Adam McDonnell (James Akintunde, 77’), Keith Buckley (James McManus, 38’) Ali Coote (Danny Grant, 67’); James Clarke, Jonathan Afolabi
Subs: Luke Dennison, Louie Holzman, Declan McDaid, Dean Williams, Cian Byrne
St Patrick’s Athletic: Dean Lyness; Sam Curtis, David Norman, Joe Redmond, Anto Breslin; Jason McClelland (Jake Mulraney, 77’), Kian Leavy (Adam Murphy, 77’), Jamie Lennon, Mark Doyle (Alex Nolan, 86’); Chris Forrester, Conor Carty (Mason Melia, 86’)
Subs: Danny Rogers, Tommy Lonergan, Ben McCormack, Ryan McLaughlin, Jay McGrath
Referee: Damien MacGraith