Bohemians 1
Shamrock Rovers 0
A TYPICALLY SPLENETIC Dublin Derby was settled by a moment of calm, provided for Bohs by the man who is currently specialising in such moments.
Georgie Kelly is in faintly absurd form – this was his fifth goal in two games – and early in the second half he allowed Liam Burt’s through-ball roll past he and Roberto Lopes before firing into the bottom corner. Shamrock Rovers may feel hard done-by: they front-loaded their chances in the opening quarter but missed them all.
There were 100 Bohs fans choreographed across the Jodi Stand for the first Dalymount Derby of the pandemic, which gave the early abuse of Danny Mandroiu and individuated quality.
“You f*****g reject, Danny” was the first, er, greeting heard when Rovers took to the pitch.
Rovers then set about giving the Bohs fans nothing else to shout about, and that they didn’t score in the first 15 minutes is vaguely confounding.
The chances fell to Rory Gaffney, whose finishing didn’t match the quality of his all-round play. First he blazed a half-volley over the crossbar from inside the box, and then saw a cross bounce off a Bohs defender and kiss the crossbar.
He then tested James Talbot with a low drive, and should have done so again a few minutes later, but sent his skewed effort skidding across the box after Graham Burke picked Keith Buckley’s pocket in midfield. Having survived the first quarter, Bohs drew breath and edged their way into the game, thanks in part to the steel of returning captain Keith Buckley and also by keeping the ball on the ground, with the Rovers defence more than meeting the challenge of dealing with Georgie Kelly in the air.
Wide forwards Liam Burt and Ali Coote grew into the game, with the latter curling a free-kick into the side-netting in what was the closest Bohs came to testing Alan Mannus in the first half.
Bohs then scored with their first sight of goal soon after the break, as Liam Burt played a through ball for the increasingly-lethal Georgie Kelly, who, realising Roberto Lopes had got too tight, cannily allowed the ball roll past both of them before rifling a low shot past Mannus. It was Kelly’s eighth goal in his last three-and-a-bit games at Dalymount, but his was the finishing touch of a fabulous team move that began in Bohs’ right-back position.
Precisely 1% of the Bohs crowd ended up on the pitch in celebration.
Rovers responded instantly, and Talbot was forced to push away wicked long-range drives from Mandroiu and Burke. Stephen Bradley then reacted by making as attacking a change as he could make without changing system – introducing Aaron Greene at left wing-back – and 12 minutes later he then overhauled the system itself, reverting to a back four and pushing Greene up front alongside Gaffney.
They linked up quickly, as Greene glanced a raking Sean Hoare pass to Gaffney, who teed up another long-range shot from Burke which Talbot palmed into the path of the onrushing Greene. Talbot’s splayed reaction save was rendered moot by the offside flag.
Bohs were not troubled substantially from there, however, and ran the clock down through the fabulous Ross Tierney.
The 99 Bohs fans still there for the final whistle might have told you in that instant it was a night worth waiting for.
Bohemians: James Talbot; Rory Feely, Rob Cornwall (James Finnerty, 85′), Ciaran Kelly, Tyreik Wilson; Dawson Devoy, Keith Buckley; Ali Coote, Ross Tierney (Conor Levingston, 90′), Liam Burt (Keith Ward, 80′); Georgie Kelly
Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus; Sean Hoare, Roberto Lopes, Lee Grace (Aaron Greene, 63′); Sean Gannon; Chris McCann (Ronan Finn, 51′), Gary O’Neill; Liam Scales; Graham Burke, Danny Mandroiu; Rory Gaffney
Referee: Neil Doyle