Shelbourne 1
Bohemians 4
TOLKA PARK IS the place to be if you’re in need of a pick-me-up.
Just not if you’re a Shelbourne fan.
Bohemians came into this Dublin derby with their fans bereft having watched nine-man Finn Harps snatch an injury-time draw at Dalymount Park on Good Friday.
But by the 67th minute of an Easter Monday showdown with Shels, the travelling fans were singing in the rain as they cruised to their biggest victory of the season.
For some of the Reds faithful, the sight of Junior Ogedi-Uzokew tapping into an empty net to make it 4-1 after Liam Burt had weaved his was through the heart of the Shels side was enough to send them towards the exit.
A lack of personality at home had been mentioned by boss Damien Duff but that had nothing to do with Shels suffering this trouncing.
Basic errors led to their downfall.
They gifted possession away in the middle of the pitch for the first and fourth goals, gave away a needless penalty for the second, and were cut open with a simple through pass for the third.
All in all, it was a catalogue of misjudgements that continued their rotten run of failing to win in Drumcondra – it’s now just one point from six games.
What will stick in the craw for boss Damien Duff is that they had even put themselves in a position to finally end that sequence of results when Sean Boyd produced a stunning glancing header to level the scores in the 21st minute.
It came eight minutes after Liam Burt punished Shane Griffin’s loose ball out from the back with a jinky run that ended up with him deflecting a wild shot off the covering defender for a sickening double whammy.
But when captain Luke Byrne came through the back of Junior Ogedi-Uzokew on the stroke of half time, Keith Long’s side had the ideal opportunity to reaffirm their superiority, and Dawson Devoy duly obliged by smashing the penalty straight down the middle.
If that was all about brut force, the goals which sealed the comfortable win had a bit more class about them – even if they were again gifted the opportunities.
Five minutes after the restart the points were secured when the unmarked Ali Coote had the freedom of the park 20 yards out and was able to play a neat through ball for Kris Twardek.
The Canadian feinted to shoot, leaving his marker on his backside, and then finished low and hard on the inside.
Still, after throwing away three points only a few days ago there would have been some nervy onlookers among the travelling band of supporters.
That evaporated when Burt easily intercepted a dreadful pass in the middle from substitute JJ Lunney.
What he did next was anything but simple, breezing past the fresh Shels introduction as if he had been the one trudging around for the previous 67 minutes.
Burt then used Junior to the right as decoy, weaved into the box and when his side foot shot was well saved the forward’s run wasn’t in vain as he tapped the rebound into an empty net.
Bohs were happy with their lot from that point, as Shels toiled in front of their own fans.
A familiar story by this stage.
Shelbourne: Brendan Clarke; Shane Griffin, Luke Byrne (c), Kameron Ledwidge; Brian McManus (John Ross Wilson, 17), Mark Coyle, Adam Thomas, Jack Moylan (Daniel Carr, 72), Shane Farrell, Conor Kane; Sean Boyd.
Bohemians: James Talbot; Max Murphy, Ciarán Kelly, Grant Horton, Tyreke Wilson; Ali Coote (Promise Omochere, 69), Dawson Devoy (Jordan Doherty, 81), Conor Levingston, Liam Burt (Jordan Flores, 69), Kris Twardek; Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe.