Callaghan hails fantastic result against Pats

Bohemians boss Aaron Callaghan was happy with the point his side earned in Inchicore on Monday night against St. Patrick’s Athletic.  “To come here and get a point is no mean feat,” said Callaghan speaking directly after the 1-1 draw in Richmond Park.

The result means that Callaghan’s team has collected four points from their last two league games to put behind them a run of three consecutive defeats. Both in the drawn game against the Saints and in last Friday’s 3-2 win over Bray Wanderers, Bohemians have deployed a 3-5-2 system. It meant the midfield was quite congested with Pat’s playing with a 4-5-1 formation but the game was very much an open affair, especially in the second half, with plenty of chances for both sides. So will the Gypsies be deploying that system on an ongoing basis?

“We’ve done it twice now,” said Callaghan. “We will try it now and again and pick and choose the games when we need it. We are just trying to get more people in the box. I thought we caused them problems especially on the break.”

His team did at times ride their luck on Monday especially in the closing period of the game when Pat’s put the Bohs defence under concerted pressure. However, Bohemians captain Dave Mulcahy led the line defiantly at the back to help his side hold onto their hard fought point.

“He was fantastic,” was the praise for his captain from Callaghan. “He was the only experienced lad we had on the pitch. We lost Dave Scully, Derek Pender and Stephen Paisley prior to the game. We had to give the young kid Conor O’Brien his debut and rely on one or two lads who were playing their first or second league game for us. It was a fantastic result and will give us a world of confidence going forward.”

The recent return of striker Chris Lyons, who turns just 20 next week, has been a welcome boost for Bohs. Lyons scored two goals in the win over Bray on Friday and he created a number of opportunities for his team against Pat’s. “We had missed him for the five or six games that he was out and he does give that dynamic movement that we didn’t have.  We are playing the two up front and that is giving us more chances.”

Bohemians travel to play Drogheda United on Friday night and a win could potentially see them jump above Cork City and Shamrock Rovers in the table to seventh place. Mick Cooke, who was in Richmond Park to watch Bohs on Monday, will be looking for his Drogheda team to go fourth in the table with a win. But Callaghan feels that his men can take the game to last year’s runners when they play each other for the first time this season on Friday. “The lads are buoyed by that performance.”