Bohemians 1 - 0 Shamrock Rovers

An early Dave Mulcahy goal and a heroic rearguard effort was enough to see Bohemians ease their relegation worries with a 1-0 win over arch rivals Shamrock Rovers. A crowd of 2,761 witnessed a war of attrition in an electric derby atmosphere at Dalymount Park.

The noise prior to kick off was echoed in the opening exchanges as Bohs enjoyed a dream start on two minutes when a well worked Andy Mulligan corner was stepped over by Anto Murphy and in arrived Luke Byrne, whose scuffed shot was doubled on by Mulcahy past the wrong-footed Barry Murphy.

During a frenetic start, the visitors were nearly level four minutes later when a Danny Ledwith free kick came crashing back off the post with Delany only able to watch on.

The pace slowed as the half wore on and the visitors began to dominate possession. They had chances through a Ronan Finn glancing header after 22 minutes and a speculative Gary McCabe volley on 26 – but neither effort managed to test Delany.

Bohs were looking dangerous from set pieces and could have doubled their advantage from that source on 28 mintues. A free kick from Daniel Byrne landed on the head of Conor Murphy six yards out but his headed effort was well blocked by a retreating Rovers defender. The resulting corner saw Anto Murphy get into a similar position but, again, the danger was averted.

Rovers came close once more on 40 minutes when a prolonged spell of pressure up the left, followed by a game of head tennis in the box, saw the ball arrive out to Finn 20 yards out. His half volley flew through the congested crowd and agonisingly past Delany’s right hand post.

The visitors had a strong penalty appeal turned down just before the break when Daniel Byrne appeared to handle a high ball. Referee Padraigh Sutton didn’t see it that way and he waved play on, much to the relief of the large majority of the boisterous Dalymount crowd. That same crowd gave the home side a standing ovation as they headed in for half time.

Yet Rovers came out of the blocks quickly at the start of the second half. Good play up the left allowed Ledwith to cross, Karl Sheppard managed to find space at the back post and his header almost squeezed in, only for an excellent save low and to his left by Delany.

Rovers owned the ball as Bohs continued to drop deeper and deeper as the game developed, but with the heroics of Mulcahy in the middle and a hard working back four, they managed to keep Rovers at bay. 

On 61 minutes, the home side almost doubled their advantage against the run of play. Corcoran showed great vision to thread an excellent through ball into the path of Mulligan, he only had Murphy to beat and did that but saw his shot slide just wide of the far post, when everybody in Dalymount thought it was in.

Although dominating possession, the visitors rarely troubled Delany. Substitute Mark Quigley blazed an effort over, while their golden chance came on 80 minutes when Bohs failed to deal with a long ball from keeper Murphy. Delany came out to clear and his connection was handled by Pender. Referee Sutton pointed to the spot and up stepped Finn, but his penalty came crashing back of the angle. Delirium ensued for the home crowd.

The proverbial kitchen sink was sent in the direction of the Bohs defence at that point, but to a man they stood up and answered all the questions that were asked of them. Quigley had a free header on 93 minutes but could only send it over Delany’s crossbar. The final whistle was met with a cacophony of noise from the home end. They are not going to go down without a fight.

Bohemians: Dean Delany; Derek Pender, Roberto Lopes, Anto Murphy, Luke Byrne; Andy Mulligan, Dave Mulcahy, Daniel Byrne, Lorcan Shannon (Keith Buckley 53); Conor Murphy (Stephen Traynor 60), Dinny Corcoran (Dave Scully 84).
Subs not used: Darragh Reynor, Kevin Devaney, Michael Barker, Greg Murray.

Booked: Mulcahy (10), L Byrne (59), Pender (78), Mulligan (89).

Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy; Conor Powell, Ken Oman, Pat Sullivan (c), Danny Ledwith (Mark Quigley 65); Gary McCabe (Thomas Stewart 46), Conor McCormack, Shane Robinson (Eamon Zayed 84), Richie Ryan; Ronan Finn, Karl Sheppard.
Subs not used: James Chambers, Nathan Brown, David Elebert, Shane Fagan.

Booked: Finn (15), Ryan (90+5).

Referee: Padraigh Sutton.

Attendance: 2,761

Extratime Man of the Match: Dave Mulcahy (Bohemians).