Friendly Report: Bohemians 1 - 2 Wexford Youths

Sunday afternoon's game between Bohemian FC and Wexford Youths was nearly called off due to some frost on the pitch. The sky was clear but the Jodi Stand was in the way and prevented the ground from thawing. The managers joined the ref to inspect the pitch about 20 minutes after the scheduled kick-off time, after which the players ran some drills in the affected area. The pitch was then deemed soft enough for the game to go ahead and, after another couple of minutes were spent adjusting one of the nets, the game kicked off just shy of 50 minutes late.

For most of the game Wexford Youths were more organised and that was enough to win the tie. Bohemians had some strong periods especially towards the end of the game when they were putting a lot of pressure on the Youths and came close to scraping a draw.

The first goal came after 28 minutes when Aiden Keenan found himself in some space at the edge of the area. His shot was strong and hard into the bottom corner leaving Dean Delany without a chance of getting to the ball. Delany again found himself with little hope by his defense in the 59^th minute when Peter Higgins shot low into his right corner, his fingertips unable to push the ball past the post. Wexford looked strong going forward but Bohs have some time to work through their defensive discipline before the start of the new season.

After conceding the second goal Bohs came more into the game, creating a few chances with substitutes Karl Moore and Jason Byrne involved in some of the better periods of pressure. In the 70^th minute Moore came down the left wing and into the edge of the box. He hit a chest high ball just in front of Connor Whittle who handled and gave Bohs the chance they needed to get back into the game. A penalty was awarded and struck into the bottom left corner by Jason Byrne, substitute keeper Seamus Houghton never had a chance. 

In the final minutes Bohs had another shout for an infringement in the Wexford box when one of the Youth's defenders passed the ball back to Houghton. Fortunately for the warriors the referee did not see the incident in the same way as the Gypsies and urged them to play on.

Bohs were not demotivated by this and continued to press, creating two chances in the final minute. Jason Byrne shot just wide and was again denied by the Wexford defense after a great move down the left wing initiated by a long ball from Anto Murphy to Karl Moore created some space for the Gypsies. 

Bohemians: Dean Delany; Dylan Hayes, Roberto Lopes, Derek Prendergast, Anto Murphy; Robbie Creevy (Jake Hyland 72), James O'Brien (Karl Moore 46), Adam Wixted (Jason Byrne 56), Paddy Kavanagh; Dean Kelly (Robert Duggan 85), Marc Griffin (Keith Buckley 46).
Subs not used: Lee Steacy (gk), Derek Pender.

Bookings: Prendergast (22).

Wexford Youths: Graham Doyle (Seamus Houghton 46); Conor Whittle, Craig McCabe (Podge Murphy 81), Lee Grace, Ryan Delaney (Dean Cornally 86); Eric Molloy, Craig Wall, Conor English, Connor Maher (Andrew Wall 46); Aidan Keenan (Gareth Wallace 46), Peter Higgins.
Subs not used: None.

Bookings: None.

Referee:

Extratime Man of the Match: Conor English (Wexford Youths).