League Report: Bohemians 0 - 4 Shamrock Rovers

Shamrock Rovers secured an emphatic 4-0 win at a sold out Dalymount Park on Friday night to land their biggest league win in this derby in 52 years.

A Gary McCabe goal on the stroke of half time against the run of play put the Hoops in the lead. What followed in the second half, with two wonderfully taken goals by Brandon Miele and the pick of the night by Gavin Brennan, gave the Hoops the bragging rights in this north v south Dublin derby .

Both sets of supporters were in good voice at kick off but little happened in the opening exchanges of the game with both sides trying to get a feel for each other in this eagerly anticipated tie.  

The first real chance of the match fell to Bohs and Keith Buckley. A beautiful bit of skill from Aymen Ben Mohammed saw the winger control the ball with his first touch and flick it over Simon Madden’s head. That second touch picked out Buckley rushing into the box. The Hoops stopper Barry Murphy got down well low to his right to grasp the ball from Buckley’s effort. 

The best opportunity of the half came for the home side mid-way through the half. Derek Pender got down the right and put in a low cross towards the six-yard box. David Webster made a mess of the clearance and it fell kindly to Ismahil Akinade but his shot was blocked by Simon Madden when the Gypsies striker really should have made it 1-0. 

Bohs were edging the play in the first half and had the better of the chances. Eoin Wearen had one of these when he broke through only for Gavin Brennan to make an excellent recovery block.

The first decent effort for the away side came after half an hour, Mikey Drennan cut in from the right and unleashed a powerful shot that had Dean Delany scrambling and diving to his left only for the ball to go wide of his post

Just on the stroke of half time Lorcan Fitzgerald strangely hacked down Madden right on his own end line when the ball looked like it was going out of play. He received a yellow card in the process and the full back was to pay for his mistake from the resulting free kick.

Killian Brennan played a short pass to Brandon Miele whose shot got blocked only for it to land right at Gary McCabe. The Hoops captain drilled a shot into a packed six yard box which took a slight deflection on its way to the back of the net to send the travelling fans into the break delirious.

Bohemians started the second half with an innovative bit of thinking from Paddy Kavanagh. As the ball bounced awkwardly for him at the corner of the box he played a lofted shot over Murphy and unfortunately for the Gypsies it bounced off the bar and over.

Seconds later the Hoops went down the opposite end and doubled their advantage. Rovers  danger man Miele played a one-two with Gary Shaw before he took a touch away from the defender to create space to superbly slot the ball by Delany. 

As expected in the Dublin Derby it was a hotly contested affair between both sides. Referee Paul McLaughlin had a busy night having to deal with lots of handbags between the two sets of players. He dished out five yellow cards, four of which went to the home side.

Miele got his second of the night when the Bohemians defence went missing on 73 minutes. McCabe played an outside of the boot ball that Miele ran on to and he cooly side footed it past the on rushing Delany.

Gavin Brennan soon made it four with the best goal on the night. Substitute Gareth McCaffrey laid it off to Brennan who curled a sweet shot right into the top corner leaving Delany no chance. 

There were some disgraceful scenes that followed from both sets of fans as a small number invaded the pitch,resulting in a delayed re-start which is not want we want to see on one of the biggest nights of the season.

Keith Long will be extremely disappointed with the effort shown by his side in the second half. The two goals either side of the break knocked the stuffing out of them and they never recovered.

Rovers took full advantage and punished the Bohemians deficiency. Pat Fenlon will be delighted with his side that they bounced back with such an empathic win after the disappointment of Derry last week.

Bohemians: Dean Delany; Derek Pender, Derek Prendergast, Dan Byrne, Lorcan Fitzgerald; Paddy Kavanagh, Roberto Lopes, Keith Buckley (Kurtis Byrne, 56), Eoin Wearen, Aymen Ben Mohammed; Ismahil Akinade.

Subs Not Used: Lee Steacy; Dylan Hayes, Anto Murphy, James Kavanagh, Dave Mulcahy, Adam Evans.

Booked: Eoin Wearen (28), Paddy Kavanagh (33), Lorcan Fitzgerald (45), Derek Prendergast (81)

Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy; Simon Madden, Max Blanchard, David Webster, Gavin Brennan; Patrick Cregg, Gary McCabe, Killian Brennan; Brandon Miele (Trevor Clarke, 90), Gary Shaw (Gareth McCaffery, 71), Michael Drennan.

Subs Not Used: Craig Hyland; Rob Cornwall, Richard Purdy, Stephen McPhail, Danny North. 

Booked: Patrick Cregg (48).

Referee: Paul McLaughlin.

Attendance: 3627.

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Brandon Miele (Shamrock Rovers).

You can view Eddie Lennon's and Eoin Smith's photos from the game by clicking here.