Lopes "buzzing" from Bohs winner

Bohemians rounded off their season in Dalymount Park last Friday night in style with a well deserved Dublin derby win over Shamrock Rovers. Roberto Lopes proved the match winner on the night as his first half header handed the Hoops a 1-0 defeat and all three points to Bohs.

While the Gypsies have struggled in front of goal this season, Lopes has provided some timely goals, none more so than the winner last week. However the midfielder admitted he may need to work on his goal celebrations.

“I was ecstatic as I don’t score many goals, let alone one of that magnitude,” said Lopes speaking on the latest extratime.ieSportscast. “It was great for us to get the three points and get one over Rovers in the last home game of the season.

“I was over the moon to score. I didn’t even know how to celebrate. I just wanted to run and just keep going. I would have run out of the stadium if you had let me. I was buzzing!”

Sportsfile caught all the drama of the celebration which saw Lopes running by a fist pumping young ball boy with Rovers’ Pat Cregg not looking too happy – with the night only going to get worse for Cregg who was sent off in the second half.

Yes you are! Bohemians have beaten Shamrock Rovers 1-0 in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division this evening! pic.twitter.com/p1w34EPPvE

— Sportsfile (@sportsfile) October 7, 2016

“That photo seems to capture everything on the night,” Lopes told extratime.ie. “If you look at the ball boy, it is a great shot of him. He might be showing me a thing or two on how to celebrate a goal. I didn’t know what to do. It is a fantastic photo and it is one that will stick with me for the next few years.”

That was Lopes’ fourth goal of the season. His only other league goal was in another Dalymount Dublin derby win – that one a 5-1 victory over St. Pat’s back in May. His two other goals came in one of Bohs’ season highlights – their capture of the Leinster Senior Cup. The 4-0 win over Wexford Youths in the final resulted in the 32^nd victory in that competition. They have claimed that trophy 12 times more than any other club in the province.

“It meant a lot to me,” said Lopes about the win which was a  reward for longer serving squad members like himself and Keith Buckley who have both been with Bohs since 2010. “I’m at the club a long time but unfortunately I came when we stopped winning things. The Leinster Senior Cup probably doesn’t mean much to most clubs but for me and for Keith Buckley it was great to get our hands on something.

“There are four cups there to win and we would have been happy getting our hands on any of them. Even on the night you could sense the feel good factor was back at the club. It has been a long absence without a trophy at the club so it meant a lot for the fans as well to have their name against something. It gave the club a real boost, which was needed, after a poor season compared with the standards we set last year.”

Bohs still have three games to go this season against Derry City, Dundalk and Finn Harps all away from home (with Lopes suspended for the City match). At the conclusion of last Friday’s game, the Bohs Player of the Year was announced and Lopes was full of admiration for the winner – Keith Buckley.

“There was no one else who deserved it more than Bucko. He probably doesn’t get the recognition he deserves from across the league. Having played with him as long as I have, he is the best player I’ve played with by far. I mean that in every aspect. There is no one who will push you harder in training.

“He is very good on the ball. He will test you technically. He is very clever, making tough runs and, if you don’t track them, he will punish you. For the character that he is, he is one of the best to have in the dressing room.”

Bohs finished fifth last season and currently sit one place and one point below that position which is currently occupied by Sligo Rovers. There are six points separating fifth from ninth so Bohs will be hoping to finish the season strongly. Facing into their final three games on the road, they will have to overcome the difficulty they have had finding the back of the net.

They have only scored seven goals on their travels this season – the worst of any team in the division. Earlier in the season they went six successive league games without scoring – the worst of any single season in their League of Ireland history.

“At the start of the season we struggled a lot to find the goals. I think that was due to us finding our feet with new players waiting to adjust. When Kurtis Byrne settled in, he showed what a great goalscorer he can be. With Izzy (Akinade) out injured for long parts of the season, we kind of missed his goals. We all need to chip in with goals. I think we became over reliant on our strikers to knock goals in so it is important to share the load around the team.”

The other good news story around the club is the future plans for Dalymount Park and Lopes unsurprisingly is positive about the prospect. “The new development will hopefully bring a new era of success to the club. There are exciting times ahead for the club as a whole.”

You can listen back to Roberto Lopes’ interview in full here on Episode 81 of the extratime.ie Sportscast, where we also spoke with Cobh Ramblers manager Stephen Henderson and Sligo Rovers defender Michael Leahy.