Keith Long keen to take it one game at a time

Keith Long's Bohemians overcame St Patrick's Athletic on Friday evening thanks to goals from Ismahil Akinade alongside a brace from Dinny Corcoran leading to a 3-2 victory for the Gypsies over the ten man Saints.

“It was a good spectacle it’s not good for our hearts on the line for either manager. I thought our attacking play was top drawer tonight partially in the first half and for patches of the second half, we held on a bit at the end Fagan hit the bar and our captain (Derek Pender) made an amazing block. It took a bit of everything tonight.”

Long was pleased following the game to see so much of what his squad had worked on in training recently come off and pay dividends when it came to game time.

“I think it was an enjoyable to watch if you were a Bohs supporter tonight not so much a Pat’s supporter, from our point of view we worked on a lot of our attacking strategy in the last couple of weeks.

“We have not been the most prolific of teams throughout the season we have scored seven in the last two games.”

Bohs now sit ten points outside of the relegation zone and so many pundits are now backing them to not just avoid the drop but to also put pressure on the top four with Derry City just three points ahead of them at present.

“We won’t be complacent, we’re going to try and win all our remaining games until the end of the season. If we can play like we did in the first half in the last four games and work on things defensively we have a very capable side here.

Ismahil Akinade was one of Long’s key men on Friday night as he scored his second goal of the season.

“You can see that his blistering pace illustrated when he burst past J.J Lunney and left him for dead, that’s the natural pace and power that a raw talent like him has.

“I was pleased for him tonight getting on the end of a Paddy Kavanagh cross, he’s got a bit of a spark that he has from his play over the last few weeks, he’s a treat where ever he plays.

“He was influential for the third goal he’s made a fantastic run, he came off the line before the ball broke to Dinny Corcoran to make it 3-1, and he was very influential in the game tonight.”

Bohemians Dan Byrne was also impressive in his role of playing further up the park tonight in a midfield role, something which Long was keen to comment on after the game.

“I thought Dan was good tonight, he’s a very decent footballer who is very composed and can pass the ball.

“He has got a decent passing range and a very good engine and I thought he put in a decent performance for us tonight.”