- Patrick O'Connor
- Thu, Mar 16 2023
BOHEMIANS
Dalymount Park will host a top v bottom clash on Friday night as early season league leaders Bohemians entertain bottom club UCD in the last game before the international break.
Bohs are somewhat of a surprise package to be top of the table after five series of games and they will look to consolidate, if not extend, their lead at the top when the Students arrive in Phibsborough .
The Gypsies followed up their excellent 2-1 over St Patrick’s Athletic last Friday night with a hard earned 1-0 extra time win over Crumlin United in the Leinster Senor Cup on Sunday.
That match gave manager Declan Devine an ideal opportunity to give playing time to those who did not feature against St Pats, with the likes of John O’ Sullivan (who scored in the 101st minute) , Kris Twardek and Dylan Connolly all getting valuable minutes in the game.
The victory over St Pats made people really sit up and take notice of Bohs, particularly in light of the poor start to the season made by two of their Dublin rivals, St Pats and Shamrock Rovers.
They fully deserved their win at Richmond Park with former Glasgow Celtic player Jonathon Afolabi leading the line very well at centre forward and also scoring his first goal this season, and while they were gifted their second goal by St Pats keeper Daniel Odumosu, they were still the superior side for the majority of the match.
Manager Declan Devine spoke to the Bohemians media team this week and said “We want to finish off before the international break with another good performance.
“We have done a lot of work on UCD this week. Nobody at the club underestimates them. You only have to go back to the opening day of the season when they went away to an expectant Dundalk and came away with a draw.
“They gave Sligo one hell of a game at the Bowl too so we are under no illusions that we have to be at our very best in every game we play.
“History tells us that on their day UCD are capable of beating anyone in this league and if we show any disrespect to anybody we will end up with egg on our face.”
UCD
The Students have had a very challenging start to the new season and they remain rooted to the bottom of the table with only one point on the board.
They got off to a great start to the season with a very creditable 1-1 draw away to Dundalk but have since lost four on the trot, including back-to -back 4-0 losses to Cork City and Derry City.
They were on track to pick up another point against Drogheda United last Friday night when the score was 0-0 but when centre back Emmanuel Adegboyega scored in the 73rd minute, there was no way back for Andy Myler’s side.
They played second fiddle for most of the game against Drogheda but did show some improvement in the second half and almost got what would probably have been considered an undeserved equaliser late on in the game.
Impressive substitute Divine Izikor did well to get to the end line moments before the final whistle but his pull back agonisingly eluded fellow substitute Harry O’ Connor and the chance was lost.
UCD have conceded 13 goals in their five games to date and no doubt this will be the main focus area for Myler and his coaching staff this week as they prepare for the trip to Dalymount.
Referee: Robert Harvey
MATCH STATS
Bohemians put eight goals past the Students in their four encounters in the 2022 season and only conceded two goals, surely a good omen for them ahead of their first clash this season.
UCD did pick up one point in a 1-1 draw in the first on those fixtures on March 18th last year, but Bohs dominated the remaining three fixtures during which they picked up the maximum nine points.
James Clarke, still with Bohs this season, scored the winner in the 1-0 win in the last game at the end of last season, a match which also saw UCD defender Michael Gallagher red carded in the 80th minute.
BETTING
Bohemians 2/11; Draw 9/2; UCD 11/1
PREDICTION
Bohemians 3 - 0 UCD
Bohemians
Injured: None
Doubtful: Keith Buckley
Suspended: Dylan Connolly
UCD
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
