League Preview: Bohemians -v- St Patrick’s Athletic

Captains Joe Redmond (left) and Keith Buckley line up ahead of scoreless draw in Inchicore last August

Captains Joe Redmond (left) and Keith Buckley line up ahead of scoreless draw in Inchicore last August Credit: Eddie Lennon (ETPhotos)

BOHEMIANS

Dalymount Park will host a dress rehearsal for the FAI Cup Final when Bohemians and St Patricks Athletic clash on Friday night, but the game is highly significant in its own right as both teams seek to secure a top four slot in the league before it concludes in two weeks’ time.

The Gypsies are currently in a strong position in the league sitting in fourth place but with only three points separating them from Derry City in second place.

Their opponents this weekend are only a single point ahead, although St Patrick’s Athletic do have one game in hand. So the outcome of Friday night’s clash will have a huge bearing on where both teams will end up in the ranking when the season finishes on November 3rd.

Bohemians have two home games left, always an advantage at the business end of the season, so they will, at a minimum, not want to lose against Pats. They will then fancy their chances against lowly Cork City in their last home game.

They also face Dundalk away between those two home games but with the County Louth side unable to reach the top four at this stage, Bohs will be also be well motivated to pick up maximum points at Oriel Park.

Their form leading up to the international break was good, only losing one game in the last five, that being a 3-0 loss away to league leaders Shamrock Rovers.

They also dispatched Galway United by 1-0 in the FAI Cup semi-final, thus setting up that November 12th date at the Aviva Stadium.

Bohs manager Declan Devine spoke to Andrew Dempsey of extratime.com recently and said “There's a hell of a lot still to play for. We have put a full year's work into the season so far, but we want to finish strong. 

“We're in a good place at the minute but we feel there's still a couple of gears in us. We can push on and have a successful end of the season.”



And he also stressed that he expects there to be no complacency in his ranks over the coming weeks.

“I wouldn't expect that with them,” he added. “You have to rein it in with them sometimes. They train brilliantly every day. 

“Their fitness levels are really high, and their technical ability is too. There’s lots of creativity and we've got so much competition for places’’

ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC

The Saints face three of the top four sides in the table in what is a very tough end to the season for the Inchicore side. They will face Shamrock Rovers and Derry City after they tackle Bohs this weekend, so if they are still a top four side come the end of the season, they will certainly have done it the hard way.

They are finishing strongly however with only two losses in their last ten games, league and cup. Having previously beaten the Gypsies 3-2 in Dalymount Park earlier this season, they will be full of confidence for the return trip to Phibsborough this weekend.



Their game in hand means they have a quick turnaround before taking on Sligo Rovers next Monday night, but at least that game is at home and they won’t have to factor in a long trek across the country.

Even though St Pats have a Cup Final to look forward to, its not on their mind at the moment according to manager Jon Daly when he spoke to their media team this week.

He said: “The focus is on Friday and that’s it. We don’t look beyond the next game and that is obviously Bohs on Friday. Our lads got a few days off before the international break and we then had them back in over it, everything is being prepped for this game.

“We were missing some of the younger lads who were on international duty, Sam (Curtis) with the U 21s and Mason (Melia) and Darius (Lipsiuc) with the younger age groups, but everybody else was in training for Friday night.

He added: “It’s going to be a tough game against Bohs. We are aware of the threat that they pose. They have some very good attacking players that can cause a lot of problems and have done throughout the year, so we need to be mindful of that and take care of it.’’

Referee: Damian McGrath

MATCH STATS

Bohemians has the second highest attendance figures in the Premier Division this season, behind Shamrock Rovers who average 6,086 in Tallaght Stadium at each home game.

The average attendance at Dalymount Park this season is 4,259 fans, and given the importance of this match,, it is likely that the attendance will be much closer to the stadium capacity of just under 5,000 come 7.45 pm on Friday night.

The two leading scorers in the Premier Division will both be in action in this match, as Jonathon Afolabi (Bohemians) and Chris Forrester (St Patricks Athletic) are both on identical scoring records, each with 13 goals apiece (they each have also scored three penalties).

BETTING

Bohemians 17/10; Draw 5/2; St Patrick’s Athletic 27/10

PREDICTION

Bohemians 1 - 1 St Patrick’s Athletic

Bohemians

Injured: None

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

St Patricks Athletic 

Injured: Axel Sjoberg, Tom Girvosti, Harry Brockbank.

Doubtful:  None

Suspended: None                       

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