St. Patrick’s Athletic 0 - 1 Bohemians

A goal from winger Anto Murphy was enough to ensure Bohemians went home with the Setanta Sports Cup after an entertaining Dublin Derby at Tallaght Stadium on Saturday evening. Though this game was by no means a classic, it has certainly whetted the appetite for when the two sides face each other in the league next Friday.

The game was a fairly open one early on, as both sides were looking to take on each other in the final-third of the pitch. Bohs, playing in their white away strip, would no doubt have been hoping to get out of the traps early on in this tie, but it was Pat's would had the game's first real opportunity.

With six minutes on the clock Vinny Faherty got his head to a cross from the right, and Bohs 'keeper Barry Murphy had to stretch to make sure the Galway man's attempt went over.

Paul Byrne was impressing in the middle for the Inchicore side early on, and he had managed to muster up two half-chances for himself in the eighth and ninth minutes respectively. First of all, he had a shot from just outside the penalty area, which was well dealt with by Murphy.

He then very nearly connected to an enticing cross by Gareth Coughlan from the left. Had he got his head to this delivery, he may have caused Murphy some problems, but unfortunately for him he couldn't quite get there and the chance was gone. This showed Bohs what St. Pat's were capable of, and even though they were playing reasonably well themselves, St. Pat's arguably had the better of the openings ten minutes.

The Gypsies would eventually settle into the game though, and they had their first opening on 13 minutes when Aaron Greene's acrobatic effort from close-in was turned behind by Gary Rogers following a cross by Anto Murphy.

A Conor Kenna header produced a decent save from Barry Murphy, before his namesake Anto opened the scoring for the Phibsboro outfit on 24 minutes with a bullet header from a Brennan corner on the right, leaving Rogers with little or no chance between the posts for Pat's.

This goal was something of a set-back to Pete Mahon's side, but their response was fairly positive and they certainly did their best to try and restore parity with their illustrious opponents. Try as they might though, they couldn't quite get to grips with Bohs in the middle of the park, and The Gypsies were now looking far more assured in their play.

St. Pat's did press a bit towards the end of the half, but they couldn't quite find an opening as Bohs held on to their one-goal advantage as both sides headed for their respective dressing rooms at the break.

St. Pat's made a bright start to the second period, and Coughlan hit the crossbar with a powerful shot from distance just two minutes in.

It was also quite notable that St. Pat's were exerting themselves physically, as both Ian Bermingham and Gareth Coughlan found themselves in referee Alan Black's notebook after fouls on Anto Murphy and Conor Powell.

As the game edged towards the final 20 minutes, Alex Williams was introduced instead of Paul Byrne as The Saints looked for that elusive goal that might get them back into the final.

Bohs introduced a substitute of their own on 71 minutes in the form of Mark Quigley and he, along with half-time replacement Paddy Madden, helped to keep a steady ship for Bohs in the engine room.

However, at this stage St. Pat's were enjoying the majority of possession, which meant that Bohs had to be tight and compact and, to their credit, they perform this task expertly by making it extremely difficult for Pat's to create any clear-cut openings.

As much as they threatened, Pat's just couldn't break down the strong resistance from Bohs, and indeed Bohs were looking just as dangerous when they attacked on the break, with Quigley looking especially lively when he found space on the left-flank.

Following a few fiery incidents, there was a total of four minutes added time, but it was to matter little in the end as Bohemians held on for a hard-earned Setanta Sports Cup triumph.

St. Patrick's Athletic: Rogers; Pender, Kenna, Guthrie, Bermingham; Guy, Coughlan (Doyle '89), S Byrne, P Byrne (Williams '67); Faherty, Mulcahy (Sinnott '89).
Subs not used: Haverty, Connor, Harney.

Bohemians: B Murphy; Heary, McGuinness, A Murphy (Quigley '71), Powell; Keegan, Shelley, Cronin, Brennan; Byrne (Cretaro '85), Greene (Madden '46).
Subs not used: O'Connor, Rossiter, Traynor, Burke.

Referee: Alan Black.
Attendance: 3,896
Extratime Man of the Match: Paul Keegan (Bohemians).