Bohemians 1 - 1 St. Patrick's Athletic

A dramatic end to the game in Dalymount Park on Friday night ensured St Patrick’s Athletic remained top of the Airtricity League table. A late goal from David Mulcahy was enough to earn Pete Mahon’s men a vital point in what was a pulsating Dublin derby.

With just four minutes on the clock, Owen Heary opened the scoring for the Gypsies with the former Shelbourne man heading home an expertly placed cross from the man of the match on the night, Killian Brennan.

In what was a cracking opening quarter to this Dublin derby, Bohs could have been two or three goals ahead. Pats were clearly rattled by the early goal but Conor Kenna and Shan Guthrie were solid at the back and as a result, it remained 1-0 to the Champions.

Damien Lynch had the only real chance of note for the visitors in the opening half hour. His speculative effort was comfortably saved by Barry Murphy in the Bohs goal and in truth, it was a fairly dull ending to the first half.

Pats looked a different side after the break with Daniel North looking very bright up front before he was eventually substituted. With the away side pressing, Bohs looked dangerous on the break and Mark Rossiter’s stunning left-footed cross across the face of Gary Rogers’ goal unfortunately, for the hosts, wasn’t met by one of the Bohs frontmen.

Paddy Madden, who was earlier booked for booting the ball at his own fans, nearly doubled Bohs’ lead but Rogers was alert to the threat. Moments later, Mahon made a double substitution with Gareth O’Connor and David McAllister coming on for the Saints and it seemed to work. Both looked lively but neither could test Murphy in the Bohs goal.

Mark Quigley, who was booed from start to finish by the sizeable travelling Pats support, was taken off with just 15 minutes remaining with Aaron Greene replacing him.

It looked as though the game was fizzling out but with just seconds to go, David Mulcahy popped up with an equaliser to send the travelling fans wild. Mulcahy stroked a beautiful left-footed strike beyond Murphy who will no doubt be frustrated with his defence who may have got closer to the goalscorer.

And so it finished 1-1 and there is no doubt that Pats will be the happier of the two sides going home. Shamrock Rovers manager Michael O’Neill will also no doubt be smiling this evening with his side now in a very strong position at the top of the table with his two main title rivals dropping points.

Bohemians: Barry Murphy, Brian Shelley, Owen Heary, Ken Oman, Mark Rossiter, Gareth McGlynn, Paul Keegan, Glenn Cronin, Killian Brennan, Mark Quigley (Aaron Greene 78), Paddy Madden
Subs not used: Chris O’Connor, Jason Byrne, Ruaidhri Higgins, Jason McGuinness
Bookings: Madden (31), Brennan (70)

St Patrick’s Athletic: Gary Rogers, Derek Pender, Conor Kenna, Shane Guthrie, Damien Lynch, Brian Cash (Paul Byrne 35), Stuart Byrne (Gareth O’Connor 64), David Mulcahy, Ryan Guy, Derek Doyle, Daniel North (David McAllister 64)
Subs not used: Chris Bennion, Ian Bermingham
Bookings: Mulcahy (44)

Referee: Alan Kelly
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Killian Brennan
Attendance: 2,800 (estimate)