Bohemians 3 - 0 Cobh Ramblers

John Paul Kelly came off the bench to inspire Bohemians to a hard-fought 3-0 victory over bottom-of-the-table Cobh Ramblers at Dalymount Park on Friday. Second half strikes from Kelly and Jason Byrne either side of a Killian Brennan penalty gave the Gypsies the victory which moves them four points clear with a game in hand at the top of the eircom Premier League.

With second placed St Patrick's Athletic not in action until Sunday, Bohs went into the game knowing that a win would take them four points clear at the top. For Cobh, anything from this game would have been a bonus as they fight it out with Galway United, Finn Harps and UCD at the bottom of the table.

Unbeaten in their previous 16 league games, the Gypsies went into the game on the back of some impressive form. Nevertheless, Pat Fenlon made three changes to the side which swept aside UCD in their previous outing. Jason McGuinness, having served his one-man suspension replaced Ken Oman at centre back, while Jason Byrne came in for the suspended Glen Crowe in attack. In midfield, Fenlon handed a debut to new recruit Gary Deegan. He replaced Mark Rossiter who slotted in at left-back in place of Conor Powell who dropped to the bench.

Cobh made two changes from the side which lost to Bray Wanderers with John Kearney replacing the suspended Colin O'Brien in midfield and John Meade coming in for Graham Cummins. Cobh made the long trip to Dublin having failed to win in the league since the end of May and having scored just four goals on their travels. If that wasn't bad enough, Bohs' goalkeeper Brian Murphy was looking for his seventh successive clean sheet in the league.

It was the home side who settled best in the early exchanges with Stephen O'Donnell and Anthony Murphy both testing Cobh 'keeper James McCarthy with long-range shots in the in the opening minutes. Byrne then fluffed a shot from six yards after a neat cross in from Anthony Murphy on the right.

As the half progressed Cobh, playing with Ross Gaynor as their lone-attacker, continued to frustrate the home side with their five-man defence keeping Bohs' front pairing of Neale Fenn and Byrne very quiet.

Just as Cobh appeared to be growing in confidence, Bohs delivered a warning of what might happen should Cobh start to push forward. A long ball out of defence found Anthony Murphy on the edge of the 18 yard box who neatly cushioned the ball down and charged in on McCarthy, before somehow managing to miss his kick at the vital moment. The referee bizarely awarded a corner. Brennan swung in the resulting dead ball and Anthony Murphy's deft header forced McCarthy into a flying save.

Home fans hoping that this near miss would spur their side on were to be disappointed as Bohs failed to create anything else of note, with any forays forward spoiled by a sucession of sloppy passes and poor decision-making.

Whatever Fenlon said to his troops at the break certainly did the trick and the spark which had been missing from Bohs play in the first half was provided just thirty seconds after the re-start. Kelly, a half-time replacement for the injured McGuinness, chased what looked to be a lost ball at the near post and after slipping the ball past a Galway defender on the by-line, blasted a shot which somehow slipped through both the hands and legs of McCarthy and into the net.

The home side continued to pour forward after the goal and Kelly, no doubt disappointed not to have started the game, looked like a man with a point to prove. Confusion in the Bohs defence almost gifted Cobh an equaliser on 70 minutes. Thomas Heary failed to clear properly and the ball broke to Guthrie on the edge of the area but the defender lacked composure and blazed his shot over the bar.

They were made to pay for that miss eight minutes later when livewire Kelly raced into the box and when he was hauled to the floor, the referee pointed to the spot. Brennan made no mistake with the resulting penalty, placing the ball to McCarthy's left for his ninth league goal of the season.

With seven minutes left on the clock Bohs wrapped up the points with Kelly unsurprisngly at the heart of it once more. he cut in from the right at pace before flicking an inch perfect ball into the path of Byrne who made no mistake from 16 yards with a first time shot. Late substitute Kalonas almost grabbed a fourth in the dying minutes but his shot from a tight angle was cleared off the line.

Bohemians: Brian Murphy; Owen Heary, Jason McGuinness (John Paul Kelly 46), Thomas Heary, Mark Rossiter; Anthony Murphy, Stephen O'Donnell, Gary Deegan, Killian Brennan (Harpal Singh 86); Jason Byrne, Neale Fenn (Mindaugas Kalonas 73).
Subs not used: Chris Konopka, Conor Powell.

Booked: Kelly, Deegan.

Cobh Ramblers: James McCarthy; Alan Carey, Kevin Murray, Shane Guthrie,  John Meade; Ken Coleman, Greg O'Halloran, John Kearney (Graham Cummins 66), Daryl Kavanagh (Michael O'Shea 66), Davin O'Neill; Ross Gaynor.
Subs not used: Shane Barrett, Stephen Mulcahy, Conor Meade.

Booked: Kearney.

Referee: Paul Tuite.

Man of the match: John Paul Kelly (Bohemians).