Callaghan - Got result that we deserved

Friday night saw Bohemians put an end to their much talked about goal drought, as well as their search for a first league win when they beat Cork City 1-0 in Dalymount Park. After the game, Extratime.iecaught up with manager Aaron Callaghan and asked him how he felt about the game.

“Feel fantastic. More pleasing for the players because the effort, application and attitude they’ve shown for five or six weeks, has been fantastic. We’ve had some good performances as I’ve said against a lot of the teams, but we haven’t had the result. Tonight we’ve had a performance and we also got a result that we deserved.”

The game against the Leesiders saw the Gypsies start with an unfamiliar 3-4-3 formation as they looked to get more men forward and push on for that illusive first goal.

“We were trying to get the two wide guys up to play alongside Dinny or Dave Scully - whoever we were playing up there, but it didn’t seem to work in certain matches. The quality of the opposition we were playing sometimes dictated that as well. But tonight we knew we had to go and get three points against a very good Cork side. I thought it worked well. We got some really good half chances, particularly in the first half.”

Few would argue with Callaghan that the change in tactics had worked well, and Bohemians seemed to enjoy a lot more possession in the opposition half than they have done in recent games. The ultimate vindication came on the stroke of half time as Dinny Corcoran raced clear to put the ball past Mark McNulty and send the Jodi Stand into raptures.

“I think our efforts were rewarded just before half time with a fantastic goal from Dinny. I think that settled us down. We got a little bit of confidence second half, and then obviously the last twenty minutes there would have been a few nerves in there – particularly when we were looking for our first three points.”

The mood amongst the home fans at final whistle was jubilant, with fans hoping a corner had been turned. The Bohemians manager however wasn’t about to get carried away and was philosophical about the outcome.

“One thing you try in this game when you’re involved in it for this long is to keep a happy balance. You never get too high when you’re winning and you never get too low when you’re losing, and if you can keep that happy balance you know it all is well going forward.”

Keith Ward made a welcome return to the starting eleven on Friday night, and he was one of many Bohemians players who can be happy with their performance. The 21 year old midfielder only managed 70 minutes however, but Callaghan allayed any fears of a reoccurrence of his recent injury while highlighting the importance of Ward to the team.

“I think it’s a bit more cramp more so than an injury. He makes us tick there’s no doubt about it. You can see from the range of passes that he has that he gets and around people. He’s a key player for this club we just haven’t had him fit enough.”

Next up in the league for Bohemians is a short trip to Dublin 8 to play against UCD next Friday night in the Belfield Bowl. They will face Drogheda United before that on Tuesday evening in the EA Sports Cup at Hunky Dorys Park.