Bohemians 5 - 1 Longford Town
Credit:
A strong second half performance was enough to see Bohemians to a 5-1 victory over Longford Town at IT Blanchardstown this morning.
The home side, playing in a yellow away strip, took the lead in the 4th minute when Longford goalkeeper Paul Hunt was adjudged to have fouled the on rushing Chris Lyons inside the box. The ex-UCD striker calmly converted the penalty himself.
The next opportunity of the half didn’t arrive until the 29th minute when Bohs midfielder Ryan McEvoy found Luke Byrne on the left. Byrne cut inside before firing a right footed shot into the bottom corner to make it 2-0 for the home side.
Longford manager Tony Cousins made four changes at the break and these seemed to have the desired affect as they displayed a greater purpose in their play during the early minutes of the second half.
The midlanders got their reward on 53 minutes when substitute Gavin Doyle got behind the Bohs defence to head home Dan Purdy’s cross.
It could have been level pegging minutes later when Purdy, cutting in from the left, curled a shot which rebounded of the woodwork.
With 25 minutes remaining Bohs made five changes and, similar to Longford earlier, these changes energized the side. With 76 minutes on the clock Roberto Lopes played a long ball over the top of the Longford defence which Darragh Hanaphy raced onto before cheekily chipping the ball over the oncoming Chris Bennion and into the net.
Moments later Keith Buckley was the benefactor of some sloppy Longford defending before chipped sub ‘keeper Chris Bennion from the edge of the box to make it 4-1.
The morning got worse for a deflated Longford side on 80 minutes when Bohs, afforded space on the counter attack, worked the ball well up the left before Ryan McEvoy found himself in space in the box to slot home in the bottom right hand corner.
Longford had chances to cut the deficit but some resilient Bohs defending meant it finished 5-1 to the Dublin side. Next up for Bohs is a return to the same pitch on Monday where they will face Hardwicke FC. Longford will look to improve on a disappointing pre-season when they play Shelbourne in Flancare Park next Saturday.
Bohemians: Dean Delany; Derek Pender, Owen Heary (Stephen Paisley 66), Roberto Lopes, Luke Byrne; Keith Buckley, Keith Murray (Conor O’Brien 24), Stephen Traynor, Ryan McEvoy, Andy Mulligan; Chris Lyons
Longford Town: Paul Hunt (Chris Bennion 46); Noel Haverty, Corie Tracey (Chris Deans 46), McCarthy, Keith Quinn (Gary Cronin 80); David O’Neill (Gavin Doyle 46), Daniel Purdy, Mark Salmon, Etanda Nkololo; Gary Shaw (David O’Sullivan 46), Michael Isichei.
