Bohemians 1 - 1 St Patrick’s Athletic

• Christopher Davey
• Wed, Apr 07 2010


Bohemians and St Patrick’s Athletic played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in their top of the table Dublin derby clash on Tuesday evening in Dalymount Park.

In a battle that truly was a game of two halves, Jason Byrne's 47th minute goal cancelled out Vinny Faherty's 16th minute strike in what was a great advertisement for the Airtricity league.

This game was a fine spectacle, with both sides looking to play the ball on the ground and pass their way towards goal for the most of the match, with Pat's playing all of the football in the first half, while Bohemians completely dominated the second half all over the park.

The game should have opened with a goal truth be told, as Jason Byrne will rue his missed chance in the opening moments of the game when he connected with a Paul Keegan cross from the left. Byrne scuffed his shot wide at the back post when it was easier to score.

It wasn't long before the ball did indeed hit the net when Paul Byrne headed past Chris O'Connor in the 12th minute from a Brian Cash free kick. Much to the dismay of the Pat's fans behind the goal however, the linesman adjudged Byrne to be offside.

The opening goal arrived in the 19th minute thanks to a breath taking piece of play from the St Pat's forward line. The ball whizzed from Cash to Paul Byrne to Vinny Faherty, all one touch. Faherty then looked up and shot low and curling from the left to the bottom right hand corner of the post in a shot that was exquisite.

Faherty nearly doubled the advantage for Pat's on the 29th minute, when the striker nearly lobbed O'Connor from the corner of the box, but his shot just curled wide of the Bohs goal.

Try as the might, Bohs couldn't trouble Gary Rogers in the first half. Their best opportunity fell to Paddy Madden when he manoeuvred his way into the Pat's area and bore down on goal three yards out. He was just about to pull the trigger and almost certainly score when Shane Guthrie slid in to dispossess the young striker.

From the resulting corner, Pat's nerves fluttered a small but when Rogers flapped at Owen Heary's header, but it was quickly dealt with.

Bohs did spring into life in the second half and got on the score sheet after only two minutes. From a Gareth McGlynn cross, the ball landed at the feet of Jason Byrne, who shook of the attention around him and scrambled the ball past Rogers' to even the score.

Bohs thought they'd taken the lead on the 53rd minute, when Paddy Madden headed home a Jason Byrne cross, but the linesman called offside and halted the premature celebrations.

Madden should have scored later on however in the last real chance of the game, when a Glenn Cronin header was parried into his path by Rogers. Unmarked and at the back post, Madden swung at it with his left and sent it wide when it would have been easier to score.

Bohemians: O'Connor; Heary, Powell, Oman, Shelley; Cronin, McGlynn, Keegan, Brennan; J Byrne (Quigley 83 mins) Madden (Cretaro 79 mins).
Unused Subs: Rossiter, Murphy, Higgins.

St Patrick's Ath: Rogers; Pender, Bermingham (Lynch 62 mins), Kenna, Guthrie; Cash (Coughlan 75 mins), S Byrne, Guy, Mulcahy; Faherty, P Byrne (McAllister 86 mins).
Unused Subs: Connor, Williams.

Ref: D. McKeon.