Bohemians 1 - 1 Everton

• Ross Mullen
• Tue, Aug 16 2011


Premier League side Everton were held to an entertaining 1-1 draw with Bohemians at a drenched Dalymount Park on Monday night. David Moyes’ side were welcomed to Dublin by a packed crowd full of blue. The Toffees took the lead in the first half through Jermaine Beckford but the home side fought back and equalised when Anto Flood scored a magnificent goal.

Everton took charge of this game very early on with captain, Mikel Arteta sitting around the centre circle and owning the midfield during the opening exchanges. Among the starting eleven for the away side was striker, Victor Anichebe who has played in Dalymount Park before in a friendly back in 2006 which finished 0-0. He was given an opportunity to shoot within the first three minutes when Jack Rodwell set him up but his shot was driven wide. He also had a chance to shoot inside the box moments later but Bohs’ defender Kevin Feely did well to block.

Everton’s early dominance was eventually rewarded when Jermaine Beckford scored in the ninth minute. A well aimed cross from distance by the left winger, Ross Barkley, floated toward the back post where the towering Marouane Fellaini nodded the ball across goal and Beckford was waiting to tap the ball home, despite it appearing to already be on its way over the line. The opening goal was well received by the majority Blue crowd.

The home side grew into the game, Anto Flood causing some problems on the right wing and Bohs’ first effort on goal came in the 16th minute when Keith Buckley strode unopposed through midfield and let fly from the edge of the box. His shot seemed to be steering well wide of the goal but Everton’s centre back, John Heitunga got a flick on the ball which just missed the far post.

The Premier League side continued to boss proceedings for the duration of the first half. They controlled the ball, knocking it around the pitch with ease, but they were unable to fashion any real shots on goal. Bohemians spent most of the opening 45 minutes chasing the ball. Nonetheless, anytime the Irish side had the ball they retained possession well and pushing forward from midfield. Ryan McEvoy, who came on when Buckley broke his nose in the 25th minute, and Ger O’Brien constantly looked for the darting runs of Christy Fagan while right-back, Mark O’Reilly bombed down the wing to support Flood at every opportunity.

Some swift passing between Arteta, Fellaini and Anichebe ended with Tony Hibbert racing down the wing. He dinked an inviting cross into the area where it was met by the head of Beckford but he couldn’t connect properly.

David Moyes made a multitude of changes at half-time, replacing five of the starting team including the introduction of regular number one Tim Howard for Jan Mucha.

Ger O’Brien tried to set Fagan free when he knocked a lovely pass over the heads of the visiting defence. Fagan chased but pulled up short seemingly pulled back by half-time substitution Shkodran Mustafi and Howard cleared the bouncing ball.

The Toffees were then on top for the next while. In the 57th minute Anichebe twisted and turned on the left, drifted inside, and shot. But once again his drive was wide of the far post. Arteta continued to show his class and a minute later he carved open the Bohs defence. The Spaniard waltzed around O’Reilly, coming into the area from the left. He rolled the ball back to Rodwell whose strike was blocked by a crowd of Bohemian bodies. Tony Hibbert’s bombing runs were still a regular occurrence despite being one of only five outfield players who played 90 minutes. On 61 minutes his chipped cross was headed over by substitute Apostolos Vellios.

Despite having spent most of the half defending their own goal, Bohemians managed to level the scores with a superb solo effort by Anto Flood in the 65th minute. Fagan switched the ball out to the right wing where Flood had performed fantastically for over an hour. He took it down, stepped along the edge of the box and then slotted the ball home into the bottom corner with his left boot.

After the cascade of substitutions by both sides, leaving nobody to sit the game out on the bench, the game seemed to even up with Bohs venturing forward just as much as their blue opposition. However, it was still the visitors who conjured up the better opportunities, forcing Craig Sexton into two fine saves. The first came in the 76th minute when Vellios muscled his way around Kevin Feely but Sexton held onto the stinging shot. The second was in the 82nd minute when Leon Osman tiptoed into the Bohemians area but once again the home keeper did well to save.

Bohemians had not gone quiet though, with Lee Dixon finding an incredible amount of space to pass the ball across goal but nobody was there to divert the ball home. Vellios had one more chance in the final moment but he hit a wild shot well over the crossbar of Bohs’ debutant ‘keeper, Dean Brady, who was introduced for the last five minutes.

Bohemians: Craig Sexton (Dean Brady, 84); Mark O’Reilly, Liam Burns (Roberto Lopes, 60), Kevin Feely, Mark Rossiter; Gary Burke (Christopher Forrester, 67), Glenn Cronin (Michael Barker, 75), Ger O’Brien  (Steven Hurley, 60), Keith Buckley (Ryan McEvoy, 25, (Patrick Seery, 81)); Christy Fagan (Aidan Downes, 75), Anto Flood (Lee Dixon, 67).
Subs not used: None.

Everton: Jan Mucha (Tim Howard, H/T); Tony Hibbert, John Heitinga (Sylvain Distin, H/T), Shane Duffy (Shkodran Mustafi H/T), Luke Garbutt; Ross Barkley (Leon Osman, H/T), Mikel Arteta (Phil Neville, 68), Marouane Fellaini (Diniyar Bilyaletdinov 68), Jack Rodwell; Jermaine Beckford (Apostolos Vellios, H/T), Victor Anichebe (Jose Baxter, 68).
Subs not used: None.

Referee: Neil Doyle.
extratime.ie Man of the Match: Tony Hibbert (Everton).