Bohemians -v- St. Patrick's Athletic

• Colman Hanley
• Thu, May 19 2011


Dalymount Park is set to host the ‘northside versus southside’ Dublin derby between Bohemians and St Patrick’s Athletic with both sides eager to climb the table (kick-off 7:45pm).

A win for Bohemians could see them go level with league leaders Shamrock Rovers on 25 points, while the Saints will be hoping to leapfrog the Gypsies with what would be their third away win of the season.

Bohemian’s league form has been inconsistent to date, and have failed to record back-to-back victories so far this year. However coming off the back of a 2-0 away win against Galway United last week, they will look to address this issue.

Bohemians will look to former Saint Pat’s man Anto Flood to lead the line and add to his five goal tally in the league. Manager Pat Fenlon is boosted by the return of Glenn Cronin following his comeback from a cruciate ligament injury in last week’s 0-0 draw against Derry City in the A Championship.

Cronin, who suffered the injury in a 3-2 defeat away to Galway at the end of last season, is eager to get back playing and add his experience to the Gypsies league campaign.

“I was lucky that the injury came at the end of the season. Otherwise, I would have missed even more matches,” he told bohemians.ie. “When you’re in football, all you want to do is play football. But it’s been especially difficult to be on the sidelines with the young fellas coming in, knowing you could help out.”

After initially losing three of their first six games, Saint Pat’s now find themselves unbeaten in eight in all competitions. The partnership of Daryl Kavanagh and Danny North seems to be proving successful for Pete Mahon’s side, with North notching four goals in his last five league games.

On the injury front, the Saints saw the return of Shane McFaul in the midweek 3- 0 win against Athlone in the Leinster Senior Cup, while Dave Mulcahy is back training and skipper Conor Kenna is also set to return.

The Saints manager expressed his delight at the midweek result, but underlined that he expected a much sterner test from Bohemians. “We are through to the Semi-Finals of the Leinster Senior Cup following Tuesday’s win (3-0 against Athlone Town), but there will be some changes to the team who played that night,” Mahon told stpatsfc.com.

“Danny North and Daryl Kavanagh were rested on Tuesday, but are likely to start tomorrow. Like ourselves, Bohs have a young squad, but I am expecting a tough match as you would expect from any Bohemians team.”

The Inchicore side, however, have found trips to Dalymount Park rather difficult over the past few seasons. In their last away league win over their rivals in March 2008, a 35 yard wonder strike from current Ireland International Keith Fahey secured a 1-0 win.

Bohemians
Injured: Mark Rossiter (hamstring), Barry Murphy (groin).
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: Ger O’Brien.

St. Patrick’s Athletic
Injured: Conor Kenna (knee), Dave Mulcahy (hamstring), James O’Brien (ankle).
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.

Referee: Derek Tomney

Paddy Power Odds: Bohemians 5/4; Draw 11/5; Saint Patrick’s Athletic 21/10.

Extratime prediction: Honours even in this Dublin derby, 1-1.