League Preview: Bohemians -v- St. Patrick's Athletic

• Mark Quinlan
• Sat, May 28 2016



Bohemians will entertain their local rivals St. Patrick’s Athletic in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division in what has all the ingredients of a thrilling encounter at Dalymount Park on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 3pm).
 
BOHEMIANS
Bohemians will go into this Dublin derby with renewed confidence, buoyed by two consecutive cups wins, starting with a 2-0 win over Galway United in the FAI Cup last Friday night and following that up with a 1-0 win over UCD in the Leinster Senior Cup semi-final on Monday. 
 
The Gypsies ended a goal drought that had lasted 691 minutes with those much needed cup wins and Bohs manager Keith Long was naturally delighted, telling bohemianfc.com, “We played very well against Galway. The most important thing was to get through to the next round but it was a very good team performance and we fully deserved the win.”
 
Long also felt that the two consecutive wins will give greater belief to the squad, saying, “We followed that up against UCD too. The Leinster Senior Cup isn’t top of clubs' priorities but it’s nice to get into the final.”
 
Bohs will be striving to end a run which has seen them fail to win a league game since beating Bray Wanderers on April 9th. Gypsies boss Long wants to see his side play to their full potential against the Saints, stating, “We didn’t lay a glove on Pat's when we lost to them earlier in the season so we want to make amends for that and bring the game to them this time.”
 
Bohs cup wins came at a huge cost with Paddy Kavanagh (ankle), Jake Kelly (hamstring), and Derek Pender (quad) all coming off during the Galway game after picking up knocks, while Mark Quigley was substituted against UCD due to a knee injury. Quigley and Kavanagh miss out having failed to recover in time but are both suspended in any case. 
 
 
ST. PATRICK’S ATHLETIC
St. Patrick’s Athletic make the short journey to one of their fiercest rivals having been scoring for fun in their last two matches. St.Pat’s enjoyed a comprehensive 4-0 win over Finn Harps in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division on May 17th and followed this up with an 8-0 trouncing of Pike Rovers in the 2nd round of the FAI Cup last Saturday. 
 
St. Patrick’s Athletic manager Liam Buckley was delighted with his side's recent performances and the return of some key players to full fitness, telling stpatsfc.com,  “It’s great to have a few lads back available for selection. Coupled with the recent wins, the lads are starting to get where they want to be in terms of attitude and performance.”
 
Buckley is under no illusions going into this game and warned his team against complacency, adding, “ We know Bohs are going to really put it up to us on Sunday. They’ve improved in recent weeks and were unlucky in a few games earlier in the season. However, if we can show some of the form in recent weeks in front of goal and keep things tight at the back hopefully we can get a result.”
 
Buckley received a boost during the week with the return of top-scorer Christy Fagan to training, while Ian Bermingham (ankle) and Sean Hoare (illness) are now both available for selection. The only player out of Sunday is the suspended Darren Dennehy.
 
 
Referee: Graham Kelly.
 
 
MATCH FACTS
Bohemians are currently in 8th place in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division with 11 points from their 13 league games so far with three wins, two draws and eight losses.
 
St. Patrick’s Athletic are in fifth position in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division with 23 points from their 14 league games with seven wins, two draws and five losses.
 
Bohemians and St. Patrick’s Athletic met earlier in the season with St. Patrick’s Athletic winning comfortably 3-0 at Richmond Park on March 14th.
 
 
BETTING
Bohemian 7/4; Draw 9/4; St. Patrick’s Athletic 6/4.
 
PREDICTION
Bohemians 1-2 St. Patrick’s Athletic.
 
 
Bohemians
Injured: Mark Quigley, Paddy Kavanagh.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: Mark Quigley, Paddy Kavanagh.
 
St. Patrick’s Athletic
Injured: None.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: Darren Dennehy.