League Preview: Bohemians -v- Dundalk

• Rónán MacNamara
• Thu, Feb 23 2023




BOHEMIANS

Bohemians will be looking for back-to-back Premier Division wins for just the third time in twelve months when they welcome Dundalk to Dalymount Park on Friday night with kick-off at 7.45pm.

Declan Devine will lead his charges out under the lights in Phibsborough in front of a capacity crowd for the first time after they beat Cork City in Turners Cross last Friday.

Over 4000 Gypsies will squeeze into an increased capacity Dalymount making it the largest capacity at Dalymount Park for a competitive fixture in 14 years.

Goals from Grant Horton and Jordan Flores helped Bohemians to a 2-1 win over newly promoted Cork last Friday and they will kick off top of the Premier Division after all the other fixtures ended in stalemates. 

New signing James Akintunde was taken off during the game with a foot injury and he and James Benn are rated 50-50 for involvement.

Dalymount is set to house Bohemians fans in the Des Kelly stand behind the goal which will be a mixture of seating and terracing while the Dundalk fans will be allocated the new Mono Stand where the old Connacht Stand used to be.

Devine who was seen celebrating passionately with the travelling Bohs fans last week is relishing the prospect of a sold out Dalymount Park and hopes the increased capacity can make the ground a fortress this season as he looks to hone a connection between fans and players alike. 

“Last week in Turner’s Cross, it was amazing. Our support gave us the impetus to start the game properly and ultimately helped us get the three points. There were 6,500 there but all I heard up until the last ten minutes was the 700 or so Bohemians fans,” Devine told the Bohemians media team.

“Our players responded to that, and they showed great determination and fight. Having that support gives you an extra yard, gives you an extra inch in your height, and makes you determined to win every header and second ball.

“The support definitely got us across the line and that is going to have to be required again. We need everyone pulling in the same direction during the good parts and the bad parts for the full duration of the game. As hostile as we can make Dalymount the better.

“It is great to be back at Dalymount. Everyone is really looking forward to it. We have the two sides of Dalymount for tomorrow sold out with Bohs fans, and it is fantastic that we will have that level of support behind us.

“A lot of the credit for that has to go to people behind the scenes for that. Everybody – staff, members, volunteers – has been working day and night over the past number of weeks to get the place ready for our first home game and it’s up to us now to pull it all together on the pitch.

“We are getting that relationship between players and fans again, and the excitement is building. We have to do everything in our power to send our fans home happy.”

Looking ahead to Friday’s game, the former Derry City manager believes that Dundalk will offer a good barometer for where his side are at as they look to compete for the European places.

 “I was over the moon with how we performed last week. Any three points in this league have to be hard earned, and we worked extremely hard last week.

“The group is very tight. We have a great mixture of leadership, great players who have come back to the club, and new players excited to be here and who want to push on.

“At times last week we played some really nice stuff. We have to understand that we got our reward last week because of our work ethic and what we were willing to do to get the points. We have got to be like that again this week.

“Dundalk are in Europe for a reason, and for us to get anything out of the game, and to get that feeling we got last week for our supporters and for ourselves, we have to work for the full 90+ minutes and win every wee individual battle as well.

“It is going to be a tough game and we have to make sure we are ready for it. Dundalk are a side full of quality and experience.

“As a club they have consistently won trophies and qualified for Europe in recent years. We are fully aware of what is sitting in front of us and we have to be at our best.”

DUNDALK

The Lilywhites got off to a disappointing start last week at Oriel as UCD pegged them back late on to take a point.

Head coach Stephen O’Donnell has responded by adding three new faces to his squad this week, all on loan.

Attackers Johannes Yli-Kokko and Rayhaan Tulloch arrived from HJK Helsinki and West Bromwich Albion respectively while defender Wasiri Williams came from Swansea City.

Dundalk’s first away game of the 2022 campaign came at Dalymount with both sides sharing the spoils in an entertaining 2-2 draw.

New signings Johannes Yli-Kokko, Wasiri Williams and Rayhann Tulloch have been named in the squad while Darragh Leahy is available after missing the 1-1 draw with UCD with an illness.

Although disappointed with the performance and result last week, Dundalk manager, Stephen O’Donnell is looking forward to a crackling atmosphere at Dalymount Park.

“We’re disappointed with the result against UCD last week and after the first 20 or 25 minutes, we were disappointed with the performance but, as I said to the players, the very first game of the season doesn’t define anyone. No one ever looks back and says, the turning point was the first game of the season,” he told the Dundalk media team.

“Bohs had a good result in Cork on the opening night and they seem to have a good camaraderie amongst them. They’ve obviously brought back Keith Buckley, who’s been there previously, and he will help galvanise them. They’ve good attacking threats and they’ve good options and depth in their squad.

“It’s always a good atmosphere at Dalymount and we’ll bring good support so we’re really looking forward to and it’s up to us to go up there and stamp our authority on the game and get our quality out.”

MATCH STATS

The sides met four times last season with Dundalk going unbeaten, winning three times including 2-1 to secure European football with the recently retired David McMillan scoring.

Dundalk are unbeaten in their last six outings against Bohemians with the Gypsies winning just two of the last ten meetings.

PREDICTION

Bohemians 2 - 1 Dundalk

Bohemians

Injured: None

Doubtful: James Akintunde, Jay Benn

Suspended: None

Dundalk

Injured: None.

Doubtful: None.

Suspended: None.