Bohemians 0 - 2 St. Patrick's Athletic: Match Report

Friday evening saw the second meeting of Bohemians and St. Pats with an attendance of 1,878 on hand to see the away side claim all three points which moves them top of the Airtricity League table.

Bohemians, who have claimed some fantastic points on the road this season were lethargic and laboured and it was St. Pats who capitalised on some very poor passing from the home side.

Two goals in quick succession from St. Pats allowed the visitors to take an already stronger grip on a game they were already dominating.

It was former Bohemian, Christy Fagan who opened up the goal scoring. Coming off a brace against fellow Northside strugglers, Shelbourne, Fagan found himself on the score sheet yet again. A defence splitting pass by Greg Bolger in the 24th minute found Fagan. 'Keeper Dean Delany could do nothing but watch the ball slide through his legs into the back of the net to send the travelling support into raptures.

Having played poorly, Bohemians looked fired up and began to finally string some passes together much to the delight of the Dalymount faithful.

It's fair to say that fans who frequent home games at Dalymount Park haven't had a lot to shout about this season and more misery was piled upon players and fans alike in the 27th minute when an Ian Bermingham cross hit the unfortunate arm of Derek Pender in the Bohs penalty area.

Yet another former Bohemian player, Killian Brennan stepped up to take the resulting penalty kick and the Lough native duly obliged with a shot into the left hand corner of the net which sent Delany the wrong way.

Long ball tactics were on the agenda for Bohemians and a secondary plan wasn't forthcoming and it was St. Pats who continued to dictate play and Christy Fagan almost found himself on the score sheet again with an almost identical goal to his first one.

The second half saw a slight resurgence from Bohemians however, they were very slow in their build up which allowed St. Pats players to get back into position and defend expertly.

It was essentially a training match for the Saints who never had to get out of second gear in the second half. Some neat passing between Forrester, Fagan and Bolger was an absolute joy to watch which left Bohemians players chasing shadows for large parts of the game.

There wasn't much by way of goal mouth action for either side in the second half bar an audacious chip from Conan Byrne which saw Bohs keeper Dean Delany running back to his line hurriedly to tip the ball over.

Bohemians players were incensed with referee Alan Kelly late on when a Pats player looked to have handled the ball in the box. A penalty wasn't given and already frustrated home fans, were letting their feelings known.

Bohs manager Aaron Callaghan will have a lot of work on his hands to pick up his young squad who will no doubt be very low after that performance.

Opposite number Liam Buckley will be buoyed by his sides attacking prowess and joined in with his players to thank the large contingent of travelling fans to loud chants of "we are top of the league" which emanated around Dalymount Park long after the home fans left for the exits.

---

Bohemians: Dean Delany; Derek Pender, Dave Mulcahy, Luke Byrne, Ciaran Nangle (Kevin O’Leary 66); Andy Mulligan (Karl Moore 83), Stephen Traynor (Roberto Lopes 46) Shane Murray, Ryan McEvoy; Chris Lyons, Dave Scully.
Subs not used: Greg Murray, Kevin Devaney, Michael Barker.
Booked: Delany (71), Scully (72), O’Leary (90).
 
St. Patrick’s Athletic: Brendan Clarke; Ger O’Brien, Kenny Browne (Aidan Price 77), Conor Kenna, Ian Bermingham; Conan Byrne, Greg Bolger, Killian Brennan, Chris Forrester; John Russell, Christy Fagan (Anto Flood 86)
Subs not used: Sean Gannon, Jake Kelly, Jake Carroll, Shane McFaul, Dave Ryan.
Booked: Bermingham (71).

Attendance: 1,878

Referee: Alan Kelly

---

Shane Saunders
Twitter: @ShaneSaunders88