|
@bfcdublin Bohemians deserved to defeat Shamrock Rovers but were cruelly denied in stoppage time when midfielder Ronan Finn headed home a Conor McCormack corner. Shane Quinn reports.
 It looked for all the world the Gypsies had done enough to claim victory after dominating Rovers for long periods.
But Finn carved enough space for himself with seconds left to head into Chris O’Connor’s right handcorner from eight yards. Huge credit must go to the home players for outplaying the Hoops for so long until Finn intervened. Bohs were handed a pre-game boost on learning Rovers would be shorn of their talisman, Gary Twigg. The Tallaght club’s confidence had been damaged by the desperate home loss to Bray Wanderers last week – the same opposition Bohs dispatched 3-1 at the Carlisle Grounds the opening week.
Bohs were missing a forward of their own in Christy Fagan, while Ollie Cahill and Barry Murphy failed to recover in time.
With the Des Kelly Stand crammed with Rovers supporters and those in the Jodi Stand outnumbering them, there was a cracking atmosphere in Dalymount Park.
After concerted early pressure by Bohs, Anto Flood was fouled on the edge of the area, 30 yards from goal. Killian Brennan made a sweet contact with the ball and keeper Alan Mannus, with plenty of time to prepare himself, caught well.
Certainly it was Bohs who made the better start, with their opponents failing to put together any fluent passing moves at all.
There was then shades of keeper Paul Robinson’s howler for England some years ago for Mannus. Finn played the ball back to his goalie only for the ball to bobble over Mannus’ leg, but thankfully for him, out for a corner and not into the net.
Rovers first threatened 22 minutes in and it was a close call. From McCormack’s corner, Dean Kelly was afforded ample space as his ensuing header flew six inches over the crossbar. In the midst of that, a couple of brilliant tackles from man of the match Owen Heary did much to get the home crowd going – and lay down a marker.
The work ethic of the Bohs players had an effect on Rovers who played poorly in that opening half – they even failed to register a shot on target. Their front duo of Karl Sheppard and Gary O’Neill were especially quiet due to an absence of service from midfield.
 Flood had a decent sight of goal in the 59th minute after Stephen Traynor chested the ball down to him. “Bisto”, as he is known affectionately, dragged his shot wide from a sharp angle however.
When Traynor was felled by Enda Stevens, Brennan was presented with an ideal free-kick for a left footer on the edge of the box. The midfielder subsequently tried to fool Mannus by going for the left-hand corner rather than the right, but the keeper got down well to push around the post.
Unfortunately for Rovers, the resulting corner led to Bohs deservedly taking the lead on 72 minutes. Brennan delivered and Aidan Price rose to head onto the crossbar via Mannus’s finger tips; the ball then dropped into the six-yard box where Keith Buckley was waiting to nudge over the line.
Things were to get worse for Rovers. The substitute Gary McCabe, on the pitch just 20 minutes, was given a straight red card by Anthony Buttimer for verbally abusing a linesman. You would be forgiven for believing that was the death knell for Rovers.
Just as it seemed Bohs were heading for victory, some inexperienced conceding of possession led to a corner kick – and Finn pounced with the clock past 93 minutes.
Bohemians – O’Connor; Heary (C), Burns, Price, O’Brien; Buckley (Dixon, 80), Brennan, Rossiter, Bayly, Traynor; Flood (Lodola, 90)
Shamrock Rovers – Mannus; Sullivan, Murray (C) (Kilduff, 85), Oman, Stevens; Kelly, Rice (McCabe, 63), Finn, McCormack; Sheppard, O’Neill
Possession – Bohs: 52% Rovers: 48%
Attempts on target – Bohs: 3 Rovers: 4
Attempts off target – Bohs: 1 Rovers: 5
Corners – Bohs: 4 Rovers: 4 Bookings – Bohs: Stephen Traynor, Robert Bayly, Ger O’Brien, Lee Dixon Rovers: None
Sendings off – Bohs: None Rovers: Gary McCabe
Referee – Anthony Buttimer (Cork) |
