Bohemian Football Club Crest

Bohemians manager Pat Fenlon pulled a masterstroke when he called upon midfielder Christopher Forrester to enter the fray late on. On 92 minutes, Forrester released a powerful shot on his left foot that flew into the bottom-right corner to rescue a point for the Gypsies. What an important goal that could prove to be.

It was difficult to swallow for Bray Wanderers who, under boss Pat Devlin, have been in superb form so far this campaign. They have won three of their past five games – the highlight occurring when last month they stunned Shamrock Rovers with a 1-0 victory in Tallaght.

Whether the Wicklow side can sustain that solid form throughout the season is another question, but the mood has lifted around the Carlisle Grounds these days.

They were facing a Bohs side burnt by a harsh defeat to Sligo Rovers. The Seagulls knew what to expect from this Bohs team after being comprehensively beaten by the Dubliners in the season opener.

And with just five minutes gone, a fantastic ball from winger Jake Kelly located John Mulroy with the Bohs defence caught square. Keeper Chris O’Connor spotted the danger quickly, however, and won the 50-50 challenge with the attacker Mulroy.

The opening exchanges were of a cautious nature with both teams at the higher echelons of the table feeling each other out. Conditions were not the most conducive to football, as despite the sunshine, strong winds swept through Dalymount Park.

Anto Flood suffered a bad knock half an hour in, but after intensive treatment on the pitch, Bohs’ star forward was able to continue. The first heart-in-mouth moment arrived for the home side five minutes from the break. Again it was Mulroy causing panic, and he looked favourite to score when taking the ball nicely around O’Connor in the Bohs goal.

All Mulroy had to do was race onto it and shoot into an empty net, but Ollie Cahill, playing at left-back, prevented a certain goal with some brilliant reading of the game. The ex-Shelbourne legend spotted the threat immediately and nipped in front of Mulroy to clear for a corner kick. Meanwhile, to summarise a cagey first half, there were no efforts on target.

Mulroy was to be the menace again, only this time, he grabbed his chance on 49 minutes. The ball was rolled across the area into Kelly’s path, and he drove low and hard but for O’Connor to save well. The resulting rebound was kind to Bray and Mulroy took no time in firing past the helpless goalie.

A lapse in concentration nearly cost Bohs shortly after. Liam Burns was to save Aidan Price’s blushes when his weak back pass was pounced on by striker Conor Murphy. Burns subsequently intercepted Murphy’s attempted pass to Mulroy which would have seen Bray surely double their lead.

As Bray sat deeper, Killian Brennan was presented with a free-kick slightly more than 25 yards from goal on 69 minutes. He lifted the ball over the wall but it lacked sufficient power to trouble goalie Matt Gregg who caught down low.

Bohs were very unfortunate not to level in the 82^nd minute. Robert Bayly turned inside before releasing a lovely curling shot that clattered the top of the crossbar and behind.

Bohs again went desperately close to scoring with three minutes remaining. Brennan delivered a devilish free and substitute Eoin Fowler saw his header cleared off the line by Chris Shields before Flood was also denied with the ball scrambled clear. To Bohs' immense credit, they continued pressing.

 Still the goal was not forthcoming as Price then clipped the crossbar with a looping header from Brennan’s corner. Fenlon’s decision to introduce Forrester was to make all the difference, however.

On 92 minutes, the 18-year-old midfielder let fly with a rasping shot from his left foot that zipped past Gregg’s outstretched arm into the net. That goal brought huge relief among the home crowd, and overall, a draw was a fair result. 

Bohemians: O’Connor; Heary (C), Burns, Price, Cahill (Forrester, 71); Burke (Fowler, 87), Bayly, O’Brien, Traynor, Brennan; Flood

Bray Wanderers: Gregg; Webster, Mitchell, Prendergast, Massey; Mulroy (Zambra, 73), Dempsey (C), O’Connor, Kelly; Murphy (O’Neill, 76), Shields.

Possession – Bohs: 55% Bray: 45%

Attempts on target – Bohs: 6 Bray: 3

Attempts off target – Bohs: 1 Bray: 1

Corners – Bohs: 5 Bray: 3

Bookings – Bohs: Aidan Price Bray: Danny O’Connor, Dane Massey, Matt Gregg

Sendings off – Bohs: None Bray: None

Referee – Damien Hancock (Dublin)

Written by Shane Quinn

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