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@bfcdublin Daryl Kavanagh struck a decisive blow in the 76th minute to earn St Patrick’s Athletic a rare victory at Dalymount Park, Shane Quinn reports. Very little separated the two sides here, until Kavanagh’s goal, manufactured all by himself, left Bohemians keeper Chris O’Connor helpless.
 Strangely, it is Bohs’ home form that is of biggest concern so far this season, as just one league victory has come from seven games. In contrast, the away performances have been outstanding with five wins recorded at difficult venues like Sligo, Galway, and UCD.
St Pat’s departed north Dublin with four wins and three draws from their past seven matches. The Saints' recent struggles against Bohs proved not to have any significance on Friday - despite triumphing here they have won only two of their past eight league games against the Gyspies. After all, the two clubs have been squaring off since the time of the Great Depression in 1929, the year St Pat’s were founded.
There was welcome news with midfielder Glenn Cronin returning to the Bohs team after recovering from a damaged cruciate ligament. Cronin has suffered serious injuries in the past, and it shows the character of the player to overcome yet another setback in his career. Half a century ago, such an injury would have finished a footballer’s career so today’s breed are very fortunate.
Typical of a derby involving Dublin’s top teams, the game began cagily with Bohs forcing a flurry of early corners. St Pat’s threatened first when Ollie Cahill, playing at left-back, was caught out of position. Evan McMillan took advantage of the space afforded to cross for his brother David, who shot only six inches over.
Bohs responded quickly. Killian Brennan’s run and cross down the right saw the ball spill out to Keith Buckley who, as with David McMillan, shot narrowly too high. Soon, the away supporters were claiming the ball had crossed the line when O’Connor backtracked to catch a looping header. It looked dubious that the whole of the ball cleared the line in an opening half Bohs enjoyed the better of.
O’Connor caused hearts to skip a beat, when after a moment of hesitation between himself and Liam Burns, he nearly spilled the ball into David McMillan’s path. Luckily, any danger was averted when it was scrambled clear.
This game saw the return of ex-Bohs winger Anto Murphy to Dalymount Park. Murphy, who suffered an injury-ridden season with Bohs last year, caused problems with his Rory Delap-esque throw-ins. They are not as successful as the Stoke City man’s missiles, but can still be an effective weapon.
St Pat’s grabbed the game’s only goal 15 minutes from time. A long punt forward caught Liam Burns flatfooted, with midfielder Kavanagh racing onto it before turning inside the centre-half. Aidan Price then stood off Kavanagh, allowing him too much room to shoot, and he duly obliged by hitting the bottom right corner of the net.
Controversy abounded five minutes from time when Owen Heary fell under a challenge from full-back Neil Harney in the area. Instead of the penalty Heary expected, which cost him a booking for protesting, Bohs were awarded a corner that subsequently came to nothing. Kavanagh had a chance to kill the game in stoppage time when he went through one-on-one with O’Connor, who got his body behind the shot.
BOHEMIANS: O’Connor; Heary, Burns, Price, Cahill (Fagan, 70); Forrester (Burke, 79), Buckley, Bayly (Cronin, 58), Brennan; Traynor, Flood.
ST PAT'S: Rogers; Pender, Shorthall, E McMillan, Harney; Bradley (C), Crowley (McFaul, 90), Doyle; A Murphy (Stewart, 80); D McMillan (Daly, 87), Kavanagh.
POSSESSION – Bohs: 52%; St Pat’s: 48%.
ATTEMPTS ON TARGET – Bohs: 1; St Pat’s: 3.
ATTEMPTS OFF TARGET – Bohs: 4; St Pat’s: 4.
CORNERS – Bohs: 9; St Pat’s: 3.
BOOKINGS – Bohs: L Burns, O Heary; St Pat’s: None.
REFEREE – Derek Tomney (Dublin).
Written by Shane Quinn
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