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@bfcdublin An ever-improving Bohemians team notched a fourth straight league victory with a comfortable 2-0 win over bottom club Galway United on Friday, Shane Quinn reports.
 The Gypsies could have won by a far greater margin, but spurned numerous opportunities including goalscorer Christy Fagan astonishingly hitting the post on three occasions after the break. It didn’t matter in the end as Bohs gained further ground in the league race.
Galway have still only tasted victory once in the league so far this season, a surprise win against Bohs in Dalymount Park at the end of March. There was no repeat of those early season heroics tonight, however. Sean Connor’s (left) side have now lost their last 16 league games in a row, over a spread of almost three months. Financial difficulties and a small, inexperienced squad plagued by injuries have contributed to this unmitigated disaster.
In stark contrast, Bohs are in strong form which has catapulted them to within four points of leaders Shamrock Rovers. Cork native Anthony Buttimer was the referee for Friday's game. The experienced official presided over the 2008 FAI Cup final, where Bohs defeated Derry City on penalties after the game finished 2-2 following extra-time.
It took Bohs less than two minutes to breach Galway’s defence here. From Mark O’Reilly’s thrown-in on the right, the in-form Fagan (below) was allowed ample time to chest the ball down, and fire to the bottom-right corner off his left boot. 
On the visiting bench (below), the heads sank. Within minutes of that, Bohs were almost in behind an already disoriented away rearguard, but failed to stretch the early lead. Killian Brennan thrashed a shot that keeper Conor Wynn beat clear as the ball was inexplicably allowed to roll uncleared across the box.
Wynn himself was shaky, allowing a cross to slip through his fingers and a back pass to go under his boot. An error by captain Paul Sinnott allowed Anto Flood a clear sight on goal, but Wynn to be fair this time, made himself big and produced a good save.
Bohs were entirely dominant during that opening half, and demonstrated their superiority by peppering shots on their opponents’ goal. Yet the home players entered the break wondering how they were only one goal to the good.
Mike Gilmore had a rare sight on goal for Galway in the 51st minute, but the striker just could not keep his effort down. The attempt drew claps of encouragement from his manager Connor on the touchline. The Connacht side had come into proceedings early in the second half, as the Bohs tempo eased off at that point.
But Fagan should have grabbed his second goal, when incredibly, within the space of five minutes, he thumped the post three times! The first was a simple chance by his standards when he was all alone eight yards out, the second a well-judged curling shot, while the third was an awkward header he guided towards goal. The home crowd had never witnessed anything like that before.
The unfortunate Fagan was then replaced, along with Stephen Traynor. The Dubliners had reasserted their dominance as the second half wore on, and finally killed the game off when Sinnott felled substitute Aidan Downes for a spot-kick. Brennan (below) smashed high into the net from the penalty spot (74).
Another replacement, Chris Forrester, went close to netting his team’s third goal when he turned inside before hitting a yard wide on his left foot. But Brennan’s penalty ended any hope Galway had of nicking the unlikeliest of draws.
Bohemians: Murphy; O’Reilly (Feely, 89), Burns (C), Price, Cahill; Buckley, O’Brien, Traynor (Downes, 67), Brennan; Fagan (Forrester, 67), Flood.
Galway United: Wynn; Kelly, Walsh (Gartlan, 92), Sinnott (C), Browne, Dusi, Ryan, Cadwell, Gilmore (Cheevers, 85), Murphy, Kelly.
Possession – Bohs: 61%; Galway: 39%.
Attempts on target – Bohs: 11; Galway: 0.
Attempts off target – Bohs: 5; Galway: 2.
Corners – Bohs: 7; Galway: 2.
Yellow cards – Bohs: None; Galway: Gilmore, Sinnott.
Referee – Anthony Buttimer (Cork). |
