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@bfcdublin Bohemians recorded a fifth home league victory of the campaign as the Gypsies held off a strong late surge from Bray Wanderers, Shane Quinn reports.
Bohs looked to be coasting to victory after going 2-0 ahead in the advanced stages of the second half through the excellent Aidan Downes. However, after what proved a consolation from David Webster, credit to Pat Fenlon’s men for holding out under concerted pressure from the Seagulls late on. 
There was a minute’s silence prior to kick-off for Edward “Ted” Maguire and Declan Ahern, both of whom sadly passed away recently.
It was the home side that began with more purpose on a calm, warm evening in Phibsborough.
Downes (below), on the scoresheet for the second game in succession, hit a shot over the crossbar when leaning back in the second minute. Shortly after, the ball squirmed out to Killian Brennan 25 yards from goal, and his effort was close enough to have goalkeeper Darren Quigley scurrying across his goal line. 
Bray’s form has been topsy-turvy this season, so it was quite difficult to predict how they would perform against a team they have now lost to three times this year.
Jake Kelly had a whiff of a chance in the box, but, while he got a tame shot away, he was put off by the close attentions of Owen Heary and Aidan Price, Bohs’ centre-half pairing for the night. Injury once more caught up with the unfortunate Ollie Cahill, and he departed mid-way through the first half for winger Keith Buckley. Ger O’Brien funnelled back to the left-full position.
Bohs were knocking increasingly louder on the door the longer the first half continued. On 35 minutes, Downes drew an unorthodox save from Quigley off his foot, after the striker got a flick to Brennan’s accurate delivery.
Finally, the door came crashing down 10 minutes after the break. Downes capitalised on an error by captain Derek Predergast by nipping the ball past the sluggish and stranded centre-half. 
Downes subsequently showed good vision to locate the unmarked Anto Flood (above) in the area who side-footed to the empty net. The visitors were now pushing men forward in search of an equaliser, but as a result, they were leaving open spaces in defence. Downes almost exploited the gaps on a couple of occasions but the final pass or shot was lacking on these occasions.
Brennan very nearly caught Quigley off his line with a 45-yard free kick that the netminder barely put over his crossbar. But, at last, Downes deservedly got on the scoresheet with what was the game’s decisive goal on 72 minutes.
The attacker picked up the ball 20 yards out and hit a fine shot that proved too hot for Quigley to handle. Personally, Quigley will be disappointed he did not at least get gloves to the effort.
Still, the contest was not over quite yet. The right-back Webster headed home a corner kick to give the Wicklow men a semblance of hope. Bohs, who have had trouble defending set-pieces this season, maybe got caught napping a bit in the belief the game was beyond their opponents.
The goal ignited a spark in Bray’s game as they sensed a point could be in the offing. But the revival came just too late for them, in what was a vitally important victory for Bohs.
Bohemians: Sexton; Rossiter, Heary (C), Price, Cahill (Buckley, 26); Hurley (Bayly, 65), O’Brien, Cronin, Brennan; Flood, Downes
Bray Wanderers: Quigley; Webster, Prendergast (C), Doyle, Knight; O’Neill (Murphy, 80), O’Connor, Kelly, Zambra; Mulroy (Shaw, 76); Kelly (McGuinness, 65)
Possession – Bohs: 54%; Bray: 46%.
Attempts on target – Bohs: 4; Bray: 2.
Attempts off target – Bohs: 6; Bray: 4.
Corners – Bohs: 6; Bray: 3.
Yellow cards – Bohs: Stephen Hurley; Bray: Derek Prendergast.
Referee – Pádraig Sutton (Clare). |
