| Bohemians 1 - 0 Sporting Fingal |
| Written by Shane Quinn |
|
Bohemians’ supporters went home relieved after their team were given a severe examination from the excellent newcomers Sporting Fingal. The turning point arrived late in the second half when Anto Murphy earned a penalty kick and Killian Brennan confidently dispatched.
Bohemians created few clear-cut chances in this match with the manager Pat Fenlon delighted to go home with three points. Fingal surprised neutrals with their adventurous passing game but this Gypsies team is notoriously difficult to score against on their home patch. The FAI Cup winners went close on a couple of occasions but Barry Murphy in the Bohemians goal had a solid league debut.
Football has an uncanny habit of throwing up storylines even soap opera scriptwriters struggle to find credible (Wayne Bridge getting one over on John Terry at Stanford Bridge a case in point). Here the legendary Glen Crowe made an immediate return to Dalymount Park after joining Fingal in January. Crowe was brought on as a substitute with 12 minutes remaining but did not come back to haunt his old club just yet. In two spells with Bohemians, 1999-2004 and 2007-2009, he scored 133 goals in 273 appearances. At 32 years of age, he will be keen to prove a few doubters wrong this season.
Fenlon fielded three new signings here and a new-look strike partnership of Mark Quigley and Paddy Madden.
Liam Buckley’s men began brightly. Brian Shelley almost committed a howler in the 2nd minute when his back-pass was left desperately short. Fortunately for him, the forward, Gary O’Neill, was slow to react and narrowly lost the 50-50 foot-race with goalkeeper Murphy.
Mark Quigley had a glorious opportunity in the 6th minute but failed to reach Brennan’s cross for a certain tap-in.
Murphy has enormous boots to fill with the departure of his namesake Brian Murphy to Ipswich Town. The former Hoops net-minder started promisingly here in the 12th minute. Conan Byrne curled a fine free-kick over the wall from 25 yards which Murphy scrambled across to tip over the crossbar.
The Morton Stadium side seemed unfazed at their first visit to the home of Irish soccer. Bohemians were struggling to build momentum in the first half with Fingal proving themselves proficient enough technically to pass the ball around.
On 35 minutes a boot off the line from defender Lorcan Fitzgerald denied Madden the opening goal from a Brennan corner. But that was as good as it got in a scratchy opening period.
The home crowd exhaled in relief when O’Neill was played through the middle and shot six inches past the left-hand post in the 47th minute. The striker, who played with Bohemians for three years, will be disappointed not to have hit the target. Still, he was making a nuisance of himself with his feverish work-rate and harrying of defenders.
The pacey Rafael Cretaro was introduced with 25 minutes to go in a bid to instigate some spark into the forward line. Bohemians were handed a massive boost 15 minutes from time when the midfielder, Keith Quinn, was adjudged to have pushed over Anto Murphy in the area for a spot-kick, perhaps a harsh decision. With Jason Byrne out injured, Brennan stepped up to deliver a cool penalty to the bottom-right corner.
Shelley then produced an outstanding block to deny a likely goal seven minutes from the end when skipper Shaun Maher was set to slot home from a corner. To their credit, the visitors responded well to falling behind and continued to surge forward. Crowe had a sniff at the death but the close attention of Stephen Gray was enough to distract him from snatching an equaliser in the six-yard box.
Bohemians: Barry Murphy; Heary (C), Shelley, Gray, Powell; A Murphy (McGlynn, 90), Cronin, Keegan, Brennan; Madden, Quigley (Cretaro, 66)
Sporting Fingal: Clarke; O’Brien, Browne, Maher (C), Fitzgerald; Williams, McFaul, Finn; Byrne (Paisley, 85), O’Neill, Quinn (Crowe, 79)
Possession: Bohs: 56% Fingal: 44% Shots on target: Bohs: 2 Fingal: 2 Corners: Bohs: 3 Fingal: 6 Booked: Bohs: Anto Murphy, Conor Powell Fingal: Lorcan Fitzgerald Sent off: Bohs: None Fingal: None Referee: Derek Tomney (Dublin) |
