Shels Match Report : Fai.ie

Lynch goes from hero to villain - 05 April 2004

Damien Lynch went from hero to villain on Monday night as he claimed a late equaliser to rescue a point for Bohemians against title rivals Shelbourne after giving away an early penalty.

Bohemians 1-1 Shelbourne
Lynch 84 J Byrne pen 31

The Bohemians full back got the slightest of touches on a Bobby Ryan free kick in the 84th minute to salvage a point for the Gypsies after Jason Byrne had put Shelbourne in front from the spot after Lynch had needlessly handled the ball.

In a tight game, a draw was probably a fair result though Shelbourne will be furious not to have claimed all three points and maintained their 100 percent winning start to the season after keeping Bohemians at arms length reasonably comfortably for most of the game.

Unsurprisingly, the game started slowly and it wasn’t until the 14th minute that either side created a chance of note when Seamus Kelly needed to save a wickedly bouncing Jason Byrne free kick.

One minute later, Kelly’s game came to a premature end after a collision with Jamie Harris resulted in the goalkeeper needing to be carried off with Matt Gregg coming on as substitute.

Shelbourne continued to have the better of the chances with Ollie Cahill flashing a volley wide from a Glen Fitzpatrick cross in the 21st minute.

But Bohemians never looked second best and James Keddy flashed a volley wide from the edge of the area after Harris’ attempted interception of a Lynch cross fell invitingly for him.

However, just as Bohemians seemed to be finding holes in the Shelbourne defence, a moments lack of concentration by Lynch gave the visitors the lead.

A high cross by Rowe didn’t look likely to trouble the Bohemians defence with Stephen Caffrey and Lynch both underneath it, but Lynch raised his hand deflecting the ball away leaving referee Damien Hancock with no option but to award a penalty.

Jason Byrne stepped up and hammered the ball past Gregg, despite the goalkeeper guessing right, and for the remainder of the half, Shelbourne defended stoutly with the back four well protected by the men in front of them to send Bohemians in at half time feeling very frustrated.

Things could have got worse for them within seconds of the restart when Kevin Hunt and Stuart Byrne tangled in the box, though the referee waved play on, while Cahill also fizzed a cross across the six-yard box with several players inches away from getting on the end of it.

But it was then Bohemians turn to attack with Shels’ goalkeeper Steve Williams booked for taking down Glen Crowe on the edge of the area after a Keddy pass had put him through. Bobby Ryan’s free kick was then easily saved by Williams and, amazingly, that was Bohemians

Seconds later, the game ebbed Shelbourne’s way once more with Jason Byrne testing Gregg with a long range free kick. And moments later, the striker had a great chance to add a second when he raced onto a misplaced back pass before going around Gregg only for the angle to become too acute and the chance was lost.

Despite having the vast majority of possession, Bohemians just could not find their way through a resolute Shelbourne defence but with six minutes remaining, they made the break through with Lynch getting the faintest of touches on a wickedly curling Ryan free kick that deceived Steve Williams and nestled in the back of the net.

Teams:
Bohemians: Kelly; Lynch, McNally, Caffrey, Webb; Ryan, Harkin, Hunt, Keddy; Doyle, Crowe.
Subs: Gregg for Kelly (18 mins), Grant for Doyle, Heary for Harkin (67 mins).

Shelbourne: Williams; Heary, Rogers, Harris, Crawley; Rowe, S Byrne, Crawford, Cahill; Fitzpatrick, J Byrne.
Subs: Morgan for Crawford (66 mins), Doherty for Harris (88 mins)

Referee: D Hancock (Dublin).