Pats plunder points at Dalymount

Pats plunder points at Dalymount

Bohemians 1-2 St Patrick’s Athletic
Despite dominating for much of the game, drawing a series of excellent saves from away goalkeeper Chris Adamson and hitting the woodwork on two occasions, Bohs took nothing from the visit of city rivals St Patrick’s Athletic on Friday night.

Pats spent the majority of the night on the back foot, but scored with their first real shot of the game early in the second half and grabbed the winner in the 65th minute, just two minutes after Bohs had dragged themselves level.

The Saints were without top scorer Tony Bird for the second successive week - the Welshman was suspended for last week’s Cup clash with Dublin City through suspension, but was apparently injured for Friday night’s derby.

And it was Jamie Harris, the man detailed to stand in for the prolific Bird, who set up the first and netted the winner to the delight of the Saints diehards.

Bohs enjoyed an exclusive hold over the chances in the first half, but Adamson produced a couple of excellent saves from Glenn Crowe and Robbie Doyle and two long-range drives from Bohs skipper Kevin Hunt smacked the crossbar.

The first, after 14 minutes, was the closest, hitting the underside of the bar and bouncing away to safety, while the second, just before the half-hour mark, clipped the top of the woodwork and behind.

David Freeman put the visitors in front seven minutes into the second half, getting on the end of Harris’s low cross to beat Shay Kelly - who had not had to make a save up to that point.

Bohs responded well, carrying the fight to the visitors, and deserved their equaliser when it came, in the 63rd minute, Crowe heading a cross from Fergal Harkin - who was preferred to Mark Rutherford on the left wing from the start by manager Stephen Kenny - past Adamson.

However, parity lasted just over a minute, as big Englishman Harris finished to the empty net after good work from fellow forwards Charles Mbabazi Livingstone and Freeman.

Despite dominating from there till the finish, Bohs were unable to break down the Pats defence again, with Adamson and central defensive pairing of Darragh Maguire and Colm Foley coping with everything that was thrown at them.

Bohemians: Kelly, Lynch (Rutherford, 82), Webb, Heary, McGuinness (McNally, 70), Hunt, Caffrey, Ryan, Harkin, Doyle (Ward, 77), Crowe.

St Patrick’s Athletic: Adamson, Prenderville (Croly, 83), el-Khebyr, Foley, Maguire, Osam, Donnelly, Fahy, Mbabazi, Harris Freeman (Dunne, 76).

Referee: J. McDermott (Dublin)


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