League Preview: Bohemians -v- St Patrick's Athletic

BOHEMIANS

A Dan Byrne header fifteen minutes from time was enough to give Bohemians a 1-0 win and all three points against Drogheda United last Saturday evening and Bohs are now riding high in fourth place.

Disregarding their opening two defeats Bohemians are very much the form team with three wins and a draw since the Derby defeat to Shamrock Rovers.

They will undoubtedly be looking to make it five games undefeated on Friday night but manager Keith Long insisted: "Nobody is getting carried away… I’m more concerned about getting our next result not about what's been and gone."

When quizzed about the Drogs win, Long said “We didn’t particularly play well, but we got the result. They lads dug it out and we will need that grit and determination to get results throughout the season.

The winner came from a swooping header from Dan Byrne after an excellently-placed free-kick from Lorcan Fitzgerald. For Byrne, a lifetime fan, it was a special moment as he ran the full length of the pitch to celebrate with his son.

Long said "Dan's been great. He's in great shape, both mentally and physically… I believe he will continue to improve as a player as the season progresses”.

There is a real sense of hope around Phibsboro and you can see how confident they are now in the way they are playing, with boss Keith Long having them play an attractive passing style.

Bohs host a St Pat's side who brought their stumbling start to the season to an end with a Dublin derby victory last Saturday. With just one point from their opening five games, Liam Buckley's men got off the mark with a morale-boosting 2-1 win against Shamrock Rovers.

Long added: "Pat's have some excellent players, results were going to come. But we have concentrate on ourselves. Our performance needs to be better than it was in Drogheda.”

The fans, the playing staff and everyone involved with Bohemians will hope their rich vein of form is continued on Friday night.

ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC

The Saints come into this meeting off the back off their first win of the season, beating their southside rivals Shamrock Rovers in a tense Dublin derby to halt a terrible run of form that saw them bottom of the league and without a win after four games.

The Inchicore club got their hands on the three points after ten-man Rovers surrendered a one goal lead. Substitutes Kurtis Byrne and Josh O'Hanlon completed a second-half turnaround for the Saints and the game turned with the sending off of Rovers' Sean Heaney just past the half hour mark.

Ahead of Friday’s game, Saints’ boss Liam Buckley revealed that he will assess the fitness of both Darren Dennehy and Barry Murphy before the game after both missed last week’s game.

Reflecting on the win over the Hoops last weekend, Buckley told stpatsfc.com that he hopes Pat's can carry their good form from last weekend into the game against Bohemians.

“We were all delighted to get the win last week against Shamrock Rovers.  We’ve been working hard over the last few weeks and I felt we deserved the win for the effort we put in. The lads have trained well this week and are looking forward to another Dublin derby as we now try to put a few results together.”

Buckley will hope that the Derby win will be a springboard to further success in their future games. He admits however that the Saints are expecting another tough challenge from Keith Long’s side.

“I’ve seen Bohs play a few times this season and they’ve been impressive. They work very hard off the ball… while they have good quality on the ball as well. We’ll need to start a bit better from the off… However if we can get that right and finish as strong as we did in the second half against Shamrock Rovers, hopefully we can get another result.”

Obviously full of confidence after that superb comeback win last Saturday, what better way to keep that confidence going than facing an equally confident Bohemians side in another Dublin derby? 

Referee: James McKell

MATCH FACTS

These two sides have met 161 times with Bohs winning 49 to Pats’ 65.

The teams met three times in the league last year with the Northsiders just about edged it, by winning two. They won 5-1 at home and 0-1 at Richmond Park. Pats won one, 3-0 in Inchicore.

The last time the two sides met in Dublin 7 was in the previously mentioned 5-1 Bohs win, with a brace from Jake Kelly along with goals from Roberto Lopes, Ismahil Akinade and a second half Kurtis Byrne penalty.

The Gypsies frontman Dinny Corcoran has five goals in four games this season, although he missed last week’s win against Drogheda.

MATCH BETTING

Bohemians 6/4; Draw 11/5; St Patricks Athletic 7/4 

PREDICTION

Bohemians 1-1 St Patricks Athletic

Bohemians

Injured: Eoin Wearen (Knee), Ismahil Akinade (Illness).

Doubtful: Derek Pender (Groin) Ian Morris and Dinny Corcoran (Both Knee).

Suspended: None.

St Patricks Athletic

Injured: None.

Doubtful: Darren Dennehy, Barry Murphy

Suspended: None.