League Report: Bohemians 1 - 0 St. Patrick's Athletic

A wonderful finish from Keith Buckley just before half-time sparked life into Dalymount Park as his Bohemians side secured their fourth win of the season on Friday night.

This victory for the Gypsies sees them keep a hold on third place as they piled more misery on their near neighbours, St. Pats, in front of a packed house in Phibsborough.

It was the visitors who began this Dublin derby much better and came close to opening the scoring within the first five minutes.  Scottish midfield maestro Rhys McCabe found some space in the box but his effort was met by the body of former Sunderland stopper James Talbot, who would be kept busy.

The arrival of former Dundalk and current Ireland u-21 manager Stephen Kenny to the stands was the most exciting part of the game for a long period. After this lull in proceedings, the home side were inches away from breaking the deadlock through Dinny Corcoran.

Countdown contender, Corcoran, took control of a lovely pass from Buckley and curled a shot beyond Brendan Clarke but Simon Madden was there to clear off the line just in front of his own fans.

Just before the half-hour mark was when the tide really started to turn in favour of Bohs with their midfield taking charge of the game. St.Pats defence was looking shaky as they gave away a number of free kicks and chances for the home side to take the lead.

It was a set piece from Keith Ward that got the crowd off their feet as his trademark dink struck the post with Clarke well beaten. This was a taste of things to come for Ward and his side as they put the pressure on before the break.

With two minutes left to go in the first half, the breakthrough goal came in superb fashion. A shot from the returning Devaney was blocked towards Corcoran who just couldn’t get his feet right. This turned out to be a great thing for Keith Buckley when the ball finally landed at his feet.

Buckley made a darting run into the box and brilliantly lifted it over a number of St. Pats players who could only stand and admire the shot as it drifted into the top corner. The Jodi Stand erupted as the fire was really ignited under this game and the scene was set for an interesting second forty-five.

St. Pats again started this half the much better side and looked to get back into things as quick as possible. There was more urgency about the visitors and if it wasn’t a centre back who their best chance fell to then they might have had more of a say here.

Lee Desmond was given a golden opportunity to level the game after Conor Levingston fluffed a clearance straight to the Pats man. Desmond took the chance with a half volley but the defenders shot ended up over the away fans behind the goal.

Mikey Drennan done as well as possible up front on his own in the first half and Pats looked livelier when he was joined by Dean Clarke in the second. However, it was former who would be leaving the pitch a lot earlier.

The reliance on Drennan this season has been obvious for Pats and their night turned really sour when the striker was sent off with fifteen minutes left to play. It looked like something was said to the referee after a soft free and the former Shamrock Rovers man was given his marching orders much to the delight of the Bohs faithful.

A narrow but comfortable victory was seen out in the dying stages of the game as Bohemians inflicted a third straight defeat on St. Patrick’s Atheltic who will be wondering what exactly is going wrong this season.

Bohemians: James Talbot, Derek Pender, James Finnerty, Rob Cornwall, Darragh Leahy, Keith Buckley, Conor Levingston, Danny Grant (Swan, 90), Keith Ward (Mandroui, 86), Kevin Devaney, Dinny Corcoran

Subs not used: Sean Bohan, Aaron Barry, Robbie McCourt, Sam Byrne, Paddy Kirk

St. Patrick’s Athletic: Brendan Clarke, David Webster, Lee Desmond, Simon Madden, Ian Bermingham, Conor Clifford, Rhys McCabe (Shaw, 68), Brandon Miele (Lennon, 39), Chris Forrester (Doona, 81) Dean Clarke, Mikey Drennan

Subs not used: Barry Murphy (GK), Darragh Markey, Ciaran Kelly, Cian Coleman

Booked: Webster (70)

Sent off: Drennan (76)

Referee: Rob Rogers

Attendance: 3634

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Keith Buckley