Fenlon unconcerned by Bohs' Derry record
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Bohemians manager Pat Fenlon has rubbished concerns about his side's recent record against title rivals Derry City. The two sides played out a 1-1 draw at Dalymount Park on Friday night, a result which means that Bohs still haven't defeated the Candystripes over 90 minutes since Fenlon took over at the start of the 2008 season.
As Bohs romped to the league title by an incredible 19-points last year, Derry were the only side which the Phibsboro club failed to beat in the league. Bohs also lost out to Derry in the final of last year's League Cup, although they did gain some revenge when they defeated Derry on penalties in FAI Cup final last November.
"Everybody brings that up [our recent record against Derry], but I don't care. If we don't beat them again this year but finish 23 points ahead of them again I'll be happy. We beat them in the FAI Cup final and people seem to forget that. They beat us in the League Cup final last year and everyone was jumping off the roof because it was such a performance from them."
Speaking after Friday's game, Derry manager Stephen Kenny described Bohs' performance as their best against his side since Fenlon took over at Dalymount. Responding to Kenny's comments, Fenlon said: "Well that's nice of him considering he's spoke non-stop about us playing long balls. But like I said last week, I'm not too worried about what other people have to say about my team."
Bohs looked to be heading for defeat on Friday night when Thomas Stewart fired Derry into an early lead, but a stunning Killian Brennan free-kick grabbed a point for the Gypsies. The draw leaves Fenlon's side in joint-second position in the League with four points from their opening two games. Fenlon said: "We didn't play well against Dundalk [on the opening night of the season], but I thought we played well against Derry. We knew the game was going to be different. We tried to get in about them from the start and I thought we played some really good stuff at times. We passed the ball really well. We spoke before the game about keeping possession of the ball, which was one thing we didn't do well in Dundalk, and I thought tonight we retained it well."
Fenlon was particularly pleased by the performances of new recruit Paul Keegan and stand-in right back Anthony Murphy. He said: "I thought Paul Keegan was very good for us and he will grow into the team. Anto Murphy was first class too. We were worried about losing what Owen Heary gives us in terms of getting up and down the line and driving the team on. But Anto did very well together with Joseph [Ndo] down the right."
Although his side had two first-half penalty shouts waved away, one of which looked to be a ‘stone-waller’ when Peter Hutton appeared to block a Gary Deegan shot with his arm, Fenlon was quick to praise the performance of referee Ian Stokes. "It was hard to see whether either were penalties from where I was, but I thought the referee handled the game well. To be fair, it's hard for him to see them because they're so quick."
Bohs' tough start to the defence of their league title continues on Friday night when fierce rivals Shamrock Rovers visit Dalymount Park. Summing up his side's start to the season, Fenlon said: "The fixtures weren't kind to us. It's been a really hard start and we have another tough game on Friday, with Rovers being in good form. We would probably have been happy with four points out of the first two games. If we're looking for a positive then last year we had three points at this stage, this year we have four. But it's going to be a completely different league to what it was last year."
As Bohs romped to the league title by an incredible 19-points last year, Derry were the only side which the Phibsboro club failed to beat in the league. Bohs also lost out to Derry in the final of last year's League Cup, although they did gain some revenge when they defeated Derry on penalties in FAI Cup final last November.
"Everybody brings that up [our recent record against Derry], but I don't care. If we don't beat them again this year but finish 23 points ahead of them again I'll be happy. We beat them in the FAI Cup final and people seem to forget that. They beat us in the League Cup final last year and everyone was jumping off the roof because it was such a performance from them."
Speaking after Friday's game, Derry manager Stephen Kenny described Bohs' performance as their best against his side since Fenlon took over at Dalymount. Responding to Kenny's comments, Fenlon said: "Well that's nice of him considering he's spoke non-stop about us playing long balls. But like I said last week, I'm not too worried about what other people have to say about my team."
Bohs looked to be heading for defeat on Friday night when Thomas Stewart fired Derry into an early lead, but a stunning Killian Brennan free-kick grabbed a point for the Gypsies. The draw leaves Fenlon's side in joint-second position in the League with four points from their opening two games. Fenlon said: "We didn't play well against Dundalk [on the opening night of the season], but I thought we played well against Derry. We knew the game was going to be different. We tried to get in about them from the start and I thought we played some really good stuff at times. We passed the ball really well. We spoke before the game about keeping possession of the ball, which was one thing we didn't do well in Dundalk, and I thought tonight we retained it well."
Fenlon was particularly pleased by the performances of new recruit Paul Keegan and stand-in right back Anthony Murphy. He said: "I thought Paul Keegan was very good for us and he will grow into the team. Anto Murphy was first class too. We were worried about losing what Owen Heary gives us in terms of getting up and down the line and driving the team on. But Anto did very well together with Joseph [Ndo] down the right."
Although his side had two first-half penalty shouts waved away, one of which looked to be a ‘stone-waller’ when Peter Hutton appeared to block a Gary Deegan shot with his arm, Fenlon was quick to praise the performance of referee Ian Stokes. "It was hard to see whether either were penalties from where I was, but I thought the referee handled the game well. To be fair, it's hard for him to see them because they're so quick."
Bohs' tough start to the defence of their league title continues on Friday night when fierce rivals Shamrock Rovers visit Dalymount Park. Summing up his side's start to the season, Fenlon said: "The fixtures weren't kind to us. It's been a really hard start and we have another tough game on Friday, with Rovers being in good form. We would probably have been happy with four points out of the first two games. If we're looking for a positive then last year we had three points at this stage, this year we have four. But it's going to be a completely different league to what it was last year."
