- Patrick O'Connor
- Sat, Aug 26 2023
Patrick O Connor reports from Dalymount Park
Bohemians and Derry City served up a cracker at Dalymount Park on Friday night, and the 2-2 final result was a fair result given the ebb and flow of the match.
Both sides were locked together on 46 points before the match and they remain locked together now on 47 points, with the two sides losing ground on leaders Shamrock Rovers who picked up maximum points in their clash with Dundalk.
The kick off was delayed by a full 45 minutes due to a lightning strike in the area which caused the floodlights to malfunction, however there were sparks aplenty on the pitch when it eventually did get going at 8.30pm.
The home side were much quicker and sharper in the opening 20 minutes of the game with Danny Grant and Dylan Connolly in particular causing panic in the Derry defence with their lightning pace.
It was no surprise that they took the lead in the 13th minute, a superb through ball by Paddy Kirk finding James Clarke and the industrious midfielder just needed one touch before sliding the ball past Brian Maher in the Derry goal.
Derry continued to be sluggish at this stage of the match, perhaps the psychological impact of their two recent cup defeats still affecting their performance.
They were sparked into life in the 22nd minute however when they drew level, albeit very much against the run of play.
The livewire Scottish winger Paul McMullen showed great footwork in the box before teeing up Michael Duffy who fired past James Talbot to make it 1-1.
The Candystripes came to life after that equalising goal, and they then dominated the game up to the half time whistle and managed to take a 2-1 lead into the break.
The lead goal came in the 42nd minute from a looping header from Danny Mullen, another Scottish import who registered his first goal from play for the club.
The Gypsies regrouped during half time and were very much on the front foot again at the start of the second half and it was no surprise when they drew level on 53 minutes.
James McManus played an exquisite pass behind Ben Doherty for Adam McDonnell to run onto, but the supporting Sadio Diallo found McDonnell’s pace too much and in attempting to win the ball he fouled him inside the box, a clear- cut penalty for Bohs.
Jonathan Afolabi took the spot kick and rifled it past Maher to make it 2-2.
It was end to end stuff until the final whistle with both teams continuing to push forward in search of a winner but despite a plethora of free kicks and corners to both sides, there were to be no further goals.
Both teams have tough away fixtures next weekend with Bohs heading to Tallaght Stadium to take on leaders Shamrock Rovers while Derry City make the journey to Oriel Park to face Dundalk.
Bohemians: James Talbot, Paddy Kirk, Krystian Novak, Kacper Radkowski, Jordan Flores, Keith Buckley, Danny Grant (Ali Coote 80), James Clarke, Adam McDonnell, Jonathan Afolabi (John O’ Sullivan 88), Dylan Connolly (Declan McDaid 63).
Subs not used: Luke Dennison, Bart Kukolowicz, James McManus, Louis Holzman, Kris Twardek, Cian Byrne.
Booked: Dylan Connolly (54), Keith Buckley (67) James Clarke (83) Adam McDonnell (91)
Derry City: Brian Maher, Ciaran Coll, Mark Connolly (Shane McEleney 16), Ben Doherty, Cameron McJannett, Adam O Reilly, Will Patching, Sadio Diallo (Patrick McEleney 63), Michael Duffy, Paul McMullen, Danny Mullen (Jamie McGonigle 80)
Subs not used: Tadgh Ryan (GK); Jordan McNeff, Sam Todd, Cian Kavanagh, Brandon Kavanagh.
Booked: Sadio Diallo (53), Paul McMullen (76)
Referee: Robert Harvey
Attendance: 4,142
Extratime.com Player of the Match: Paul McMullen (Derry City)
