Derailed Bohs look to get season back on track against Cork

THOUGH there is only a quarter of the season gone, it is unusual to find Bohemians mired in mid-table. Their form has been erratic and last week’s defeat to Dublin City means Cork City face a wounded animal in Dalymount tonight.

There is a school of thought that, for the sake of the league, the Gypsies need to string a decent run together. They are eight points behind bitter rivals Shelbourne with only eight games gone. At the start of the season, the Phibsboro side were considered the most credible contenders to the champions and league leaders.

However, Stephen Kenny is unconcerned: “Realistically, it is early days. It is a considerable gap, but we were trailing Shels by 13 points at one stage last season, and actually went a point ahead of them.”

Last Thursday night Dublin City registered a shock win over Bohs in Dalymount, indicative of the patchy league start of Kenny’s side. “I can’t deny it has been a disappointing start, especially considering we won two of our first three games.

“We have had a catalogue of injuries but we can’t blame it on that. I am not happy with the start we made, and for me as manager of Bohemians, it is unacceptable that we lose to Dublin City at home.”

The injury headache has been a constant feature though.

Glen Crowe’s hamstring problem saw him pull out of the Irish squad, Ken Oman and Derek Morrison have both been out for weeks, while Colin Hawkins is struggling to be fit for tonight’s match.

Cork City, buoyed by the news that Pat Dolan’s appeal against his one- match ban and e100 fine from the FAI Disciplinary Commission was successful, are in the same situation as Bohs, disappointing in the first few games. However, the sides have a tendency to conjure classics.

“We always seem to have good games against Cork,” Kenny agrees. “I suppose we would be two of the more open and attacking sides in the league. They beat us 3-2 in Turner’s Cross last year, which was a great game. Cork always have some attacking flair and they will be looking for a win too, to kick-start their season.”

Meanwhile, Shels are expected to consolidate their top spot when they entertain St Pat’s in Tolka Park tonight. While the physical strength of Eamon Collins’ side may pose problems for the champions, Pat Fenlon’s side are oozing confidence.

Another confident side is Dublin City. Although John Gill’s team remain favourites for the drop, victory in Dalymount last week means they go to Richmond Park to face Shamrock Rovers with a renewed self-belief.

“If you can beat Bohs, you can beat anyone in this league and that belief has simply been confirmed, because we knew a lot of what we were doing was right but we just hadn’t got any luck,” Gill says.

“We can look forward with a degree of confidence to tonight’s match against Shamrock Rovers. Without getting carried away, we feel that we can get something from the game.

“I’ve looked at Rovers three times in recent weeks and while they’re lively up front and play to a different system, we can put a game plan together that will help us get something from the game.

“We played some good stuff against Bohs and it was more the manner in which we went about our business which was pleasing. We bossed the game for long periods in the second half and while we were up against it in the final few minutes, that’s only to be expected as a losing team pushes on, looking to get something from the game,” Gill said.

League officials announced yesterday that Athlone Town’s appeal in relation to the deduction of three points and a fine of €2,500 for playing an unregistered player (Michael McCann) in their First Division fixture against Monaghan United on March 19 had been unsuccessful.

Therefore, the three deducted points that were reinstated pending the outcome of the appeal have now been deducted.