Mayfield suffer as clinical Bohs hit top gear

Bohemians 8 Mayfield United 1

And making life even more difficult for themselves, Mayfield were forced to play the whole of the second half with 10 men after Stephen Hurley was sent off for retaliation against Bohs captain Owen Heary.

After a deceptively bright opening by the visitors, it took only six minutes for their task to become mountainous — and in the most unfortunate circumstances too. Raiding from the left-back berth, Bohs’ Conor Powell caused the initial havoc with a penetrating run into the box which took out goalkeeper Peter Cuthbert before, with the ball running free and Bohs strikers closing in, Dave Kiely’s panicked attempt at a clearance cannoned off luckless team mate Stephen Hurley and into the unguarded net.

That signalled an all-out onslaught of fast, one-touch passing football from the cup holders, with Mayfield relying on Cuthbert to keep close range efforts from Jason Byrne and Neale Fenn at bay.

But the reprieve for the Cork side was short-lived as Graham Carey began to exert a significant influence on the game. On 20 minutes, his low ball across the face of goal was neatly converted at the far post by Anto Murphy and, then, barely five minutes later, Carey popped up again, this time on the right, to chip a cross into the box which Jason Byrne headed home.

And Carey even had a minor hand in the goal of the game, rolling a free sideways which Byrne lashed to the roof of the net from 25 yards.

At four down, you would have suspected things couldn’t get any worse for Mayfield before the break but, in what was virtually the last act of the first half, they duly did, own-goal man Hurley completing his 45 minutes of misery by lashing out after a tangle with Heary and promptly receiving a red card from referee Declan Hanney.

Ten-man Mayfield reemerged for the second half with damage limitation understandably uppermost in their minds. Soon after the restart, Fenn’s shot on the turn thumped back off the base of the upright with Cuthbert stranded but, again, the stay of execution was brief for Mayfield as, in the 56th minute, Glenn Crowe — on as a substitute for Jason Byrne — expertly guided a stooping header to the corner of the net after a rampaging run and cross up the right from Heary.

Ten minutes later and it was officially a rout when Anto Murphy made ground up the right flank and, from his fine cross, Fenn glanced his header home for Bohs’ sixth of the night..

Ironically, having used all their subs, it was then the turn of the cup holders to be reduced to 10 men for the last 20 minutes as Gary Deegan was forced out of the game through injury.

But it still came as something of a surprise when, on a rare foray into enemy territory, Mayfield managed to get themselves on the scoreboard in the 77th minute, captain Anthony Wolfe scoring from the penalty spot after being fouled in the box by Paul Keegan.

Normal service was soon enough resumed at the other end, however, Crowe finishing from close range for his second of the night to make it 7-1. Kristian Dennehy, son of the great Miah, came on as a late sub for Mayfield and, after a strong run, forced Brian Murphy to save at his feet. But, in keeping with their near total dominance, it was Bohs who had the final say a minute from the end, when the impressive Carey showed lovely close control in the box before blasting the ball into the roof of the net.

Easy for Bohs on a night when, long before the end, the main talking point at Dalymount was about the latest reports linking manager Pat Fenlon with a possible move to Motherwell or Falkirk.

BOHEMIANS: Murphy, Heary, Shelley (Rossiter 52), Oman, Powell (S Byrne 58), Murphy, Deegan, Keegan, Carey, Fenn, J Byrne (Crowe 42)

MAYFIELD UNITED: Cuthbert, Kiely, Brosnan, Wolfe, P Triggs, Meehan (Cronin 52), Roche (O’ Mahony 67), Ryan, Hurley, B Triggs, Byrnes (Dennehy 78).

Referee: D Hanney.