Dayle Rooney penalty the difference as Bohs beat Rovers
Bohs’ Dayle Rooney celebrates scoring his sides first goal against Shamrock Rovers. Picture: ©INPHO/James Crombie
Dayle Rooney met Bohemians’ Save Our Season demand head-on by dumping out their rivals and soaring hopes of a first FAI Cup triumph since 2008. His 68th penalty was the difference against Shamrock Rovers in front of 4,431 fans at Dalymount Park, settling a derby high on atmosphere but deficient in quality.
Two Cup final defeats in the last three years have stung around Phibsboro, magnifying the Bohs' relief at their first win over the Hoops in almost two years.
Bar the holders' St Patrick's Athletic visit to Derry City on Sunday, this was the standout tie of the round.
Tuesday night saw Rovers salvage their season by hurdling the first round of Champions League to guarantee seven figures of prize money and an inroad to group stage Conference League participation.
The failure of Bohs to join them in European qualification, firstly through the league and then losing the FAI Cup final, eventually prompted a managerial change.
Alan Reynolds has been at the helm since April and his immediate bounce of toppling pacesetters Shelbourne at Tolka Park proved a fleeting spark.
One win in their last 11 leaves the Gypsies hovering dangerously one place above the relegation playoff, emphasising the importance of surviving the trickiest of Cup tests.
Both teams made four changes, Bohs for a reboot, Rovers out of necessity in the contest of Sparta Prague’s visit to Tallaght on Tuesday. That said, as the banner unfurled from the away section proclaimed, Rovers style themselves as the Specialists, having won the Cup a record 25 times, and Stephen Bradley snapped the stagnation approaching the hour with a quadruple substitution.
His action was logical, for the Hoops lacked the fluency that has been worryingly absent throughout the season. They weren’t alone. Despite Dawson Devoy returning to Dalymount after his stint in England to claim the No 10 shirt, it was a subdued second debut, perhaps attributable to going three months without game-time.
But Rovers were more devoid than Dawson, their changes yielding scant reward. Ten minutes later, Bradley had completed his fifth substitution arising from their concession. They’d missed the composure of Dylan Watts amidst the frenzied fare.
That was typified by the best chance of the opening half – Jack Byrne’s eight minute free-kick transforming into a shot from a delivery.
When Cian Byrne misjudged the ball’s flight into the box from the left, it curled onto the upright. Dan Cleary was first to the rebound, nodding it inches over.
Midway through the half, Bohs got their sole sight on goal. Rooney swilled inside the box to receive Alex Greive’s left-wing centre, only to have his close-range shot blocked by the outstretched leg of Josh Honohan.
They also had enjoyed the moment of another prodigal son, Ross Tierney, nutmegging Conan Noonan but those cheers of joy were scarce across the lowlights.
Reynolds opted to swap his target man at the break, withdrawing Filip Piszczek for James Akintunde, yet any danger was likely to be sourced elsewhere.
Up stepped Rooney to bend his free-kick around the wall nine minutes after the restart, forcing Leon Pohls to stoop low and push away the attempt.
Then a momentary lapse by Honohan triggered the pivotal moment. From Rooney’s brisk pass into the box, the Corkman allowed Tierney the wrong side of him while simultaneously dangling his leg out.
Down went the Tierney and Rooney was again the chosen taker, smashing his penalty down the middle and sending Pohls the wrong way. You could even say the scorer was a set-piece specialist.
K Chorazka; M Miller, C Byrne, L Kavanagh, J Flores; A McDonnell (J Clarke 83), D Devoy; D Rooney (P Kirk 90), R Tierney, A Greive (D Grant 69); F Piszczek (J Akintunde 46).
L Pohls; D Cleary, R Lopes, J Honohan; D Nugent, C Noonan (D Watts 69), G O’Neill, S Kavanagh (T Clarke 57); R Towell (D Burns 57), J Byrne (N Farrugia 57); A Greene (J Kenny 57).
Referee: Rob Hennessey (Clare).
Attendance: 4431.
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