Late Bohs winner condemns Cork to bottom of the table
LATE WINNER: Bohemians' James McManus celebrates after scoring a goal. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady
Three Little Birds was being sung by Bohemians fans as they laboured against Cork City but a late winner by substitute James McManus ensured everything was alright for now anyway.
Not so for Cork City.
A fourth defeat on the spin, albeit a harsh one, plunges the Rebels to the foot of the table, heightening the importance of recording only their second win of the season when Munster rivals and fellow strugglers Waterford come to Turner’s Cross on Monday.
After an evenly contested affair, City eventually succumbed to a phalanx of Bohs corner five minutes from full-time.
Dayle Rooney’s outswinger was cleared only to the edge of the box by a header from captain Charlie Lyons, allowing another sub McManus to nestle his half-volley into the bottom corner despite Tein Troost’s best efforts.
Life in the top-flight is hard at present for City, underlined by Milan Mbeng failing to sweep home the equaliser from close-range deep into stoppage time.
Managerial scrutiny has always been acute within the members club of Bohemians and this week the contrast in attitude towards two was evident.
Nobody in the modern era, other than possibly Stephen Bradley, will enjoy the longevity that Billy Young had.
In charge of Bohs for 16 years, delivering two league titles and FAI Cups apiece until he departed in 1989, his passing this week was marked by an impeccably respected minute’s silence.
It wasn’t long before the groans of dissent against the incumbent, Alan Reynolds, were audible from the Dalymount Park stands.
Tim Clancy’s frustration at the lack of clean sheets by his City side this term has warranted attention in training since Monday’s 4-1 thumping by Shamrock Rovers and Bohs struggled to penetrate the defensive unit that stretched to five out of possession.
Space to exploit was scarce in the first half and with every sideways or backward pass came sporadic chants of derision. Reynolds was correct in recently declaring their home patch being a difficult place for his players to thrive in.
Be it at Dalymount or away, six defeats in their opening nine games wasn’t acceptable – especially coming on the back of last year’s anticlimactic finish – and another defeat would likely end this managerial reign.
Reynolds rang three changes from their latest reverse last week, 1-0 at champions Shels, and the promotion of Connor Parsons to the wing injected a degree of invention. It was from their backline that a couple of first-half openings arose; Sean Grehan’s header in stoppage time kept out by the body of Troost the closest of them.
Otherwise, City had the upperhand in the opening half.
A striker crisis has decimated Clancy’s attacking options, forcing the deployment of orthodox wingers Alex Nolan and Cathal O’Sullivan as the furthest players up the field.
While they aren’t natural finishers, their creative spark brought runners into the fray. That manifested in a couple of chances moments apart, initially from a 20th minute layoff by Nolan which Evan McLaughlin swung his leg at and forcing Kacper Chorazka to turn around the post.
Troost is more than just his trusty hands, for the kick he launched serrated the Bohs defence and landed perfectly for O’Sullivan’s arced run from the left. The Polish goalie was fortunate as he advanced that the teen’s first-time hook was kept out by his shoulder.
Mbeng, who was switched with Darragh Crowley to right wing-back, also supplied a threat from the flank.
His pirouette seven minutes before the interval, to elude two players, was one the trickster O’Sullivan would have been proud of and it freed Nelson to cross.
Nolan was first to react at the near post, denied only by a deflection for a corner.
It was much the same in the second half until Reynolds altered the tempo with a couple of changes on the hour.
He won’t get much credit for it from a fickle home faithful, particularly if the default mood resumes after Monday’s derby against Shamrock Rovers.
: K Chorazka; J Mountney, L Kavanagh, S Grehan, J Flores (L Smith HT); A McDonnell (D Rooney 58), D Devoy; A Meekison (J McManus 58), R Tierney, C Parsons (R Brennan 66); C Whelan (J Clarke 66).
: T Tein; D Crowley (H Skieters 88), F Anderson, C Lyons; M Mbeng, S Murray (R Shipston 80), E McLaughlin, B Couto; A Nolan (J Fitzpatrick 68), K Nelson (G Bolger 80), C O’Sullivan.
: P McLaughlin (Donegal).
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