Alan Reynolds hails resilience of Bohs hat-trick hero Colm Whelan

Whelan scored three goals in a 13-minute blitz at Sligo Rovers on Saturday night.

THREE N EASY: Colm Whelan celebrates with the match ball after scoring a hat-tricK against Sligo Rovers. Pic: Tom Beary/Sportsfile.

SLIGO ROVERS 0

BOHEMIANS 4 (Dayle Rooney '2, Colm Whelan '54, '64, '67 (pen))

Bohemians manager Alan Reynolds admitted his hat-trick hero Colm Whelan was fuelled by being dropped for last week’s season opener at the Aviva Stadium.

Whelan’s second half - a 13-minute blitz at Sligo Rovers on Saturday night - completed an emphatic victory to tack onto the scoreless draw against St Patrick’s Athletic.

The Kilkenny native was handed his LOI debut by Reynolds as a 17-year-old at Waterford but injuries hampered his progress, especially after being lured to Derry City.

Reynolds has been working with the 25-year-old for the third time since bringing him to Dalymount Park at the start of last season.

He began that spell by smashing a hat-trick past his former club Waterford just under a year ago but remaining match-fit has been the challenge.

After affording him a cameo off the bench against the Saints, Reynolds thrust Whelan in from the start against Sligo. He was joined by Douglas James-Taylor, back from injury, and the front pairing tormented John Russell’s outfit.

The Sligo boss lamented a ‘calamitous’ concession after 90 seconds for Dayle Rooney’s opener as the instigator of their demise.

It was all the more disappointing given how far they pushed Derry City in the opening night 2-1 defeat at the Ryan McBride Brandywell.

“Colm was disappointed not to start last week and rightly so,” said Reynolds afterwards.

“He came in, trained really well and produced an outstanding performance along with Douglas James Taylor. He’s up and running now.

“We picked a team that was physically strong and able to deal with the conditions. The pitch wasn’t great for both teams but we dealt with.

“If we'd been more clinical, the game would have been out of sight by half-time.”

Bohs finished fourth last season to claim a European place for the first time in five years and are being tipped to improve further. Reynolds is satisfied ahead of next week’s trip to Derry City.

“It’s another clean sheet,” he noted. “Defenders defended properly and we were a threat from set-pieces.

“We were excellent from the get-go. The second half performance was professional, with fitness levels through the roof, showing lots of quality.

“Fair play to the fans for travelling in those conditions and we gave them something to sing about.”

Russell implored his players to reflect on their shortcomings, branding the display in their first home game of the season as “horrendous”.

They will seek their first points of the season at Waterford next Friday.

SLIGO ROVERS: S Sargeant; J Esua, G McElroy (S Blaney HT), O Denham, W Fitzgerald; S Quirk, D Patton (A Meekison 75), J Hakiki (C Kavanagh 62), A Nolan (S Stewart, 75); Ryan O’Kane; Mai Traore.

BOHEMIANS: K Chorazka; S Todd, P Hickey, J Flores (N Morahan 76); D Power (C Byrne 81), D Devoy, R Tierney (H Vaughan 81), D Rooney, S Mullen; D James-Taylor (H Martin 69), C Whelan (A McDonnell 79).

Referee: Alan Patchell (Dublin).