Brilliant Bohs outclass Shamrock Rovers despite late flurry from champions
Connor Parsons gave Bohs the lead against Shamrock Rovers. Pic: ©INPHO/Tom Maher
Don’t let the scoreline mislead – this was a resounding destruction of the champions by the early pacesetters.
Bohemians were heading for their biggest derby win over Shamrock Rovers in 24 years and their fourth clean sheet in a row until Pico Lopes and Aaron Greene reduced the arrears in stoppage time.
Their cushion was created by a sublime showing producing an opener from Connor Parsons on 26 minutes followed by Colm Whelan’s 56th-minute penalty a third late on from Ross Tierney.
After a two-week delay to starting their title defence, Rovers have packed three games into seven days.
It has been accompanied by a barrage of off-field controversy as they insist they were blindsided by internal deals that would see a portion of any fee for €2m-rated striker Michael Noonan leave the club’s coffers to a third party.
That has placed the spotlight on their former chief executive John Martin but his current boss at the FAI, David Courell, claims the former LOI player acted in “good faith”.
The same phrase was used by the FAI to explain Jonathan Hill’s secretive extra pay and things didn’t end well for him.
Rovers will still be confident of their season ending well despite the latest slow start of their dominant era.
Stephen Bradley bracketed the slack display that allowed Dundalk pinch a late draw as an outlier to their success but the emphatic manner by which they were beaten by Bohs must engender concern.
Alan Reynolds spoke in the build-up about the difficulty Rovers encounter against his Gypsies team.
Their aggressive press, he contends, tends to rattle the champions and that tactical observation was exemplified again on a night of dominance for the early league leaders.
Atop of three goals, Bohs saw Adam McDonnell’s header hacked off the line by the unlikeliest of players, Graham Burke. They could easily have inflicted a stiffer humbling on their visitors.
Late replies skewed the scoreline but not the complexion of the match.
Both sets of fans were swift to make their feelings known on the week-long lecture from sports minister Patrick O’Donovan about fan behaviour. Banners were unfurled in either section, along with customary flares, but it took a while for the fireworks to ignite on the field of play.
That might have been attributable to Bradley making six changes but hardly excused their struggles in any aspects. Passes were underhit, free-kicks overhit while their teen striker Noonan was outmuscled by Patrick Hickey at the back.
Noonan’s fellow 17-year-old Victor Ozhianvuna showed some glimpses of the reasons Arsenal have shelled out €2m for him next January but the midfielder, too, was schooled by an elder opponent in Ross Tierney.
Adam Brennan, the third teen in the Rovers' artillery, was responsible for supplying their intent.
He conjured what proved to be the sole threat on goal within the 90 minutes, a dipping 20-yard volley that Kacper Chorążka gathered at the second attempt.
That opportunity arrived just a minute before Bohs hit the front. Captain Dawson Devoy made the running, tucking a pass into the feet of Whelan who nutmegged Lopes to free Parsons. He coolly angled his shot past the advancing Ed McGinty to send the crowd of 4,442 into raptures.
Soon after the restart, Devoy’s deflected shot looped over the crossbar and Bohs pushed for a second.
It would come from a penalty as Daniel Cleary’s shove into the back of Tierney forced Neil Doyle to point to the spot.
Whelan, fresh from a hat-trick against Sligo Rovers two weeks ago, drilled his penalty into the left corner despite McGinty guessing the right way.
Tierney then missed a sitter. Ozhianvuna must have got frazzled at being nutmegged to let his opponent drift inside unattended, yet his eagerness to walk the ball into the net came unstuck.
He didn’t mess around when presented with a sight on the counter with three minutes left, finding the net off the post with a low drive.
That seemed to be it until the stoppage-time skirmishes. That’s all they were.
K Chorążka; N Morahan, P Hickey, S Todd, J Flores; D Devoy, A McDonnell; D Rooney, R Tierney (H Martin 90+4), C Parsons (C Byrne 84); C Whelan (H Vaughan 90+4).
E McGinty; D Cleary (T Sobowale 65), R Lopes, C O’Sullivan; D Grant (J Mulraney 65), M Healy, V Ozhianvuna (J McGovern 72), A Brennan; D Watts (J Byrne 65), G Burke; M Noonan (A Greene 79).
Neil Doyle (Dublin).
4,442
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