Last night at Dalymount Park, the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division saw a thrilling draw between the reigning champions, Shamrock Rovers, and their mortal rivals, Bohemians. This outcome left Shamrock Rovers still two points behind Shelbourne at the top of the division’s leaderboard. The match attracted an audience of 4,429 spectators.
Filip Piszczek, of Bohemians, initiated the scoring in the 23rd minute, and Shamrock Rovers’ Johnny Kenny equalised later on, resulting in both teams being inseparable by the end of the match. Stephen Bradley, the manager of Shamrock Rovers, included three ex-Bohs players – Roberto Lopes, Dylan Watts, and Aaron Greene – in this latest Dublin derby clash.
Greene missed an early chance to score, thwarted by quick reaction from rival goalkeeper, Kacper Chorazka, in the game’s seventh minute. Conversely, Rovers’ goalie, Leon Pohls, had his skills challenged by an attempted goal from Bohemians’ Adam McDonnell, which he was successful in obstructing. Nonetheless, Bohemians managed the first goal just at the quarter-hour mark.
An impressive offensive combination from Jordan Flores and James Akintunde assisted Piszczek in scoring the first goal. Piszczek, a new recruit from Poland, elegantly mastered the ball and seamlessly drove it into the net. The scoring increased the crowd’s excitement, and there was almost a second goal for Bohemians, but Dayle Rooney’s subtle chip unfortunately missed the target.
While the missed chance by Rooney gave Rovers some reprieve, they managed to equalise a bit unexpectedly, but just in time before half-time, thanks to Johnny Kenny’s under-pressure kick which left goalkeeper Chorazka incapable of preventing the goal.
Upon the second half’s commencement, it was anticipated that Rovers would step up their game, with the Hoops dominating early possession. However, Bohs’ stalwart defence, led by Jevon Mills and Aboubacar Keita, limited Rovers’ scoring opportunities. Joshua Honohan, a Hoops defender, did aim for the goal in the 65-minute mark, but the effort was comfortably collected by Chorazka.
In the last quarter, Trevor Clarke from Rovers showed undeniable energy, attacking down the left flank. His sharp shot was defended by the consistent Chorazka. On Gypsies’ side, Alan Reynolds called on substitutes Declan McDaid, James McManus, and Dylan Connolly to join James Clarke who was already playing. Bradley from the Hoops introduced Jack Byrne, Neil Farrugia, and Sean Kavanagh during the hectic finale.
Earlier, in the latter part of the first half, Markus Poom had taken over from the former Gypsies’ midfielder Watts. Despite referee Damien McGrath adding nearly seven minutes of extra time, the match ended in a stalemate and a heated exchange between the players.
Shelbourne, managed by Damien Duff, managed to stay at the top of the Premier Division table as a result of their 0-0 tie with Dundalk. Both Galway United and Derry City also resulted in a goalless match at Eamonn Deacy Park, while St. Patrick’s Athletic and Waterford secured 1-0 victories over Drogheda United and Sligo Rovers respectively.
As for Bohemians, they fielded Chorazka, Matheson, Mills, Keita, Kirk, Flores (replaced by McDaid at 76 minutes), B. McManus (replaced by Clarke at 10 minutes), Rooney, McDonnell, Akintunde (replaced by J. McManus at 76 minutes), and Piszczek (replaced by Connolly at 70 minutes).
The Shamrock Rovers team for this match was comprised of Pohls, Lopes, Cleary, and Honohan. Burn was replaced by Kavanagh at the 85th minute, Watts was subbed out for Poom 35 minutes in, and Noonan was swapped for Byrne at the 79th minute. Clarke too was replaced by Farrugia at the same time. Nugent, Greene, and Kenny remained unchanged in the lineup. The official for the game was D McGrath from Mayo.