Bohemians kill off Wayside

IT WAS just as well Turlough O'Connor had made it clear that it mattered little to him how victory was achieved in Bohemians second tie of the Harp Lager FAI Cup. As it was to turn out choosiness would have merely been a precursor to disappointment.

They may have been two goals up at the break, but for long stretches of play through the opening period Bohemians were forced to fall back and defend in numbers as Wayside did their best to take the game to their Premier Division opponents.

O'Connor, of course, might argue that by that time the visitors had little choice but to push forward for they already trailed by a goal, but at least somebody looked anxious to make something of the game. At that stage there was precious little evidence that the home side wanted to.

They had been a little fortunate to take the lead through Tommy Byrne's spot kick in the 17th minute after Willie Simpson had been forced into handling by Senan O'Douchon's failure to clear the ball and they were luckier still when Derek Swan doubled the advantage with a close range header a long way into a generous helping of first half injury time.

In between it was Wayside who had been by far the more creative in what was, admittedly, an unappealing tie. Up front they lacked the strength to cause their hosts; too many problems, but if referee Aidan O'Regan had been even handed with the penalty awards; they would have had one five minutes after falling behind when Padraig Mooney's shot was blocked by Donal Broughan with his arm.

An equaliser then might have made all the difference to the game but in its absence Celtic could only keep up the momentum for so long and, having gone terribly close to pulling level 10 minutes before the turnaround when Steve Martin had what seemed certain to be a goal pushed wide by Dave Henderson, they gradually began to lose their way.

Indeed the start of the second period was marked by what appeared to be a more determined approach to the game by Bohemians, with Peter Hanrahan, Eoin Mullen and Derek McGrath all helping to win greater amounts of possession in midfield. But nobody was able to finish off the chances that the trio and Brian Mooney were creating in and around the box.

Mullen went close when he beat three defenders late in the game - only to fire wide from a dozen yards out while Mooney was unlucky with an opportunistic lob that bounced just the wrong side of the post after Derek Masterson had been forced to come out of his box to rob Swan of the ball.

Donal Broughan, though, went closer still with a scorching drive off a short free kick by Byrne which clipped the top of the bar before flying safely behind.

At the other end Henderson faced little real danger, even through the closing stages when Peter Lennon's side attempted to push forward in search of consolation. They seemed to run out of steam before the vital pass whenever they got into good positions.