LEAGUE OF IRELAND PREMIER DIVISION: Bohemians 3 Sligo Rovers 1:THE RESULT may have been decisive but for a short while confusion reigned last night at Dalymount where the official line that the title race goes to next weekend was utterly at odds with the strong sense of satisfaction in the stands that Shamrock Rovers' challenge is finally at an end.
The crowd’s excitement was fuelled for a while by a mistaken announcement that the championship trophy was about to be presented to the players on the pitch. Predictably, the authorities had other ideas but the crowd were still treated, if that’s the word, to the traditional blast of Queen, a touch of the Champions League anthem and a lap of honour by the players.
Earlier in the afternoon, Giovanni Trapattoni had used the “anything can happen in football,” line to talk up his team’s chances against France in next month’s World Cup play off. But it’s scarcely a theory Michael O’Neill will be clinging to between now and next Friday when his side would have to make up three points and, rather more implausibly, a combined 17 goals on their rivals in order to snatch away their title.
Certainly nobody amongst the crowd here believed there is the slightest chance it might happen and not even the club’s officials, including manager, Pat Fenlon, were making any bones about the fact that an 11th league title was finally in the bag.
“Its a fantastic result for us,” said the man whose own record now stands at five titles with two different clubs in eight years as a manager.
“Obviously it’s going to take a while to sink in. It was a very hard start to the season for us, and it’s been a difficult season for the club, but it’s a fantastic end to it all.
“Our fitness levels have been great and Liam O’Brien and the rest of the staff have to take credit for that. You always get what you deserve in football. But really, it’s all about the players – to do it two years in a row is very special for them.”
The sense that it would be a good night here started to set in early with word of the Sligo team selection – six changes to the side that started the cup semi-final against Waterford last week and several key players rested – suggesting that Paul Cook was not particularly bothered about compounding the misery they inflicted on the Dubliners in the cup.
Sure enough, the game was over as a contest well before half time with goals from Paddy Madden, Joseph Ndo and Jason Byrne shifting a good deal of the focus across to Tallaght where defeat for Rovers would have meant that the title was completely secure.
Bohemians clearly decided to enjoy themselves and for a while Sligo were left to chase shadows as the champions knocked the ball about with pace and precision, carving their way through the visitors’ midfield rather effortlessly and repeatedly opening up their back four.
Cook can’t have been pleased with any of the goals conceded with the young Michael Schlingermann thrown in at the deep end as his defenders appeared to jump ship.
Madden’s opener after nine minutes was a simple case of a player not being picked up as he went for an cross from the left but the breakdown of communications that followed when the young striker nicked possession from Dean Marshall almost immediately after the kick off was really pretty spectacular.
Madden fed Glen Cronin who found Ndo on the edge of the area where the African kept his head while all about him lost theirs. As the Sligo defenders stood off and the goalkeeper found himself stranded in no man’s land, Ndo coolly lofted the ball over his opponents and into the net.
The hosts settled down a little although Byrne did go close twice before being put in for the third thanks to a clever ball around Joe Kendrick from Ndo.
For the 15 minutes or so that remained of the half, Bohemians toyed with the cup finalists, skipping past opponents or hurtling towards their goal with rapid-fire one-touch passing.
The break came and it seemed only a matter of how many Pat Fenlon’s men might bother to add over the course of the second half. But Sligo got themselves back into things somewhat by scoring within a minute of the restart, Marshall holding off Brian Shelley before finishing well. The ferocity of some of the challenges that followed lent further weight to the suspicion that Cook’s half-time talk had been a little less laid-back than his pre-match team selection but the hosts took it in their stride and Schlingermann had to make two fine stops from Madden to prevent the deficit being widened.
The youngster’s departure sparked another of the night’s ovations and with news of a Galway equaliser across the city having swept through the crowd the air of celebration taking over. The routine was repeated as Ndo was replaced and the news came through that the Rovers game had finished.
Barring a miracle, the silverware will finally be collected in Bray next week.
BOHEMIANS: Murphy; Cronin, Shelley, Murphy, Powell; Brennan, Deegan, Keegan, Ndo (Rossiter, 87 mins); Madden (Crowe, 74 mins), Byrne.
SLIGO ROVERS: Schlingermann; Boco, Camano, Keane, Kendrick; Marshall, O'Grady, Meenan, Ryan (Cash, half-time), Doyle; Turner.
Referee: A Kelly (Cork).
