Bohemians victory a timely boost

LEAGUE OF IRELAND: Bohemians 1 Derry City 0: BOHEMIANS STOOD tall to the challenge of the biggest week of their season with a confident display to regain their five-point lead at the top of the table.

It was just the fillip manager Pat Fenlon would have demanded ahead of Wednesday’s return with Salzburg in the Champions League qualifiers and the visit of second-in-the-table Shamrock Rovers on Sunday. A third league defeat in a row sees Derry drop 10 points behind the champions.

Derry came to contain with five men across midfielder and Tam McManus the lone striker. That plan needed revision as early as the 19th minute when Bohemians all too easily got their winning goal from a set-piece. If the marking four minutes earlier from a Killian Brennan corner allowed Paddy Madden blaze over the top was poor, it was utterly negligent as Bohemians’ captain Paul Keegan floated a free-kick from the stand side to the far area of the box. Midfielder Anto Murphy had ample time to pick out Jason Byrne with a header and the striker swivelled to volley home from eight yards.

Derry responded within five minutes with Kevin Deery, who’d earlier tested Brian Murphy from 40-odd yards, bringing a more demanding save from the goalkeeper with a shot from closer in.

Within three minutes, though, Bohemians might have punished further neglectful defending. Byrne lost his marker but his connection to Mark Rossiter’s ball wasn’t clean. Derry’s defensive problems continued on 35 minutes with Madden getting a touch to Murphy’s long throw forcing goalkeeper Ger Doherty to touch the ball onto the crossbar. Bohemians exposed their visitors two minutes later with Murphy’s cross from the right finding Byrne whose header was hacked off the line by Ger O’Brien.

Derry manager Stephen Kenny, forced to substitute Steven Gray just before half-time, made tactical changes at the break, bringing in Sammy Morrow and Thomas Stewart and reverting to a 4-4-2 line-up with Mark Farren and Morrow spearing the attack. But it never worked. Not that Bohemians created a great deal either. Madden hoofed over the bar two minutes in with Keegan flicking wide midway through the half.

BOHEMIANS: B. Murphy; Rossiter, Shelley, Oman, Powell; A. Murphy (Fenn, 90), Keegan, Deegan, Brennan (Ndo, 75); J Byrne (Crowe, 82), Madden.

DERRY CITY: Doherty; McCallion, O'Brien, Hutton, Gray (McClean, 40); McGlynn, Molloy, Higgins (Stewart, half-time), Deery, Farren; McManus (Morrow, half-time).

Referee: Alan Kelly(Cork).