Bohemians win round two as well

Afterwards it was almost amusing to reflect on how we had thought there had been bad blood between these two clubs before last night.

Of course, at the time, the dispute over Jason Byrne's suspension had seemed acrimonious enough, but, as Pat Devlin left the ground this time looking genuinely too upset to speak, it was as if last year's semi-final had been no more than a childish falling out.

When Aidan O'Regan, a late replacement as referee for John McDermott, finally called an end to a frantic, ill tempered and increasingly chaotic encounter, Devlin was watching from behind the terraces, just behind the Bray dugout.

Two of his players, Eddie Gormley and Stephen Fox had, along with the home side's Alex Nesovic, also been ordered off while Dave Campbell and Philip Keogh were fortunate to be on the pitch.

Even Roddy Collins observed that the match official had been "brilliant" and "brutal" in fairly equal measure.

"Justice had been done in the end," was his conclusion however, while the heated exchanges and emotional clashes that had dominated a game which contained little enough by way of quality or measured football were, he said, what happens "when you promote hatred and bitterness". Not exactly words that will themselves do much to spread reconciliation or understanding.

An obviously still upset Devlin, meanwhile, declined to comment at all and it was left to club chairman Philip Hannigan to describe what had taken place as "unfair".

It was late in this game before their cup run disintegrated. Having pretty much held their own in a miserable first period dominated by O'Regan's whistle, they reached half-time on level terms thanks to a headed goal from Dave Campbell that had cancelled out Dave Morrison's low drive of some 70 seconds earlier.

It was only after O'Regan had punished John Walsh midway through the second half for picking up what he felt was Jody Lynch's back pass that things started to spiral out of control.

Believing Lynch to have made a good challenge on Glen Crowe and their goalkeeper to have simply gathered the resulting loose ball, the visiting players were infuriated by the decision, doubly so after Kevin Hunt had played the resulting free short for Crowe who drove low through a wall of bodies to score his 22nd goal of the season.

The game had scarcely restarted when Gormley got the first red card of the night for a challenge on Morrison, Devlin's protests made his dismissal inevitable and, not long afterwards, Nesovic made his exit for a second bookable offence.

The striker had been penalised for a tangle with Philip Keogh who then made two separate but equally rash lunges in quick succession but somehow got away with a booking.

After Barry O'Connor had had an attempt on goal cleared off the line by Simon Webb, Fox wasn't nearly as fortunate when he was shown a red card for what looked, given the night that was in it, a comparatively harmless foul on Mark Rutherford.

"Cheerio, cheerio, cheerio" sang the elated Bohemians fans at the end as Devlin finally made his way across the pitch towards the dressing room.

Behind him there was bedlam as disputes rumbled on and O'Regan was escorted by Gardai and club security towards the stand.

He'd only been there, apparently, because of the rule preventing a referee taking a second game involving the one club within a two week period. After last night he'd probably do well to avoid the Carlisle Grounds for a little bit longer than that.

BOHEMIANS: Russell; O'Connor, Maher, Hill, Webb; Morrison, Hunt, Caffrey, Rutherford; Crowe (Molloy 88 mins), Nesovic.

BRAY WANDERERS: Walsh; Lynch (Fox, 84 mins), Tresson, Charles; Britton (Long, 51 mins), Campbell (O'Brien, 65), Keogh, Farrell; O'Connor, Byrne, Gormley.

Referee: A O'Regan (Cork).