An eagerly contested First Division game on Sunday morning ended in a comprehensive win for the away side, but it was a flattering end result for the winners as Boys Club could well have forced at least a draw had they been as clinical in front of goal as their opponents.
At the end of the day, though, quality in front of goal counts for a lot and Bohs certainly had this when it mattered most. They took an early lead inside 10 minutes, but could well have been behind by that point as Jimmy Jennings raced onto Billy Mannion’s through ball in the fifth minute but was foiled by ‘keeper Martin Rice, who made a good save.
Bohs reacted to this let-off in the best possible way, as Aidan Naughton and Franny Keady combined to give Sean Keogh a ball to chase in the box but Mannion recovered to clear for a corner.
Keogh took the corner from the right and right winger Naughton was on hand to volley crisply to the back of the net. There was an almost instantaneous response from the hosts as Jennings spotted Rice off his line from the kick off and struck from half way, only just clearing the crossbar.
Jennings was by far Boys Club’s most potent attacker but his early supply line soon dried up. When about to launch an attack in the 23rd minute, Boys Club were dispossessed and within the space of three touches they found themselves further behind.
Keady provided the first touch, rolling a ball ahead for Geoffrey Power to run onto on the right flank. A quick look up spotted Liam Keane in space in the middle and Power’s first time ball allowed Keane to sidefoot past Sean Walsh without breaking stride.
Jason Moran’s side desperately needed to score the next goal to get back into the contest, and they could well have done had they taken one of four chances that presented themselves within a five minute spell before the break. Twice Sean Foley drove wide, the second time inexplicably, before Dave Griffin’s shot from the left was pushed behind for a corner.
From the next attack a floated cross picked out Jennings at the back post. His goalbound header was blocked, possibly by an arm which didn’t belong to ‘keeper Rice, but no penalty was forthcoming.
Just on half time Keady crossed for Keane who headed narowly wide. It would have been a dagger blow for the home team but at 2-0, the chance of a comeback was always there. These two clubs have a bit of recent history as players and mentors have swapped sides in recent times, and tempers threatened to boil over early in the second half when Martin Daly and Jennings were booked, but thankfully both sides concentrated on football for the remainder of the game.
Rice again came to Bohs’ rescue just before the hour mark when Jennings sprinted clear, but a sliding intervention from the ‘keeper was well-timed and kept his clean sheet intact. Again they were to be punished at the other end as sub Darren Sherry picked out Naughton with a good pass and he doubled his tally with a well placed finish on 66 minutes.
Sherry almost replicated David Bentley’s Wednesday night effort, although maybe not quite as far out, when his dipping volley was tipped over by Walsh. Jimmy Jennings finally managed to find the target with five minutes remaining when he cracked a fine free kick into the top left hand corner.
Geoffrey Power, who throughout looked the most composed on the ball, rounded off the scoring in the 88th minute with a simple tap in to cement a good win for Dave Daly’s men, who now move back to the top of a competitive Western Hygiene Supplies First Division. Moyne Villa’s 1-0 win over Corrib Rangers B means there are seven teams still with genuine promotion hopes, while OLBC hover above the two relegation spots with only two wins from their eight games to date.
OLBC: Sean Walsh; Paddy Keane, Billy Mannion, Liam Coakley, Barry Molyneux; Gary Duffy, Sean Foley, Damien Carter, Dave Griffin; Ronan Caldwell, Jimmy Jennings.
Subs:Wayne Mannion for Griffin (45 mins ), Bobby Duffy for Keane (68 mins ).
Bohemians: Martin Rice; Johan Ott, Martin Daly, Alan Byrnes, Keith O’Neill; Aidan Naughton, Geoffrey Power, Eoin Concannon, Sean Keogh; Liam Keane, Franny Keady.
Subs: Pat Coyne for O’Neill (45 mins ), Darren Sherry for Keogh (59 mins ), Chris Mortimer for Naughton (70 mins ).
Referee: John Gillespie.
