Bohs produce stirring second-half fightback to gain point against Shamrock Rovers

Hoops lead at top of the table reduced to four points after squandering lead at Dalymount Park

Daire Walsh

SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division: Bohemians 2 Shamrock Rovers 2

Shamrock Rovers’ lead at the top of the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division table has been reduced to four points after Bohemians produced a stirring second-half fightback to claim a draw in a feisty affair at Dalymount Park last night.

Following a scoreless opening period, Rovers looked set to claim Dublin Derby bragging rights when Neil Farrugia and Markus Poom found the net in quick-fire fashion. Yet Bohs responded with goals of their own from Jonathan Afolabi and James Clarke as these arch rivals ultimately emerged with a share of the spoils.

Fourth in the table heading into this contest, the Gypsies previously found themselves at the Premier Division summit and were seeking a positive result from their latest duel with the Hoops to maintain a 2023 title charge. They looked set to open the scoring on the stroke of 10 minutes when Grant Horton picked out Adam McDonnell inside the Rovers box, but the former Republic of Ireland underage international dragged his shot agonisingly past the left-hand post.

This was an early let-off for the visitors and while Stephen Bradley’s men had their share of the play as the tie progressed, goalkeeper Leon Pohls was called into action on 27 minutes to turn behind an Afolabi strike.

Donning ‘Aslan’ on their jerseys in a tribute to the late Dublin singer Christy Dignam, the Gypsies appeared determined to make amends for a brace of earlier defeats to Rovers in the calendar year. Their opponents suffered a setback when team captain Ronan Finn was withdrawn through injury six minutes before the interval and it took another fine Pohls stop – this time from James Akintunde – to ensure the deadlock remained unbroken heading into the second half.

At the same time, there was no sense of panic within the Rovers ranks and they took control of the proceedings in the style of true champions on the resumption. The withdrawal of Finn saw Farrugia move from left wing-back over to the opposite flank and his glancing header off a Sean Kavanagh delivery got the better of James Talbot in the 48th minute.

This eased any nerves that the travelling Hoops supporters might have been experiencing and they raised the roof off the Mono Stand when on-loan midfielder Poom superbly drilled an unstoppable long-range effort into the roof of the net on 54 minutes.

This scoring blitz left Bohs shell-shocked, but Declan Devine’s hosts gave themselves a lifeline just shy of the third-quarter mark when ex-Rovers youth footballer Afolabi turned sharply just outside of the box and hammered the ball beyond the reach of Pohls.

Much like their southside counterparts, this goal had a transformative effect and Clarke confidently steered an equaliser to the net with 17 minutes remaining on the clock.

Pohls had to be at his sharpest to prevent Dylan Connolly from securing all three points for Bohs in a frantic finale and with their closest challengers Derry City paying a visit to Tallaght Stadium on Monday, avoiding defeat could yet prove crucial for the four in-a-row chasing Rovers.

BOHEMIANS: Talbot; Horton, Nowak, Radkowski; Flores, Buckley; Coote (McDaid, 79 mins), McDonnell (Clarke, 65 mins), Akintunde (Connolly, 60 mins); Afolabi.

SHAMROCK ROVERS: Pohls; Lopes, Cleary, Grace; Finn (Kavanagh, 39 mins), Watts (Towell, 60 mins), Poom, Farrugia; Byrne, Burke (Burt, 81 mins); Gaffney (Kenny, 81 mins).

Referee: N Doyle (Dublin).