Bohemians 1-2 Halmstad
Swedish champions Halmstad snatched victory from their Irish counterparts at Dalymount Park tonightthanks to two soft but priceless away goals and yet it could have been all so different for Bohemians.
Pete Mahon’s men were rewarded for their positive approach in the 23rdminute.After a quick Paul Byrne corner fromthe left, Simon Webb clipped the ball to the back post where the Swedes had unforgivably neglected to mark Glen Crowe whose bullet-like header flew past internationalkeeper Haakan Svensson.But what Crowe will perhaps remember most about this matchare the two glorious chances he spurned, twice he found himself in one-on-one situations with Svenssonbut both times he failed to beat him.
Just eight minutes after taking the lead, Bohs conceded a soft equaliser.A slick one-two between Robert Anderssonand Stephan Selakovic caught out Avery John and left Selakovic clean through on Wayne Russell.Russellsprang at the feet of the striker but succeeded in only bringing him down and conceding an obvious penalty.
Centre-back Tommy Jonsson stepped up to slot the ball low to the keepers left and into the back of the net.That goal took the wind out of Bohs sails and it took them 10 minutes to reassert themselves.
Bohemians emerged for the second half as attack minded as they had begun the first indeed just five minutes in they almost regained the lead. The ever dangerous Mark Rutherford surged down the left and flashed an excellent cross into the centre which Crowe met acrobatically and diverted towards goal. Again Bohs were to be thwarted by the Swedish keeper’s agility.Moments after that came the fatal Swedish strike.After Bohs attack broke down Michael Neilson picked out Thor Bjorn Arvidsson who switched it across to Selakovic who lobbed Wayne Russell expertly.
Though their spirit never waned Bohs lost a little cohesion after that strike, Crowe found himself increasingly isolated upfront and, against a side who are already half-way through their domestic season, it suddenly became harder for the home midfielders to locate a teammate.
The Swedes could have grabbed a killer third on two occasions but both times were denied by last gasp interventions by Shaun Maher.The lively way in which Bohs played out the final five minutes of thematch plus memories of great past deeds still means, however, that this tie is very much alive.