PERFECT conditions prevailed at Dalymount Park last night for a Christmas postcard, that is. Played in an almost continuous blizzard, Bohemians' pleasure at winning all three points was only marginally greater than gaining the sanctuary of the dressing room at the same time as poor Galway, snow bound and relegation bound.
Mind you, wish you were here (instead of us) had a certain ring to it. The few hundred who braved the weather huddled together in the main stand, whereas the 15 sprinkled on the far terraces ultimately faded into the murky distance.
On the pitch it can't have been a whole lot better. An unsuccessful search for an orange ball beforehand meant the object of the players' attentions became increasingly indiscernible. Bizarrely however, Galway had particular difficulty in picking out the tallest player in the pitch, Maurice O'Driscoll, who lolloped forward for two free headers to ensure an easy win.
On a night when both sets of players skidded strictly in straight lines, unable to twist or turn on the treacherous underfoot conditions, no one stood out better than the smallest player on the pitch, Tommy Byrne, who tellingly switched the direction of play and brought his team mates into the game with sensible distribution.
Like Byrne, another who skated diminutively around the rink was Derek Swan, brilliant in his control and holding up of the ball. The match wasn't a minute old when he scampered down Galway's weak left flank and teed up Peter Hanrahan. But Hanrahan, starting only his second game since October in an injury plagued season, almost fell over himself with the goal abegging.
Bohemians began pouring through the porous Galway defence; O'Driscoll's near post flick on from Byrne's 10th minute corner broke for James Coll but he sliced wide. Three minutes later Robbie Best floated a free from the centre circle - arctic circle, more like - and incredulously O'Driscoll was left unmarked to glance a header past Robert Forde into an empty net.
Penned back for long stretches, Galway managed an unconvincing damage limitation exercise until the break, even making a solitary attempt at goal with a Mike Quirke header which Dave Henderson could have saved with his cap.
Five minutes after the break Donal Broughan skipped inside Quirke and crossed for O'Driscoll to rise unbothered once more and head past a wrong footed Forde.
Henderson must have enjoyed tipping away an effort by Donnie Farragher in the 69th minute.
But Jonathan Prizeman, remarkably making his 15th appearance of the season as substitute, slalomed past a couple of tackles in a manner which suggested he came on with skis, before decisively drilling home his third league goal of the campaign.
