LEAGUE OF IRELAND/Bohemians 1 Sporting Fingal 0:DALYMOUNT regulars may not have arrived for the start of their side's latest title defence expecting a great deal. It had, after all, been seven years since Bohemians had won their opening home game of the season and Glen Crowe, the only scorer that night against UCD back in April 2003, was playing for the opposition last night.

Thanks to a rather soft penalty coolly converted late on by Killian Brennan, Pat Fenlon’s side took the three points, though, leaving Sporting Fingal to take on board an early lesson in just how cruel life in the top flight can be.

Liam Buckley’s men set themselves out to contain the champions with just Gary O’Neill up front and Shane McFaul operating between the defence and midfield so as to limit the influence of Paul Keegan and Glen Cronin and for most of the night it all went rather well.

The visitors forced the only save of note during the first half when Barry Murphy was forced to scamper across his goal line before touching Conan Byrne’s curling free-kick over and the visitors also produced a good deal of the better passing movements.

Unfortunately for the newcomers, the quality of McFaul’s distribution did not come close to matching his industry while O’Neill was always facing an uphill battle against defenders of the calibre of Brian Shelley and Steven Gray.

Fingal’s final ball towards the area was, in any case, routinely poor and through much of the first half the champions simply had to drop deep and wait until possession came their way, which it generally did as the result of an overhit cross or misplaced passes from central midfield.

Bohemians were scarcely more effective themselves and prior to the penalty never really had a shot on target.

Mark Quigley looked very much the peripheral player of last season at Richmond Park rather than the reborn one that the locals had been hoping for and Paddy Madden was quiet too from the time, early on, that Lorcan Fitzgerald had cleared his close-range header off the line.

The closest the home side came to making a breakthrough from play was when, early in the second quarter, Glen Cronin got to the line and pulled the ball back low for Brennan but Ger O’Brien did well on that occasion to make the interception and concede the corner that led to Madden’s chance.

The hosts improved after the break in terms of the passing and build-up play with Cronin and Paul Keegan getting increasingly on top of things in central midfield.

Gradually, the team started to gain more of a foothold out on the wings and when Brennan swung in a corner from the left 13 minutes from time, Anto Murphy went to ground, a little too willingly it seemed, under the weight of a very slight challenge by Keith Quinn, a brother of Alan and Stephen.

Brennan pushed the spot-kick low to the right of Brendan Clarke while Quinn continued to protest his innocence even, it seemed, as the midfielder was being replaced by Crowe due to the sudden need to find an equaliser.

It never came although Murphy had to get off his line smartly in injury time to deny Fitzgerald an opportunity.

The visitors are sure to feel hard done by as they wake up this morning, the champions will have been satisfied to have put paid to a seven-year itch.

BOHEMIANS: Murphy; Heary, Shelley, Gray, Powell; Murphy (McGlynn, 90 mins), Cronin, Keegan, Brennan; Madden, Quigley (Cretaro, 66 mins).

SPORTING FINGAL: Clarke; O’Brien, Maher, Browne, Fitzgerald; McFaul; Byrne (Paisley, 85 mins), Finn, Williams, Quinn (Crowe, 79 mins); O’Brien.

Referee: D Tomney (Dublin).