Shamrock Rovers’ tag of title favourites received a thorough examination at Dalymount Park this afternoon as they were made to hang on for a point with 10 men.
In the end it was Aaron Callaghan’s young Bohemians side who left the field frustrated after a missed opportunity to put one over their arch-rivals as their lack of a real threat in the final third cost them victory.
But the main talking point afterwards was the shockingly poor state of the Dalymount surface, a far cry from its halcyon days as the spiritual home of Irish football .
"I thought a draw was probably a fair result in the end," said Bohemians' manager Callaghan. "They dug in deep. The pitch didn't help and there were a lot of tired limbs at the end having played in Cork on Friday.
Bad state
"It's in a bad state," continued Callaghan of the pitch. "There were a couple of games on in which shouldn't have been played. The club know that going forward and it cut up really badly. The weather hasn't helped either."
Though far from ideal, the poor surface acted as something of a leveller and perhaps more suited Bohemians, initially at least, as they started the better as Rovers adopted a surprisingly physical approach.
And it was an approach that cost Trevor Croly’s side on 36 minutes when his overzealous Hoops were reduced in numbers.
Booked minutes earlier for a heavy challenge on Chris Lyons, which resulted in the Bohemians striker having to go off, central defender Derek Foran was shown another card for a rash challenge on Karl Moore and was sent off.
With the extra man, Bohemians took the game to Rovers with added vigour in the second half, but it was the 68th minute before the first shot on target arrived as Moore's drive from 25 yards brought Barry Murphy into action for the only time in the game.
Brave block
With Ciaran Kilduff and Sean O'Connor called from the bench, a reshuffled Rovers pressed when they could.
Bohemians, though, held firm at the back with Roberto Lopes making a brave block from a Shane Robinson shot. Captain Owen Heary then led by example scarcely a minute later with a timely tackle on Kilduff.
“I was happy with the endeavour and the effort, but I thought it was a poor game. I thought that the surface was really poor,” said Croly.
“How can teams play on it? It’s very disappointing. There was one shot in the game when Barry (Murphy) made a save. It’s not good enough.
“For a league, if we are going to produce players and a product for people to come to watch, it has to be better. Otherwise it’s poor, you get poor games.
“You get great endeavour, as both teams showed. Honesty, endeavour and workrate. But it probably went against Bohemians today because when you have to extra man you want to move the ball quickly and you can’t on that surface."
BOHEMIANS: Delany; Pender, Heary, Lopes, Byrne; Buckley, Traynor, McEvoy, Moore (Hanaphy, 83 mins.); Lyons (Murray, 34 mins.; Wilson, 73 mins.); Scully.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Murphy; Sullivan, Foran, McGuinness, Powell; Chambers (Kilduff, 57 mins.); Rice, Robinson; Sheppard (O‘Connor, 75 mins,), Stewart (Elebert, 42 mins.), Dennehy.
Referee: Neil Doyle (Dublin).
Attendance: 2,785.
