Dean Kelly spearheads a late Bohemians revival

Bohemians 3 Shamrock Rovers 1

Dean Kelly came back to haunt his former club as Bohemians fought back to beat Shamrock Rovers and in the process end their unbeaten run.

Rovers' superb start to the season looked to be rolling on when Kieran Waters put them in front early on, but a goal from Derek Prendergast and a brace from Kelly swung it for Bohemians.

Having beaten champions Dundalk in their previous outing, Bohemians were fired up for this Dublin derby but required a late show in order to collect their ninth league win of the season.

On nine minutes, slack marking allowed Stephen McPhail to swing in a free-kick for Waters, who had escaped his marker, to head past Bohemians goalkeeper Dean Delany and open the scoring.

Bohemians attempted to bounce back but both Ismail Akinade and Jake Hyland missed the target with their efforts. Still, it was a sign that they were ready to fight back.

The verbal sparring between the two sets of supporters was demonstrated on the pitch in the form of crunching tackles. This is a fierce derby and neither team wanted to lose face. Yet, the quality of play suffered as a result.

Bohemians missed veteran striker Jason Byrne while Rovers also lacked a little guile up in front in the absence of Danny North and Michael Drennan. Still, there was plenty of time for drama to provide the entertainment instead of skill as Prendergast powered in a corner from Lorcan Fitzgerald’s corner on 77 minutes to draw the teams level.

With pulses racing, Bohemians showed the coolest heads when Kelly met Fitzgerald’s free-kick on 84 minutes to smash his effort past goalkeeper Craig Hyland.

Kelly wasn't finished there though. The Dubliner converted his second goal deep into added time to seal the win. BOHEMIANS: Delany; Murphy, Prendergast, Mulcahy, Fitzgerald; Lopes, Hyland (Kelly 73); Moore, Buckley (Dillon 86), Evans; Akinade. Scorers: Prendergast 77, Kelly 84, 90+3.Yellow Cards: Kelly 85. SHAMROCK ROVERS: Hyland; Madden, Webster, Kenna (Clancy h-t), Byrne; Cregg, McPhail; Waters, Miele (R Brennan 81), McCabe; McCaffrey (G Brennan 72). Scorer: Waters 9.Yellow Cards: McPhail 39, Clancy 65. Referee: David McKeon (Dublin).