A lacklustre Dublin derby in front of 3,100 spectators at Dalymount Park exploded into life midway through the second half with Ronan Finn rescuing a point for ten-man Shamrock Rovers thanks to a stoppage-time equaliser against Bohemians.
Keith Buckley looked to have given the Gypsies victory when he bundled home the opener on 71 minutes, when Aidan Price's header from Killian Brennan’s corner-kick rebounded into his path.
Rovers had substitute Gary McCabe issued with a straight red card for dissent towards assistant referee Mark Douglas nine minutes from time, before Finn nodded in the leveller in the final minute of added time.
The concession was harsh on Bohemians, given they had restricted their opponents to limited opportunities over the ninety minutes.
Rovers found Brennan hard to handle in the opening quarter of an hour as the winger’s tendency to drop into central areas caught them unawares.
On four minutes, Alan Mannus stood firm to gather Brennan’s 30-yard free-kick before the same player’s stinging shot deflected off Dean Kelly and out for a corner.
The Hoops’ most creative outlet was Finn and he swept a free-kick into the box on 17 minutes which Ken Oman connected with, but couldn’t keep his header down.
However, two minutes later, Finn’s crisp back-pass to Mannus almost embarrassed the goalkeeper as he allowed the ball run over his boot and - luckily for him - trickle wide of the post.
At the other end, Kelly should have done better from Rovers’ first
corner of the match when his free header cleared the crossbar before Gary O’Neill screwed his twenty-yard snap-shot a yard wide as the interval loomed.
Oman looped a header over eight minutes after the resumption as the Hoops displayed a marginally more adventurous streak in attack, but it was Bohemians who took the initiative as the game entered the final twenty minutes.
The hosts won a corner when Mannus turned Brennan’s curled free-kick around the post. From the corner Price climbed highest at the back post to head the ball onto the bar before the ball fell kindly to teenager Buckley who chested the rebound across the line was.
O’Neill couldn’t direct Kelly’s flick-on goal-bound a minute later as
the visitors sought an immediate response, but despite McCabe’s red card, just 19 minutes after his introduction, they battled gamely on.
Deep into added-time, and with all Rovers’ players in the box,
McCormack’s inviting corner enabled Finn rise on cue to angle his
header into the top corner and send their sizeable support housed behind the goal in the Des Kelly Stand into a frenzy.
Bohemians: O’Connor; Heary, Burns, Price, O’Brien; Buckley (Dixon 79), Bayly, Rossiter, Brennan; Traynor, Flood (Lodola 90).
Shamrock Rovers: Mannus; Sullivan, Murray (Kilduff 84), Oman, Stevens; Rice (McCabe 62), McCormack, Finn; Sheppard, O’Neill, Kelly (Dennehy 76)
Referee: Anthony Buttimer (Cork).
Attendance: 3,100.
