Bohemian 2-0 Longford Town
Goals from Dean Kelly and Adam Evans earned Bohemians a 2-0 victory against Longford Town at Dalymount Park as a fifth win of the season to moved them up to second place in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division table.
Kelly headed Bohs in front from a 23rd-minute corner.
Evans added the second on in the 72nd minute, scarcely a minute after coming on as a substitute.
Having met at the same venue in the EA Sports Cup with much changed line-ups as recently as Tuesday, both sides reverted to type here with their virtual full-strength sides back on show.
Bohs were without suspended central defender Derek Prendergast as Roberto Lopes dropped back in there from midfield.
Tony Cousins rewarded winger Ayman Ben Mohamed for his impressive recent form with a first league start on Longford’s right flank, while Rhys Gorman also made his first league start of the campaign, replacing Mark Salmon in the middle alongside Stephen Rice.
Unlike the League Cup game, which Bohs won 3-1, this was an uncompetitive affair.
Longford shaded the early exchanges, with Gary Shaw having a shot blocked by Lopes while a Pat Sullivan free-kick was on target but never troubled Dean Delany.
But Longford’s solid start was all in vein as they fell behind when falling asleep from the game’s first corner in the 23rd minute.
Lorcan Fitzgerald’s crisp delivery to the back post found the unmarked Kelly, who headed downward to the net from two yards out.
That raised Bohemians’ confidence and they dominated until the interval as Longford’s problems mounted as they lost Rice to injury.
The Town midfielder was initially injured in a collision with Lopes in the ninth minute. He played on but was taken off in the 37th minute, put on a stretcher and taken to hospital.
Bohemians wasted a chance to double their lead three minutes into the second half. Paddy Kavanagh’s cross from the right picked out Karl Moore but the winger sliced his shot.
A patchy second half didn’t really come alive until the 69th minute, though, when Town almost levelled.
Substitute Kalem Simon fed a fine through ball to O’Sullivan, whose angled shot was brilliantly tipped away by Delany for the save of the night.
Bohemians then sealed their win three minutes later.
Keith Buckley and Kelly worked the ball in from the right flank and Evans was there at the far post to score with his first touch of the ball
Bohemians: Dean Delany; Derek Pender, Roberto Lopes, Anto Murphy, Lorcan Fitzgerald; Paddy Kavanagh, Kealan Dillon, Robbie Creevy, Karl Moore (Adam Evans 71); Keith Buckley (James O'Brien 79); Dean Kelly (Marc Griffin 87)
Longford Town: Paul Hunt; Jamie Mulhall, Pat Sullivan, Willie Tyrell, Conor Powell; Ayman Ben Mohamed, Stephen Rice (Mark Salmon 37), Rhys Gorman, Kevin O’Connor (Kalem Simon 57); David O’Sullivan, Gary Shaw
Referee: Sean Grant (Wexford)
