By Gavin McLaughlin
Bohemians 0-2 Dundalk
Daryl Horgan’s brace propelled Dundalk four points clear at the top of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division table as the reigning champions beat Bohemians 2-0 at Dalymount Park.
Horgan gave Stephen Kenny’s side the lead with a delicious 38th-minute free-kick before securing the win in the second half when he bundled the ball over the line.
The victory moves Dundalk four points clear of Cork City at the summit and extends their unbeaten run on the road to 25 league games.
Both sides were hampered by injuries in key areas.
Bohs, looking to end a run of three straight losses without scoring in all competitions, had to make do without Eoin Wearen and Ismahil Akinade, the striker who caused Dundalk untold damage in the meetings between the sides last season.
The champions arrived in north Dublin with Stephen O’Donnell, Patrick McEleney, Ciaran O’Connor and Ciaran Kilduff all sidelined.
Robbie Benson came in for his first league start in a Dundalk shirt, replacing O’Donnell in the heart of the midfield.
Kilduff’s season looked to be over when it was confirmed he had fractured two vertebrae but Dundalk fans would have been lifted by the appearance of the striker taking part in some pre-match jogging before kick-off.
The previous four meetings between the sides were eventful and this one proved to be no exception.
Just two minutes had elapsed when David McMillan got in behind the Bohs defence on the right but he struggled to get the ball under real control and his shot was easily gathered by Dean Delany.
Keith Long’s side settled down and Gary Rogers came to Dundalk’s rescue in the 27th minute, getting down well to his left to push Derek Prendergast’s header from a well delivered Lorcan Fitzgerald corner behind.
Bohs continued to look inventive with the lively Keith Buckley pulling the strings in midfield.
His pass on the half hour gave Kurtis Byrne a brief sighting of the Dundalk goal but Brian Gartland did enough to shepherd his former team-mate into a difficult position to get a meaningful effort at goal.
The traffic was all one way at this stage but Dundalk struck a vicious blow in the 38th minute.
Ronan Finn’s heavy touch in midfield wrongfooted Dave Mulcahy and when it turned into a sprint between the two, the 38-year-old struggled to keep up with Finn outmuscling him to bear down on goal.
The veteran defender hauled the Dundalk player down with referee Rob Harvey deciding that a yellow card was sufficient punishment, much to the frustration of the visiting players.
Horgan, though, stepped up to curl a sensational free-kick around the outside of the Bohs wall to beat Delany at his left hand post and give the Louth side a lead at the break that few could argue they deserved.
For Bohs, the half-time whistle took them to 368 minutes without a goal in all competitions.
The opening 15 minutes of the second half lacked any sort of intensity with the Dublin side struggling to regain the momentum they had in the first period.
Dundalk, looking to keep a fourth successive clean sheet, kept the natives at arms length and they took a big step towards the victory with 22 minutes remaining on the clock.
Horgan was, again, the instigator, leading Derek Pender a merry dance as he walted to the byline to deliver a cross to John Mountney at the far post.
The substitute’s header returned the ball across the face of goal and Horgan was there to stoop and bundle the ball home.
The hosts needed a quick response but Rogers proved equal to the task when tested with a couple of long-range attempts and substitute Mark Quigley saw his header from a corner cleared off the line by Benson and Dundalk saw it out comfortably.
Bohemians: Dean Delany; Derek Pender, Derek Prendergast, Dave Mulcahy, Lorcan Fitzgerald; Roberto Lopes (Mark Quigley 73), Dan Byrne (Anto Murphy 84); Keith Buckley, Paddy Kavanagh (Jake Kelly 72), Ayman Ben Mohamed; Kurtis Byrne.
Dundalk: Gary Rogers; Sean Gannon, Andy Boyle, Brian Gartland, Dane Massey; Chris Shields, Robbie Benson (Paddy Barrett 86); Darren Meenan (John Mountney 61), Ronan Finn, Daryl Horgan; David McMillan (Michael O’Connor 89).
Referee: Rob Harvey.
