Rep. of Ireland round-up: Bohemians lose again

Bohemian FC manager Pete Mahon is under pressure after his struggling champions failed yet again, this time falling to a 2-0 defeat at home to Saint Patrick's Athletic FC on Friday night

Goalkeeping mistakes
Poor goalkeeping in each half by each of Bohemians’ two keepers cost them the game and the points. Bohemians have now won just once in their last 13 league games, with only two clean sheets.

Foley goal
Colm Foley scored the only goal of a first half which was very short on chances thanks to a mistake by keeper Mick Dempsey.
That was the end of the action for Dempsey, who was carried off and replaced by Welshman Wayne Russell.

McCarthy effort
Russell had little to do in the second half until Bohemians were caught on the counterattack three minutes from the end. Martin Russell sent a long ball into space, and with St. Patrick's striker Gerard McCarthy and keeper Russell chasing it, the keeper came off second best and McCarthy got a touch to send the ball into the net.

Shock loss
Meanwhile, Shamrock Rovers FC's lead at the top of the table was reduced to just three points as Cork City FC gained a well-earned 3-1 win.


Mulligan opener
James Mulligan gave Cork the lead three minutes before half-time, when he pounced on to an Ollie Cahill cross from the left and fired a shot past Tony O’Dowd. Shamrock deserved better for all their possession in the first half and they got their equaliser two minutes after the break, when Tony Grant made the most of some indecision by Cork’s teenage defender Damien O’Rourke and Grant had plenty of time to score his sixth goal of the season.

Horgan strike
On 73 minutes Cork regained the lead thanks to full-back Neale Horgan. He took the ball from the wing to the edge of the Shamrock box and aimed what seemed to be a cross towards O’Dowd’s goal, but the youngster’s effort curled past the Hoops keeper. Cork made sure of the win with their third goal in injury time, a superb shot by Cahill after he collected a pass from fellow midfielder Conor O’Grady.

Shelbourne close in
In the night's other game Shelbourne FC maintained the pressure on Shamrock by winning 1-0 win at Galway United FC. Peter Hutton got the crucial goal 90 seconds after the break, collecting a pass from Wesley Houlihan and firing a shot past Cobey. Shelbourne are now just three points behind leaders Shamrock.