Top marksman Glen Crowe tonight slammed home an 88th minute winner to send Bohemians into the final of the 2001 FAI Cup.His sharp strike brought an exciting end to a semi-final that rarely entertained.
Liam O’Brien dinked a lovely ball over the Rovers defence to the forward-rushing Tony O’Connor.The full-back delivered a teasing cross which Crowe’s partner, Alex Nesovic, volleyed towards goal.Rovers goalkeeper Tony O’Dowd blocked well but Crowe was on hand to rifle the winner into the net to bring joy to a substantial home crowd.
Mark Kenny almost equalised for Rovers from with a free-kick that whistled past the post, but there was to be no replay.Which, given the quality of much of what went before, is perhaps a good thing.
It wasn’t until the 18th minute that either keeper was invited to show his worth.When Shane Robinson returned an aimless clearance into the Bohs box it seemed Sean Francis would latch on to it, but Wayne Russell sprinted from his goal to grab the ball before the Rovers striker could connect.That, alas, was the highlight of the first 25 minutes.
On 28 minutes, Russell had to make a more impressive block.Billy Woods slipped the ball through to Francis in the Bohemians box, Francis pulled the ball back onto his right foot and hammered a low shot towards goal, which the keeper batted out for a corner.
Bohemians manager Roddy Collins recognised his side were going nowhere, and he elected to make a substitution after just half an hour.In an attacking move, he threw Trevor Molloy on for Dave Morrison.
Molloy could have made his manager look like a genius only two minutes later but missed a glorious chance to give Bohs the lead.Rovers midfielder Brian Byrne mysteriously knocked the ball backwards behind his defenders, giving Molloy a clear run on goal.But keeper Tony O’Dowd salvaged the situation for his side by parrying the striker’s low drive.
Bohs then increased the tempo and Rovers were visibly stretched.A last-gasp challenge from Billy Woods stopped Nesovic from unleashing a shot from eight yards.Then, after 40 minutes, Mark Rutherford got an opportunity to run at the Hoops defence for the first time and was scythed down by Derek Treacy after beating two men.Treacy was booked, but O’Dowd saved the resulting free-kick comfortably.
Two minutes later, Bohs again went close to breaking the deadlock, but Nesovic flashed his angled shot wide from seven yards.
The first chance of the second half came when a Rovers attack broke down and Bohs surged forward with speed.Nesovic twisted pasted Terry Palmer into the box and was clearly gunning for the bottom right hand corner with a prodded shot that O’Dowd again did well to repel.
In the 75th minute, Jason Colwell won a free-kick for Rovers right on the edge of the Bohs box.That gave Kenny a platform to produce the match’s first moment of true class.Stepping up to take the free-kick - the sort of opportunity he had probably been brought on for - he rammed a lovely low curling shot past a six-man wall.Unluckily for Kenny, the ball rebounded off the upright and out.
In truth, that was one of the few times the spectacle rose above the tortuous.Any hope that Bohs’ elegant captain, Kevin Hunt, might bring some order to the chaos vanished when he was replaced by Liam O’Brien in the 79th minute.Sixty seconds later, another potential match-winner, Rovers’ Tony Grant, was also withdrawn.From then on, a nil-all draw seemed likely.
Thankfully, Crowe then chose tonight to plunder his 31st goal of a splendid season.
Bohs will play either Portmarnock, Waterford, or Longford in the final. Those seeking entertainment must hope for a better spectacle, though, since Bohs seem to have a strange aversion to playing fluidly in front of RTÉ cameras.