ALAS and alack, there was always a chance this would happen. An expectant crowd of 12,000 or so descended upon Dalymount Park, delaying the kick off for almost half an hour and what followed? The only thing in danger of being eclipsed was the ball in a long ball bore.

Thus Bohemians and St Patrick's Athletic meet again in Tuesday week's replay at Richmond Park, which will not be able to accommodate a similarly sized crowd, not that the 12,000 would be so inclined anyway. Allowing for alternative attractions on Monday, it will be interesting to see how many attend their crucial league meeting.

Unfortunately therefore, on what should have been a bumper occasion, the night didn't reflect well on the domestic game. A huge Good Friday crowd for an FAI Cup semi final derby had been predicted, in this quarter at least, but clearly Dalymount was underprepared.

Ditto, it seems, the two clubs and especially the two teams, who ought to feel ashamed of themselves after serving up such an anti climax, but they probably won't. In mitigation the delay may have deflated two hyped up teams and the pitch was a tad too lively.

The managers will also no doubt point to the tension associated with semi finals, but frankly that isn't good enough. Football is in the entertainment industry and the two teams have a duty to provide something better than this. Otherwise they'll be playing in front of a dozen men and a dog, and who'll pay their wages then?

There simply wasn't enough willingness to get the ball down and pass it or take people on. Safety first, cautious long ball football prevailed. It all started from the back, where not once did Dave Henderson or Gareth Byrne feel inclined to roll the ball to a defender, not that they were ever encouraged to.

The full backs and the centrehalves, invariably, hoofed the ball upfield whenever it came their way. Much numbingly tedious aerial ping pong ensued. Even noted passers such as Tommy Byrne and Eddie Gormley exerted little influence. They did try, it's true, and a modicum of passing football came into Bohemians' game whenever Derek Swan looked to lay it off.

St Patrick's were particularly limited in ambition. Practically nothing - Byrne's tediously delayed kick outs, throw ins and frees was taken with any urgency.

The one glorious exception to it all was Brian Mooney, who seemed to be playing with a degree of purpose not on the same wavelength as anybody else. Always willing to take people on, he was the one player who persistently brought a hum of expectation from an otherwise subdued crowd.

After the 28 minute delay, and a misleadingly bright opening, it was a mazy Mooney run which awoke the official crowd which paid receipts of £25,000, one of many Peter Hanrahan flick ons forcing a hasty clearance by the ever diligent John McDonnell.

Bohemians generally, if marginally, looked the brighter and more purposeful aide but McDonnell, and Dave Campbell were fairly impenetrable. Thus the home side were restricted to wayward shots from distance by Jonathan Prizeman and Donal Broughan, and St Patrick's to a wayward free by Gormley.

Swan and Hanrahan combined skillfully to release Tommy Byrne for a fine, slanting cross but Swan headed wide. A typically quick, counter attacking clearance by Dave Henderson saw Mooney test Byrne with a run and shot, Tommy Byrne half volleying over from the resulting corner.

Inadvertently, Dave Campbell came closest of all to breaking the deadlock when slicing a Swan header goalward only for Byrne to react sharply. As a spectacle, at that point this semi final wasn't so much crying out for a goal as aching for one. But if the first half was poor the second was even worse.

It required 22 minutes for the half's first shot of any description, predictably, Mooney provided it. Moments beforehand he had left Gormley and Noel Mernagh for dead, only for Dave Campbell to intervene with a brilliantly timed sliding tackle deep inside his own area.

A backpedalling Henderson did have to tip over a looping O'Flaherty header but for the most part Gareth Byrne, less than convincing when dealing with the high stuff, always gave Bohemians hope. He fumbled high balls by the full backs Broughan and Kevin Brady (there was a lot of it about), the diving Swan cleverly being held back Baresi like by Dave Campbell when seeking to head the ball into an empty net.

It sparked a furious if futile finale from Bohemians. Swan dipping a free just wide, which merely compounded the prevailing frustration.