Soccer: Sacked managers have a habit of returning to haunt the clubs who treated them badly and so perhaps another win for Stephen Kenny's Derry City at Dalymount Park last night had just a hint of inevitability about it.
More puzzling, though, is just what it is the Dubliners ever did to offend Mark Farren. The young striker, just as he did when his boss came back to his former place of employment for the first time back in October, scored the only goal of the game.
Once again he struck early on too, so there was plenty of time for the home side to get themselves back level. Without key players in attacking positions, however, and with Kenny's tactic of leaving Eamonn Doherty sitting in front of the visiting side's defence paying off nicely, the Dubliners never quite got to grips with things. So, after three games, they are still without a win.
The early exchanges had certainly suggested it would be another good night for Kenny. City looked sharper and more effective than their hosts in just about every department and the northerners had gone close on a couple of occasions before Farren gave them the lead seven minutes before the break.
The Donegalman had had what was probably his side's best chance of the half just short of 30 minutes in when Alan Murphy sent him racing through the centre of the home side's defence and the striker rounded Matt Gregg only to send his shot, from what still looked a manageable angle, into the side netting.
Beckett, though, was at the heart of most of Derry's better attacking work over the course of the night and he went close to grabbing an early lead for City when he struck Seán Hargan's throw-in from the left first time, but sent the shot a foot or so over Gregg's crossbar.
When it came to the goal everybody played their parts to perfection with Brian Cash aiming his throw from the right at Beckett whose first-time ball for Farren set the former Tranmere trainee up for a coolly taken low shot from just inside the area.
Coming back out for the second half the locals needed to substantially change the pattern of the game if they were going to cancel out the deficit, but with Tony Grant and Dominic Foley missing from the side's attack, it was hard to see where an equaliser might come from. Player-manager Gareth Farrelly was also on the sidelines and so Kevin Hunt was partnered in central midfield by Mark O'Brien while Stephen Ward was joined up front by David Bracken, a teenage striker of whom much is expected - although perhaps, at this level, not quite yet.
Ward did almost grab a point for the hosts with 17 minutes remaining when he linked up well with John Paul Kelly whose return pass was pretty much his first touch on his Bohemians competitive debut. David Forde got enough of a touch to the shot, however, to remove most of its pace and Eddie McCallion did the rest, clearing the ball away towards the stand moments before it would have crossed the line.
Ward clearly couldn't believe he hadn't scored, but he had at least hit the target which was more than Murphy had done at the other end when, not long before, he had a clear-cut chance to make the game safe after Ken Oman had dealt poorly with a harmless looking Beckett cross.
The miss meant that Bohemians had everything to play for until the final whistle and there were a few frantic moments for City late on.
But the visitors held on to bag their second win in two and give a travelling support that clearly needs very little encouragement something to shout about.
BOHEMIANS: Gregg; Rice, Oman, Aggrey, Byrne; Harkin, Hunt, O'Brien (O'Brien, 72 mins), Keddy; Bracken, Ward.
DERRY CITY: Forde; McCallion, Delaney, Hutton, Hargan; Doherty; Cash, Murphy, Brennan (McGlynn, 84 mins); Beckett, Farren.
Referee: A Kelly (Cork).
