Bohemians 2 Shamrock Rovers 1: Stunning first half strikes from Killian Brennan and Mark Rossiter saw Bohemians take the honours in the Dublin derby with Shamrock Rovers at Dalymount park this evening.
The pair gave Bohs a 2-0 lead at the break and despite an Eoin Doyle in the second half for Rovers they were rarely troubled by the young Hoops, who had Sean O'Connor sent off in the last minute.
The result moves Pat Fenlon's side four points clear of St Patrick's Athletic with a game in hand at the top of the eircom League Premier Division table.
Rovers began brightly enough and could have taken a fourth minute lead had Tadhg Purcell not blasted over from six yards.
His wastefulness was punished in the 12th minute when John Paul Kelly, who looked lively throughout, was taken down on the edge of the box by O'Connor. The Rovers man was harshly booked but worse was to follow as Brennan stepped up to guide the ball over the wall and into the top right hand corner of the net.
It was Brennan's 12th of the season and one that was worthy of any stage, though Barry Murphy's positioning left him with no chance.
Bohs controlled much of the possession from then on, with debutant Gary Deegan keeping the ball well in the centre of the park, but with 25 minutes on the clock Darragh Maguire nearly drew Rovers level when his glancing header from O'Connor's corner flashed just wide of Brian Murphy's upright.
Maguire won a further two set-pieces in the first half but on the first occasion found nobody to latch onto his knock down and on the second Purcell failed to react quickly enough to trouble Murphy.
O'Connor had Murphy scrambling with a low shot after cutting in from the right but it never really had the goalkeeper bothered.
Moments later Mark Rossiter showed how it was done when, after passing into Neale Fenn's feet, he got the ball back from the forward and drilled a right-footed shot in the bottom corner from 25 yards. Again, Murphy might have done better after getting down to the shot but the strike from Rossiter was a crisp one.
Rovers were looking increasingly vulnerable and Stephen Rice reacted well to head Glen Crowe's strike from Kelly's corner off the line.
After surprising some with his decision to leave Padraig Amond on the bench, Pat Scully introduced the Rovers top scorer along with Doyle at the break, as he moved to a 4-3-3 with the subs alongside Purcell.
Danny O'Connor and Mark Leech were sacrificed, while Brennan was replaced by Bohs' new man Mindagaus Kolanas of Lithuania.
Amond and Doyle looked spritely but, in truth, the changes made little difference until the 65th when, after injured left-full Rossiter was replaced by Conor Powell, Rovers full-back Simon Madden found enough space on that side to pick out Doyle.
The substitute's header was straight at Brian Murphy but low enough to prevent the goalkeeper from keeping it out.
Powell then gave away two cheap free-kicks. The second almost dropped for Amond but Murphy gathered and the Rovers revival never materialised. To add to their misery O'Connor got his second yellow for a clumsy tackle on Stephen O'Donnell.
Bohemians: Brian Murphy, Owen Heary (capt), Mark Rossiter (Conor Powell 60), Stephen O'Donnell, Anto Murphy, Thomas Heary, John Paul Kelly (Jason Byrne 81), Gary Deegan, Glen Crowe, Neale Fenn, Killian Brennan (Mindagaus Kolanas 45)
Subs: Chris Konopka, Jason Byrne, Conor Powell, Sean Byrne, Mindagaus Kolanas
Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy, Ger O'Brien (capt), Pat Flynn, Simon Madden, Darragh Maguire, Danny O'Connor (Padraig Amond 45) , Eric McGill, Stephen Rice, Tadhg Purcell, Mark Leech (Eoin Doyle 45), Sean O'Connor.
Subs: Corey Treacy, Darren Stapleton, Eoin Doyle, Karl Coleman, Padraig Amond
