Bohemians make hard work of Conference League return but late goal gives crucial cushion
The League of Ireland side were back in European action at Dalymount Park for the first time in 14 years.
BOHEMIANS 2 (Douglas James-Taylor 60, Connor Parsons 90)
ST JOSEPH’S 0
They made hard work of it, but Bohemians should be well on their way to the Conference League second round.
Their first European game at Dalymount Park in 14 years looked to be heading to a frustrating stalemate when Douglas James-Taylor netted from the spot on the hour.
Substitute Connor Parsons all but put the tie to bed in the 90th minute with a diving header, but it was far from straight-forward for Alan Reynolds’ men.
Their sloppy play was summed up by a Jordan Flores ball out to the right that should have led to a St Joseph’s counter, had Julian Valarino managed a relatively straightforward piece of control.
Flores is usually spot-on with his left boot, but his loose pass went straight to Valarino who, somehow, let the chance to launch a break slip under his foot.
Misplaced passes and slow build-up play was the story of the first hour for the hosts, while their visitors looked much sharper on the few occasions that they ventured into the final third.
That was until Ross Tierney was clipped inside the area by Bakary Diedhiou, and Danish referee Lasse Graagaard pointed to the spot.
James-Taylor had missed from the spot last week, but he had the courage to step up again and this time he made no mistake.
That goal took the shackles off a sluggish Bohs side and they could have pressed home their advantage even more forcefully.
But they’ll settle for two and, on the evidence of this performance they should see it out next week in Gibraltar against a group of players whose lack of match sharpness showed the longer the game went on.
A number of St Joseph’s players went down late on with cramp as they struggled to keep pace with the intensity of their hosts’ play in the latter stages.
Bohs will still have to avoid the kind of play that gifted a couple of chances to their visitors.
The best one came when Markuss Strods lost possession in the 18th minute. Goalkeeper Paul Walters did well to get down to his left and deny Francis Ferron from a low Valarino centre.
Bohs had made a bright start, but it quickly became apparent that the job of breaking down a densely populated defence required more pace in their passing than Reynolds’ men could muster.
Another example of their lack of their sloppy play was a short corner routine between Ross Tierney and Harry Vaughan that was so poorly executed that the ball was cut out before it reached Vaughan.
The pair were, however, involved in the best piece of first-half play by the hosts, when a one-two led to a Vaughan strike that was deflected over the crossbar.
But that was the exception rather than the rule, and Banda didn’t have to work very hard on the stroke of half-time when Flores attempted a curler from the edge of the area.
Once again, it was well below the levels expected from the midfielder.
A poor start to the second-half had home fans fearing the worst, and Ferron’s header from a left-wing free-kick did little to ease the nerves, even if it was an easy gather for Walters.
Finally the tension was lifted when the Gypsies were awarded a penalty on 59 minutes for a trip by Bakary Diedhiou on Tierney.
James-Taylor, who missed from the spot last week, stepped up and sent the ball inside the left-hand post, beating goalkeeper Banda with the pace of his effort.
Banda, bizarrely, picked up an injury in attempting to keep the spot-kick out and, after lengthy treatment, it was decided to replace him with substitute keeper Gato Romero.
He was beaten in the 90th minute when Sadou Diallo and Dawson Devoy linked up on the right, and the recently capped Ireland midfielder’s cross was met by Parsons’ diving header.
Whelan should have made it three in injury-time but Romero was quickly off his line to deny the Bohs sub.
Bohemians: Paul Walters; Darragh Power, Patrick Hickey, Sam Todd, Senan Mullen (Sadou Diallo 46); Dawson Devoy, Jordan Flores, Ross Tierney; Markuss Strods (Dayle Rooney 65), Douglas James-Taylor (Colm Whelan 76), Harry Vaughan (Connor Parsons 65).
St Joseph’s: Bradley Banda (Gato Romero 64); Kingsley Fobi, Geovanni Barba, Javi Paul, Sebastien Lauture; Marco Rosa (Javi Moreno 71), Juanma, Bakaray Diedhiou (Evan De Haro 84); Francis Ferron (Pirulo 65), Alvaro Cascajo (Pablo Rodríguez 46), Julian Valarino.
Referee: Lasse Graagaard (Denmark)
