Bohemians renew their celebrations

As FAI Cup finals go, there have been better and worse, but supporters of Bohemians and Longford will remember yesterday's encounter for some years to come. Around Dalymount Park, in fact, the game is bound to pass into folklore, with Tony O'Connor's second-half goal completing Bohemians' first league and cup double in 73 years.

Far from disgraced themselves, Stephen Kenny's Longford side had done precisely as they had planned, taking the game to the league champions and attempting to outplay their more fancied rivals.

For 45 of the 90 minutes they had even partially succeeded, with the underdogs enjoying the better of the first period and dominating the proceedings in the first two thirds of the pitch.

Crucially, though, the fight was rarely taken to a Bohemians defence that got by with surprisingly little trouble during that generally poor spell. Roddy Collins's back-four always looked tremendously solid when called into action and then provided the platform on which the team's second-half supremacy was constructed.

During that second period Bohemians were a fraction of a second quicker in thought and the best part of a yard faster in deed in almost every area of the pitch. The endlessly honest endeavour of Kenny's back four, combined with a couple of good saves by Stephen O'Brien and occasionally disappointing finishing, kept the damage to a minimum. But once O'Connor gave Bohemians the lead with just over an hour of this game played it was almost impossible to see how Longford might rescue the situation.

If they were to get back into the game then they required some heroics from their better players, but none could produce the goods against a team that grew steadily more dominant from the start of the second half.

Stephen Kelly, their hero of the first half for the way in which he got the better of Kevin Hunt but a villain to some extent for his rushed attempt on goal from close range just before the break, was almost anonymous through the game's latter stages as Hunt and Stephen Caffrey took control of central mid-field. The arrival of Dave Morrison for Alex Nesovic just after the break shifted the balance dramatically in Bohemians' favour.

From then on, it was the Dubliners who were comfortably on top out on the flanks - an area, like an important marginal constituency, that Longford generally have to win when they harbour notions of overall victory.

Trevor Molloy's switch to a striking role helped at a time when Kenny's central defence was starting to show its first signs of feeling the strain. Even allowing for the growing pressure they were under, however, there was no excuse for the defending for the goal. Hunt, after Mark Rutherford had turned Morrison's long, angled cross back towards the penalty spot, was allowed to make one attempt at turning the ball goalwards before O'Connor connected and found the back of the net by way of the foot of the left hand post.

Kenny's men looked a little stunned by the blow and had it not been for O'Brien's speed off his line three minutes later the contest would surely have been ended by Dave Hill who, though not the most nimble of footballers, had managed to waltz into the area courtesy of a wonderful exchange with Crowe.

The country's most prolific striker had a fairly quiet afternoon, his best chance coming three minutes into the second period when Caffrey and Nesovic linked up to send the 23 year-old clear only for his attempted shot past the oncoming goalkeeper to hop harmlessly the wrong side of the post.

Suddenly it was, as Wes Byrne admitted afterwards, "backs to the wall stuff", which his side did very well indeed to survive.

Colin Notaro's introduction up front for the largely ineffectual Shay Zellor helped the situation somewhat, although by then the team was being forced to defend so deep that they struggled to provide him and Keith O'Connor with the required support.

Still Longford kept their heads and having fought back from equally unpromising situations against Cork City and St Patrick's Athletic on the way to this final, they continued to explore ways in which they might grab the goal that would force the tie into a replay.

Two minutes from time a long ball over the top almost presented Notaro with an opening, although to be fair the finish required would have been spectacular, and once the former Monaghan United man let the ball bounce without making contact, the initiative was immediately surrendered to Wayne Russell.

Then, with the game in added time, Stuart Holt picked out O'Connor with a far more impressive low through ball that sliced open the Bohemians defence. An hour earlier the striker might well have had enough in his legs to get in the shot but now his legs deserted him and as the ball rolled safely behind Russell's goal the match officials signalled that the time had come for Bohemians to renew their celebrations.

Bohemians: Russell; O'Connor, Caffrey, Maher, Hill; Molloy, Fullam (Webb, 27 mins), Hunt, Rutherford; Crowe, Nesovic (Morrison, 48 mins).

Longford Town: O'Brien; Murphy, Smith (V Perth, 87 mins), McNally, W Byrne; Gavin (Holt, 59 mins), S Byrne, Kelly, Prunty; Zellor (Notaro, half-time), O`Connor.

Referee: H Byrne (Dublin).