Derry on target to carry off the double

DERRY CITY continued their march towards a possible double at Dalymount Park last night, where two second half goals paved their way to the final of the Harp Lager FAI Cup final and ended Bohemians involvement in the competition at the semi final stage for the fourth successive year.

So often accused of being negative, Bohemians valiantly took this game to their opponents for the first hour but neither Derek Swan nor John Ryan could seriously trouble Tony O'Dowd and at the end of the evening a Sean Hargan header as well as a late Eoin Mullen own goal separated the sides.

The home side won the midfield battle hands down with Peter Hutton still looking well short of his best and Paul Hegarty apparently picking up a knock in the very first minute of play. Paul Doolin and Peter Hanrahan made the most of the opportunity with the pair, particularly the former Derry player, outstanding in the Centre, but up front, the Dubliners looked toothless with Tony O'Dowd not called on to make a really good save until Hanrahan tested him with a close range header in the second last minute.

By then, the home side had thrown everything forward but Hanrahan's chance aside they rarely threatened to crack open the City defence. A strong breeze which blew into their faces hardly helped the Dubliners as they struggled to create openings, but the bigger problem for Turlough O'Connor's side was the determination of the visitors to escape with their dream still in tact.

City had opened that lead in the 71st minute, when a neat move between - Gary Beckett and Tommy Dunne was followed by a Liam Coyle cross that his teammates queued up to head home. Inside the far post, Hargan rose unchallenged to guide the ball home and from that point on there was a strong sense amongst the crowd of 4,000 that Bohemians' hopes were crumbling.

Their manager gambled on the introduction, after a three month absence, of Tony O'Connor shortly afterwards but, with an equaliser still eluding his side, his hopes of forcing the match into extra time were crushed a quarter of an hour later, when Hutton's low cross from the right was turned, into his own net by the retreating Eoin Mullen.

The way that they have carved out results this season, it was always impossible to rule out a City win but it had seemed unlikely through much of the first half in which Bohemians, with the wind at their backs, had moved the ball forward with as much speed and purpose as they have shown since those first, trail blazing weeks of the season.

Their inability to recapture that early season form has been their undoing in the league in the intervening months but for long spells last night, it seemed that they had rediscovered it just in time to keep alive their hopes of ending the campaign with a precious piece of silverware.

In the centre, the dominance of Hanrahan and Doolin, who repeatedly picked up good possession and set up Brian Mooney and Derek McGrath to attack down the wings, seemed certain to bring a reward. But although the former Preston star, in particular, saw a good deal of the ball in promising positions, he found it difficult to make an impression down a right side fiercely defended by Tommy Dunne and at half time he was switched to try his luck on the other side.

"Peter Hutton didn't really get into it until the last 20 minutes because he was still very stiff and sore out there tonight and Hegarty was carrying an injury from early on so they were allowed to dominate," said Felix Healy of the period afterwards. "To be honest, though, I didn't think that they created too much to worry us at any stage in the match."

His own side did have a couple of good chances midway through the first period when Coyle just failed to connect with a James Keddy cross and then Hargan drew Dave Henderson into the action for the first time with a driven a shot that the Bohemians goalkeeper did well to push wide. After that, though, City were content to defend in numbers as the home side desperately looked to make so much pressure pay.

Their best chance came just after the half hour when a shot by Doolin glanced the angle of the goal but, despite controlling two thirds of the match, the locals had nothing to defend as City picked up the pace of a fine game in the closing stages.

Afterwards O'Connor admitted that his side could have no complaints about the outcome while Healy offered some consolation to his rival. "I have a heart," said the Derry manager, "and so I have to feel a bit sorry for them because there is no worse time to lose in the cup than in the semi finals.