FAI Cup Semi-final: Bohemians - 1 St Patrick's Athletic - 1   So crazy are they about the occasions, it seems, Dublin clubs will always go out of their way to squeeze another derby game into their already hectic schedules. These two will meet for the fourth of six times this season at Richmond Park on Wednesday night to decide who will progress to face Longford in the final of the Carlsberg-sponsored FAI Cup

If it ends up being the home side then Bohemians will desperately want to forget yesterday's encounter before dusting themselves off to resume their title challenge against league leaders Shelbourne at the weekend.

Stephen Kenny and Kevin Hunt both felt after yesterday's game that Bohemians should have won the game but the reality is that, having found themselves under pressure for long spells, the visitors were well worth the draw that Keith Dunne earned for them 17 minutes from time with his first touch of the game.

Managers, of course, tend to see things from their club's perspective and Eamonn Collins might also have found backers for his claim that his team's first-half performance had been "fantastic," hard to find among the 5,000 strong crowd.

His praise for the likes of Colm Foley, Paul Osam and Karim El Khabir would have won broader support, however, with the trio all contributing solidly on an afternoon when, having built momentum through the second half, the visitors might even have nicked it.

Defeat, though, would have been terribly harsh on a Bohemians side that played the bulk of whatever football was produced over the contest's first hour but failed conspicuously to produce all that much by way of good scoring chances.

The best chance of the opening half, in fact, had come from the visitors, with Osam winning possession in midfield and Charles Mbabazi promptly sending Gary McPhee clear for what turned out to be a disappointing shot, blocked easily by Shay Kelly.

Bohemians, by contrast, managed from time to time to string together the sort of passing moves that characterise the team's play when they are really on song. Had Hunt scored rather than fired over on the quarter hour after perhaps half a dozen first-time passes, the goal might have been remembered as a classic but, as on so many occasions through the first half, finishing proved a problem.

Glen Crowe could take some pride from the fact he started and finished the move that led to his side's goal in the 18th minute although El Khabir's botched attempt to clear Simon Webb's cross and the subsequent ricochet off Osam that preceded Robbie Doyle's header and Crowe's tapped in follow-up were, in the end, the more memorable contributions.

Though they generally played well, it wasn't the only occasion on which the St Patrick's defence found itself scrambling to contain the home side's attacking players. To a large extent, they were let off the hook by the tendency of Bohemians' players to take the wrong option as they moved into the box. Still, for long stretches the league champions continued to look more likely to score a second than concede an equaliser.

With a goal clearly required, however, their opponents began to shift their area of operations forward and the space in midfield the home side had exploited so effectively through much of the first hour all but vanished.

Collins played his part, replacing his right back, Barry Prenderville, with Dunne, a third striker, and reaped the dividends within a matter of seconds as a long free by Chris Adamson was flicked into the path of the teenager, who coolly pushed the ball over Kelly first time with the outside of his right foot.

The free had been the upshot of a goalmouth scramble after Adamson had parried a shot from Doyle, who was immediately berated by Crowe for not crossing. There were a couple more half chances, with Fergal Harkin pushing what was perhaps the best of them just wide of the post after a good cross by Dave Morrison but they had to work hard too even to hold onto what they had, with Thomas Heary doing particularly well on one occasion to see off the danger as Osam sought to turn in a menacing position seven minutes from time.

Whether the former Huddersfield player retains his place for the replay is less than certain as Kenny has both Colin Hawkins and Paul McNally back from suspension but with Hunt banned this time and his wingers likely to find a good deal less space with which to work at Richmond Park it will take a good performance from last year's league winners in the rematch to prevent the southsiders from moving another step closer to their first FAI Cup success in more than four decades.

BOHEMIANS: Kelly; Lynch, Oman, Heary, Webb; Ryan (Harkin, 61 mins), Hunt, Caffrey, Morrison; Doyle (Keegan, 85 mins), Crowe.

ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Adamson; Prenderville (Dunne , 72 mins), Foley, Maguire, El Khabir; Fahey, Byrne, Osam, Mbabazi; Bird, McPhee (Freeman, 61 mins).

Referee: P McKeon (Dublin).