LEAGUE OF IRELAND/Bohemians 0 Shamrock Rovers 0:SATURDAY LUNCHTIME may have seemed an odd time to be wandering along to a League of Ireland game, but those who made the effort to turn up at Dalymount Park were rewarded with healthy portions of excitement, controversy and what might be politely described as over-exuberance from most of those charged with providing the entertainment .

True, the game took a long time to get going and even after doing so it didn’t actually manage to produce any goals but both sides generated chances to take all three points and Rovers manager Michael O’Neill complaining bitterly afterwards referee Dave McKeon had deprived his side of opportunities to bag the extra two from the penalty spot.

Had the visitors Gary Twigg available up front, of course, they mightn’t have needed either of the penalties they reckoned they should have had and O’Neill wasn’t too happy either with reporters pressing him afterwards about a player missing such a big game because he was getting married.

The northerner’s tetchiness, however, was nothing compared to that of some of the players, with two low-key brawls breaking out, one at the final whistle and another during the warm downs.

“I’ve seen better fights in a Finglas chipper,” joked Bohemians manager Pat Fenlon as he sought to play the whole thing down later. There was certainly a hint of “handbags” about it all but the two clubs will doubtless be hearing more about behaviour that risked sparking much worse outside.

As both managers sought to stress, the pity was a game that had at least finished very well had been overshadowed by what followed. For the most part, Bohemians were probably fractionally the better side but they were forced to hang on through the closing stages.

As for the penalty claims, well Rovers’ best involved a shot by Dessie Baker that was clearly stopped en route to goal by the arm of Ken Oman.

“Dessie’s shot hits him on the arm and he’s in front of goal. Granted the arm might have been at the side of his body but ultimately he’s in the middle of the goal and the ball’s going in the goal so, for me, that’s a penalty kick,” insisted O’Neill afterwards.

But even he appeared to be acknowledging the absence of the necessary intent without which the referee was right to wave play on.

And there was no mention of the earlier incident in which Craig Sives had been hanging out of Jason McGuinness inside his own area, an incident McKeon had also chosen to ignore when really he should have acted.

With regard to the late challenge by Glenn Cronin on Séan O’Connor, something that ultimately caused things to flare up a few minutes later, the Rovers’ boss did seem entitled to a grumble, with the midfielder looking lucky to get away with a booking but a point apiece really did seem fair enough.

BOHEMIANS: Murphy; Shelley, Oman, McGuinness, Powell; Rossiter (Murphy, 66 mins), Cronin, Keegan, Brennan; Byrne (Madden, 82 mins), Quigley.

Shamrock Rovers: Mannus; Flynn, Sives, Murray, Murphy; Rice; O’Connor (Kavanagh, 94 mins), Chambers (Baker, 72 mins), Bayly, Dennehy (Turner, 62 mins); Stewart.

Referee: D McKeon (Dublin).