SETANTA SPORTS CUP FINAL Bohemians 1 St Patrick's Athletic 0:GIVEN THE rate at which they are winning trophies these days, one or two of the Bohemians players have started to eye up Mick Neville's Irish record of 15 winners' medals.
However, for their manager, Pat Fenlon, Saturday’s Setanta Sports Cup success at Tallaght completed his haul of all the major honours on offer in the game here. It also came on the day that the club he was supposed to take over a few months back, Dundee United, won the Scottish Cup and reinforced the impression that’s there’s little left for him to prove in League of Ireland football.
This was the fifth success of note since he arrived at the club two and a half years ago and though the competition has been significantly devalued by the troubles of its backers over the last year, it was still something that Fenlon and his men wanted to bag.
They did it handily enough thanks to Anto Murphy’s first-half headed goal from a neatly worked corner kick routine.
Bohemians goalkeeper Barry Murphy may not have looked the most convincing at times but he was rarely tested and on the one occasion he was beaten Vinny Faherty’s close-range shot was blocked just short of the line by a defender.
“I don’t think I can fault the players, to be honest,” said St Pat’s manager Pete Mahon afterwards. “They’ve just lost a cup final to a very good team by a goal to nil.”
Mahon wasn’t helped by the loss to a stomach bug of David McAllister before kick-off while Conor Kenna and Paul Byrne clearly weren’t 100 per cent fit either.
Young Bohemians striker Aaron Greene limped out of the game at half time, however, while Jason Byrne and Murphy were both struggling when taken off late on too.
In the circumstances then, Fenlon, whose CV must make him a very strong contender for the Irish under-21 job, had good reason to be pleased with the performance. “People keep writing this team off and criticising and knocking them and this and that. What they’ve done over a two-and-a-half-year period is fantastic,” said Fenlon.
It was their first win at Tallaght and while he played that aspect of the victory down, Murphy reflected what was, most likely, the prevalent attitude within the dressing room. “It’s good to get a win here,” he said with a grin. “And winning a trophy in Tallaght before Shamrock Rovers, that’s extra special as well.”
BOHEMIANS: B Murphy; Heary, Shelley, McGuinness, Powell; A Murphy (Quigley, 71 mins), Cronin, Keegan, Brennan; Greene (Madden, half-time), Byrne (Cretaro, 85 mins).
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Rogers; Pender, Kenna, Guthrie, Bermingham; Guy, Mulcahy (D Doyle, 89 mins), S Byrne, Coughlan (Sinnott, 89 mins); Faherty, P Byrne (Williams, 67 mins).
Referee: G Eakin(Antrim).
