Bohemian FC 0

Shamrock Rovers 2
Cassidy 45+1', 75'

FAI Cup Replay - Dalymount Park - Tuesday 29th August 2006 ko 7.45pm

Rovers Line-Out

1 Barry Murphy, 2 Ger O'Brien, 3 Robbie Clarke , 4 Aidan Price , 5 Ian Ryan,
6 Vinny Perth, 7 Dave Cassidy, 8 Ray Kenny, 9 Tadhg Purcell, 10 Gerard Rowe,
11 Dave O'Connor.

Substitutes : 13 Anto Flood, 14 Paul Gannon, 15 Jamie Duffy, 16 Padraig Amond,
18 Dave Vickory, 19 Dean Lawrence, 20 John McGuinness.

Match Report

A night to savour in Dalymount Park as Rovers overcame all the odds and progressed to the Quarter-Finals of the FAI Cup over Premier Division opponents. Rovers were pinned back for most of the opening period and for the first 15 minutes of the second-half but Barry Murphys penalty save from Bohs player-manager Gareth Farrelly turned the game in Rovers favour.

The home side set the tone for the first half after only 2 minutes when Farrelly's long throw was headed over the bar. However a lapse in defence after 9 minutes from McGuinness saw Purcell set up Cassidy but his shot as blocked. Bohs were knocking the ball high into the Hoops box whenever they could and Ward got behind O'Brien but Murphy palmed away his effort. Kelly then picked out Farrelly from a free-kick in the 17th minute but his header went wide. Another dangerous corner in the 20th minute saw Purcell get back to head clear. Two minutes later a rare Rovers attack saw Rowe cross but McGuinness got there before Purcell.

The game was strangely subdued with Bohs relying on the set-piece moves and the Hoops finding it hard to get behind the Bohs defence with Purcell being caught offside on a couple of occasions. In the 35th minute a slip by Ryan almost let Leech in but O'Brien got back to cover. From the resultant corner McGuinness just failed to make contact in front of goal. Cassidy then done well to clear a free-kick in front of his own goal in the 38th minute. Bohs best chance fell to Ward in the 40th minute when Kelly found him with a cross and he headed wide even though Murphy had slipped coming for the ball. The game was turned on its head in first-half stoppage time when a Purcell knock on was contested by Perth and the ball fell to Cassidy in the box and he gleefully shot past O'Brien for the Hoops opener.

The second-half started with a great chance for the Hoops when Rowe swept into the box and the ball fell to O'Connor in front of goal but he took one touch too many and the chance was lost. Straight away at the other end Murphy had to tip over a wayward clearance from Ryan. The homeside pushed on and when Ryan mis-judged a long through ball it fell nicely for Leech but he blazed over the bar from just outside the box.Hesitancy in the Hoops defence in the 52nd minute saw Ward burst through but Murphy came out to block his shot. Just two minutes later a run by Kelly was stopped with a trip in the area and Ref. Stokes pointed to the spot. Under-fire player manager Gareth Farrelly stepped up and fired a low shot to Murphys right but the Hoops 'keeper got down superbly to push away the ball for a corner.

There was no rest for the Hoops defence as Ryan made a great tackle to deny Ward in the 58th minute. A great run by Purcell just two minutes later saw his deep cross find Cassidy but his header was saved by O'Brien. Leech then shot over the bar under pressure before a great run and pull-back by Rowe saw O'Connor shoot just wide. Bohs were still pressing and Price got across to block Wards run into the box on 66 minutes.

A bizarre moment led to the Hoops second goal as Pat Scully was sent from the bench for contesting a ridiculous decision by the linesman when he awarded a throw-in when the ball had clearly not gone out. However Rowe again pierced the home defence and when chasing a through ball he sent a cross to the back post and Cassidy met the ball and calmly beat two defenders before striking the ball into the net. There was complete euphoria now in the Hoops section and although O'Keefe and Harkin went close in the last 15 minutes for the home side there was no way back and the Hoops fans savoured a victory over their Dublin rivals.