Bohemians face another stern test this evening as they travel to the Midlands to take on league leaders Athlone Town in the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division at Athlone Town Stadium (kick-off 6pm), writes Gary O’Connor.
The Gypsies head into the contest looking to bounce back from a frustrating 2-1 defeat away to DLR Waves last weekend. It was a result that summed up much of Bohs’ league campaign so far. Savannah Kane handed Bohemians the perfect start with a superb finish after just seven minutes, but DLR struck back before the break before snatching all three points with the final action of the game, a 94th-minute header from a corner.
The defeat leaves Bohemians 10th in the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division, still searching for a first league victory since March. While recent cup performances have seen Alan Murphy’s side reach the semi-finals of the All-Island Cup and the quarter-finals of the FAI Cup, translating that form into league points has proved difficult.
Today’s opponents represent arguably the toughest challenge in Irish women’s football. Athlone are the reigning league and FAI Cup champions, famously denying Bohemians in last season’s FAI Cup final, and currently sit top of the table. They also arrive in strong form, unbeaten in their last four matches in all competitions, before turning their attention to UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifiers next week.
The sides have already met once this season, with Athlone claiming a 5-2 victory at Dalymount Park back in March. Despite the scoreline, Murphy felt the contest was far tighter than the result suggested, something his players will be hoping to prove this weekend.
Speaking after last weekend’s defeat, Murphy admitted the result against DLR was difficult to take, particularly after seeing his side surrender points so late in the game.
“We’re disappointed with the result. I thought the performance was a mixed bag. I thought we started off quite well for the first half an hour or so and then we lost control of the game. It’s obviously a sucker punch at the end conceding in the 94th minute. I think it’s been a feature where we’ve been really good in games to a certain point and we seem to be in control of the games. We don’t kill the game off so only being one up always gives the opposition a chance. So I think the game was characterised by a late goal in the first half and a late goal in the second half but for the majority of the game I thought we had control. But look, I’m really disappointed with the result. They are games we really should and need to be winning.”
Despite controlling long spells of matches this season, Bohemians have often been left to rue missed opportunities. Murphy believes his side’s inability to capitalise on positive periods has ultimately cost them valuable points.
“I think for the majority of the games we haven’t been controlling all of them but there’s been a number of games where we’ve started off brightly, we’ve either gone up in the game or we’ve had chances to score and we haven’t taken them. I think mentally when you’ve probably gone on a run like we’ve had earlier in the season and things aren’t really going for you, I suppose, it can set in that it’s not going to be your day and key moments seem to be going against us, whether that’s not taking chances or some defensive errors. I suppose once that happens then it’s tough to recover from and I think that’s what’s happened to us at the minute unfortunately. But look, we’re a really resilient group.
“But I think it’s just key now that we refocus and just really focus in on the basics and when we’re ahead, being a little bit more ruthless, taking our chances to make sure that games are put away and obviously at the other end of the pitch that we’re a little bit tighter in terms of not conceding as many chances as we should, particularly in key moments, the end of halves or the start of halves because obviously momentum shifts like the game on Saturday when we conceded in the 41st minute. If we go in at halftime at least we can regroup and one-nil up, even though we’ve lost a little bit of control of the game, I think one-nil up at halftime gives us a different perspective of the second half. So it’s key moments in games that we have to be better at.”
One of the more puzzling aspects of Bohs’ season has been the contrast between their league and cup form. While results in knockout competitions have been encouraging, league victories have been much harder to come by. Murphy admits it is difficult to pinpoint exactly why.
“It’s really hard to explain. Again, potentially it’s a mindset from the two excellent runs that we had last year. Potentially it’s a chance to go and win something or it’s a chance to get to a final in five or six games whereas the league being sort of a drawn-out sort of approach. It could be something to do with that. But it’s really hard to put your finger on.
“Obviously, as we spoke last week, it’s disappointing that we haven’t picked up three points in the league in such a long time, and I thought Saturday was a really good opportunity to do so. As I said, the group are resilient and the attitude is spot on in terms of how they come in to train and in terms of how they are on match days. As I said, if we weren’t playing well, if we weren’t creating chances, if we weren’t showing what we’re doing in training and implementing game plans, I’d be concerned. But I think it’s just key moments that’s gone against us that’s impacted us mentally.”
Attention now turns to an Athlone side who have established themselves as the benchmark in the Women’s Premier Division over the past number of years. Murphy knows the size of the task awaiting his side but insists these are the occasions his players relish.
“It’s obviously a really difficult game. You know at the start of the season, we didn’t feel that the results warranted a 5-2 result and then the games last year were quite tight between the two. It’s a game you really look forward to. They’re the champions, double champions, and they’re obviously going off to play Champions League midweek next week.
“So I think from our girls it’s always a really positive experience playing against good teams. That’s what we want to do. We want to challenge ourselves against the best. We want to show how good we are. We want to exhibit the stuff we see in training every week. So it’s an important game for us. And look we’ll have a game plan to go try and win the game, that’s what we do every week. We feel that on our day we can beat any team and that’s the way we always approach it.”
Rather than dwelling on last weekend’s disappointment, Murphy believes the trip to Athlone offers his players another opportunity to prove they can compete with the country’s top teams.
“I think it’s not even just in terms of coming off the back of a poor result. I think it’s about them proving to themselves that they can compete with the best teams in the country. That’s what the girls want. I mean, they want to be at the top level. They want to be winning things. There’s a belief within themselves as a group that they can play at the highest level and they can compete at the highest level. So these games are always important regardless of whether we come off a bad result or a good result. It’s important that we build belief in the group that when you’re competing against the best and you pick up a result against them, it’s a huge confidence boost. So that’s what we’ll be looking for this weekend.”
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