Bohemians return to Dalymount Park this afternoon (3pm) for what promises to be one of the standout fixtures of the early season, as they welcome reigning league and cup champions Athlone Town, writes Gary O’Connor.
Both sides have made encouraging starts to the new campaign. Bohemians come into the game unbeaten after a 2-2 draw away to Peamount United was followed by an impressive 3-0 victory over Cork City last weekend. That result saw Bohs produce a controlled and professional display, with Ciara Maher netting twice from set pieces before Savannah Kane added a late third.
Manager Alan Murphy was pleased with both the performance and the opportunity to utilise his squad early in the season.
“I thought we were really good, controlled the majority of the game, we got minutes into legs, made all five subs, important as well that we are able to rest players too and the majority of the girls have now got some pitch time now which is really good which we really need to continue over the next couple of weeks.”
Set pieces once again proved a key weapon for Bohemians, with two of their three goals against Cork coming from corners, something Murphy says has long been a focus for the group.
“We’ve always worked on set pieces, last year and even the first year I was here with Ken Kiernan we always had emphasis on set pieces, so it’s just nice to see them coming off, nothing different this year but I suppose it’s nice to see them paying off early in the season.”
Saturday’s opponents Athlone Town arrive in Dublin as the team to beat. The reigning SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division and FAI Cup champions have already added more silverware this season, lifting the Presidents Cup with a 1-0 win over Shelbourne.
Their league campaign has also begun steadily, with a 1-1 draw away to Sligo Rovers followed by a 1-0 home victory against DLR Waves. However, there has been significant off-field change, with the unexpected resignation of manager John Sullivan following the opening day draw, a development that has added intrigue heading into this weekend’s clash.
Despite that uncertainty, Murphy is under no illusions about the challenge his side will face.
“Really tough challenge, they’ve started the season quite well even though there’s been a manager change, they obviously won the Presidents Cup, they wouldn’t have been happy with the game in Sligo but looking back on the game they seemed to have dominated it in terms of chances created and obviously they won last weekend so it will no doubt be a tough game but ultimately these are the games that the girls look forward to, it’s a proper test and everyone wants to play in these games so it’ll be good to test ourselves against the double champions.”
The two sides shared several close encounters last season, including a dramatic FAI Cup final at Tallaght Stadium where Athlone edged a 3-2 victory. League meetings were similarly competitive, with Bohs drawing 2-2 at home and narrowly losing 2-0 away.
However, Murphy believes last season’s final will have little bearing on Saturday’s contest.
“The cup final is a little bit irrelevant I think, we had three close games with them last year I would say, I think if you look at the stats last year they didn’t concede many goals, I think we were the only team to score two against them and we done that twice, so it’s always a tough test, I don’t think the cup final has any bearing on it, but from a tactical point of view it’s going to be a good game to prepare for as we know we are going to have to be at our best and we are all looking forward to it.”
While Athlone’s managerial situation remains unresolved, Murphy expects continuity in their approach and insists his focus will remain on Bohemians’ own game plan.
“I don’t think there will be massive changes, the quality of the players that they have I think you’d be reluctant even if you were taking the team over on an interim basis to change it around so I don’t think they’ll change too much but obviously from our side we’re always prepared tactically for ourselves in terms of how we want to approach it and that’s going to be our focus this week.”
For Bohemians, this fixture also represents an early opportunity to measure their progress against the league’s benchmark side. After a strong start to the season, Murphy sees this as a valuable test of where his team currently stands.
“It’s a good barometer you’re playing against a team as I said are double champions and they continued off the form they had last year there, they’ve lost quality players but I suppose a sign of where they are is they’ve been able to replace them with quality both from inside and outside the league, so it’s definitely a good barometer to where we are and we are looking to give a good account of ourselves.”
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Eimear Lafferty (ankle) remains out.
