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Alan Reynolds says Bohemians do not need to look too far in the rear view mirror to know they cannot take anything for granted when they host Longford Town in the last 16 of the Club Orange Men’s FAI Cup.
It’s a repeat of the FAI Cup final of 25 years ago when club legend Tony ‘Toccy’ O’Connor’s goal was the difference between the sides. How Bohs fans would love another day to remember like that, but Reynolds is looking no further than tonight’s opposition.
Reynolds said: “It’s a massive game for us. Bohs have a proud history in the FAI Cup. You hear people talking about their memories of the likes of Dave Tilson and Toccy and their goals in finals, and that’s what everyone wants to be a part of. We had Toccy in talking to the team at the start of the season about how privileged they are to be the last team to play in Dalymount before the redevelopment, and it was important that our group learnt that history and who they are playing for and who they are representing when they take to the pitch.
“But nobody can be dreaming or looking any further than this game. You only have to look at the last round – when Kerry knocked out Shels – to know that league positions and form can go out the window in cup games. We had our own near-miss against Kerry a couple of years ago too and we lost here to Sligo last year, so we are in no position to be able to take anything for granted.
“Longford are a good team, they’ve a lot of players who came through the academy system here at Bohs too, so they will coming here eyeing a scalp, and it’s up to us to make sure we are firing on all cylinders from the first minute, and that we are ruthless with and without the ball.”
Bohs come into the game after a memorable six weeks competing in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers. That run came to an end on Thursday evening with a 3-2 defeat away to Midtjylland, 5-2 on aggregate, a scoreline that barely tells half the story.
Having lost the first leg in Tallaght 2-0, Bohs had the ball in the back of the net twice in the first 10 minutes in Herning. The first, a brilliant decision, was correctly ruled out for offside but the second, a header from Pat Hickey, was an inexplicable decision.
Midtjylland should also have been reduced to ten men in the first half, and in the end the second-half goals, both super finishes from substitutes Zane Myers and Dayle Rooney, turned out to be consolations. It was extremely harsh on Bohs, who were also on the wrong side of costly marginal calls in the first leg.
Reynolds said: “Before getting into the tie itself, I want to thank every one of our fans for the support they have shown the team over the past six weeks.
“It has been a memorable time to be involved at this great club, both at home and travelling across Europe. Moments like Rossi’s late winner in Dalymount against Ballkani and the scenes in Pristina of the team running the length of the pitch to celebrate Jordan Flores’ winning penalty with everyone who travelled over were ones to cherish.
“The support that travelled over to Denmark was next level. The noise behind the goal from start to finish, the flags, the sea of jerseys, everything – it was just incredible. We’re gutted that we couldn’t pull off an upset but I think our fans know we died on our feet. Even the applause we got from fans at the airport and getting back on to the charter, and the words of encouragement, that meant a lot to us all.
“Our season can’t stop there. We want to progress in the cup and we want to consolidate in the league, and push on further. Every one of the players and staff wants to repay that support. We have performed well in Europe and got a couple of big results but we are not patting ourselves on the back. We all know we have work to do to make sure we get back into Europe next season.
“On the game itself, to a man, our lads were fantastic. We started so well. A brilliant finish by Adam at the start that was unfortunately offside. The second one that was ruled out, Pat’s header, was a shocking decision at a really important stage of the game. It would have put us 1-0 up and had them really on the back foot, and who knows what we could have gone on to do.
“It was unforgivable really, and then Midtjylland should have had a man sent off. Against a team as good as Midtjylland you need a slice of luck. We spoke the previous week about marginal calls not going our way in the first leg and them costing us. You can take them on the chin because they are tight calls but Thursday was different. They were terrible decisions.
“We have to draw a line under that now. We can’t change what’s happened, but we can’t afford to be feeling sorry for ourselves either. We don’t have that luxury because there is a lot at stake between now and the end of the season, starting against Longford and we are fully focused on that challenge.”
Reynolds will be hoping for a marked improvement on their past two domestic games after European fixtures.
He said: “The couple of league games we have played after European ties, the results haven’t been good enough. Against Galway United here a fortnight ago, I thought we were excellent but we couldn’t get the winner that I felt our performance more than deserved.
“It was a different story away to Waterford last Sunday. We weren’t at the races. All the things we spoke about before the game about how good Waterford can be, how aggressive they are in and out of possession, we simply didn’t deal with it and that’s on us. You can’t put in a first-half performance like that against any team and expect to get a result, let alone a team like Waterford who are one of the form teams in the league since Graham Coughlan came in.
“So there is frustration in our group that we let slip opportunities to put a bit of distance between us and the teams below us as well as putting a bit of pressure on the league leaders. We need to learn from that: If we want to progress, we have to be ruthless.
“We all want to build on a special few weeks, so that means everyone pulling together once more, and doing everything we can on the pitch and in the stands to make sure we are in the hat for the next round.”
Team news
Sam Todd (calf) is Bohs’ only absentee.
Paddy Madden is eligible for inclusion for the first time.
Tickets
Tickets remain on sale from tickets.bohemians.ie.
A further reminder that memberships and season tickets are not valid for FAI Cup ties. Anyone wishing to attend the game must purchase a match ticket – no membership card or season tickets will be accepted.