Alan Reynolds wants a repeat of the energy on and off the pitch when Bohemians host Sligo Rovers at Dalymount Park.
Bohs come into Friday’s game after a memorable night seven days ago when, 1-0 down at the break, a rapid response saw them race into a 3-1 lead eight minutes into the second period, ultimately winning an eight-goal thriller 5-3.
Reynolds said: “We made life difficult for ourselves in the first half, but Derry are a good team and they came to Dalymount with something to prove.
“The first and last five to ten minutes of the first half, we played some good stuff, but the period in between was below our standards, and we got punished.”
While Reynolds was frustrated by the first-half performance on the pitch, he said the noise off it helped rally his troops at the break before they grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half.
He said: “There is obviously a serious realisation among everyone at the club that we are running out of games at Dalymount, but the effect the noise and support generated by our fans last Friday can have on spurring on our players should not be underestimated.
“The support we had was fantastic. The lads who didn’t let their performance drop in the first half was the crowd down the far end of the Jodi Stand who created an atmosphere for the ages. Even when we went a goal down, they were right behind us during that period when we were under real pressure, and that gave our players a real lift.
“That support demanded a response in the second half last week and it got one. To come out in the second half losing 1-0 to be 3-1 up eight minutes later was a real whirlwind.
“I have to give great credit for the way our players really took the game by the scruff of the neck too. It was a real team effort and we had some brilliant goals too from Patrick Hickey, Connor Parsons and Douglas James-Taylor.
“Ross Tierney’s second goal rightly got all the plaudits, and he was one who really upped his game in the second half, but he had to work really hard to get his first as well. Three of our goals came from set-piece routines, and again I have to give credit to Derek Pender for all the work he does with the group in training on those”
While the manner of the second half performance had Phibsborough rocking, Reynolds says there is still room for improvement, and said his players simply cannot take their foot off the gas against a Sligo Rovers team who have already won at Dalymount this season.
He said: “Sligo are fighting for their lives at the minute but have some very good players as they have shown already this season, beating us 2-1 the last time they came to Dalymount in April.
“We’ve worked very hard to get to where we are this season, but we have had more defeats like that than we should have – a reminder of how we need to get a result against any team in this league. There are only eight league games left, four of which are at home. We want to give as good as we can to see where that will take us.
“We don’t have the luxury of getting carried away by one win, as exciting as it was. We didn’t win our previous two league games, the defeat against Waterford one of our most disappointing performances of the season, so now we need to build on last week’s win.
“We want to put pressure on the teams ahead of us and we want to put more breathing space between us and the teams behind us. So my ask again of the fans is to recreate the atmosphere we had last week and to spur on our lads once again.”
Team news
Bohemians are without Sam Todd (quad) and Dayle Rooney (hamstring).
Streaming
The game will be streamed on LOITV, with commentary from Rúaidhrí O’Connor and Paddy Kirk.
Match sponsor: The Back Page
The Back Page, located three minutes from Dalymount Park, is Phibsborough’s ultimate sports and games hub, and proud sponsors of Bohemian Football Club.
Matchball sponsors:
Jannick and Maksut
Honda Motorcycles Ballymount