Bohemians return to Dalymount Park this Saturday afternoon (3pm) as they host Treaty United, looking to respond after a frustrating run of results in recent weeks, writes Gary O’Connor.
Bohemians come into the game on the back of a narrow and heartbreaking 1-0 defeat away to Shelbourne on Sunday at Tolka Park where a late goal in added time ultimately separated the sides. Despite the result, there were plenty of positives in the performance, particularly in how Bohs nullified one of the league’s strongest attacking outfits for long periods.
Manager Alan Murphy admitted the result was a difficult one to take, especially given the level of performance produced.
“Yeah, look, obviously we’re disappointed. I thought we played quite well, to be fair. We didn’t have a lot of the ball, but we expected that. I thought the girls worked really hard. It’s football, one end we miss a chance and thirty seconds later you’re one down, and so late in the game it’s really hard to recover from that. From a performance point of view, we couldn’t have asked for much more, but bitterly disappointed that the result didn’t go our way, or that we didn’t even get something out of the game.”
A key improvement from recent weeks was the defensive solidity shown throughout the contest. Having conceded multiple goals in previous fixtures, Bohs showed a much more disciplined and organised approach at the back.
Murphy was particularly encouraged by that aspect of the display.
“Yeah, I think that was key. As we said last week, we can’t be conceding as many goals as we had been in previous games. So it was nice to see the girls bought into that, and I thought they defended really, really well. On the flip side, we had three or four really good chances that we could have taken ourselves. So yeah, all round really pleased, but particularly with the defensive side. And as I said, sometimes you don’t get what you deserve in football, and to concede the way we did felt a little bit cruel.”
While the result extended Bohs’ difficult run, the performance offered a clear blueprint for how they can approach upcoming fixtures. Murphy has consistently emphasised the importance of consistency, and believes that replicating that level will bring results.
“I think I’ve been consistent in saying that performances are really key for us. If we can get consistent performances like that, we’ll win a lot of games. What’s let us down in the past couple of weeks is that we haven’t had those consistent performances, and we’ve been conceding goals. You’re not going to win games if you’re conceding multiple goals every game. So yeah, the performance was really pleasing, but it has to be the start, it has to be the template going forward rather than a one-off.”
Bohemians currently sit eighth in the table with four points from their opening four games and will be eager to halt a run of three consecutive defeats in all competitions. Saturday’s clash presents an opportunity to reset and begin building momentum again, particularly with a run of fixtures that could allow them to climb the table.
Their opponents Treaty United arrive in Dublin sitting sixth with six points and will provide another stern test. Matches between the two sides in recent seasons have typically been closely contested, and Murphy expects nothing different this time around.
“Yeah, it’s a game we’re looking forward to. Treaty are probably similar to us in terms of their age profile and how they go about things. We’ve had really tight games with them over the last couple of years, and I don’t expect it to be much different this weekend. We know the quality they have, especially younger players like Katie Lawlee and Madison McGuane, but again like Sunday we have to take confidence from that performance and obviously being at home, it’s a game we should be looking at to pick up three points.”
Having faced two of the league’s strongest sides already this season in Shelbourne and Athlone Town, Bohs will feel that their early fixtures have provided a strong test of where they are as a group. Murphy believes that executing their game plan, as seen last weekend will be key moving forward.
“Yeah, look, I suppose we’ve played two of the top teams in the league in Shelbourne and Athlone, and they’ve been there or thereabouts in terms of winning leagues and cups over the last four or five years. So those were the only two defeats. But like everything, we have a plan for every game to go and try to win it. I think we didn’t execute that against Athlone, evidently. But I think Sunday you could see that when we execute the plan, we’re capable of beating most teams in the league. So yeah, absolutely, we go into every game the same way and that’s not going to change, whether it was the first four games or the next four games.”
Team News
Bohemians are without Fiona Donnelly (knee), Aoibhe Brennan (ankle) and Eimear Lafferty (ankle).