Bohemians 2-0 Bray Wanderers
(Cretaro 34,84)

The word win has never ever been a more important word to Bohemians Football club and they knew that heading into this tie and they have sent their supporters home with smiles on their faces something thats not been done in weeks beating Bray Wanderers 2-0 at Dalymount Park.

Sligo native Raffaele Creataro did enough to secure the desperately needed points with first and second half goals for the Champions, who were having an awful time lately, losing 2-0 to 9 man Galway on Friday and the 3-0 loss to Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght.

Gypsies boss Pat Fenlon made five changes from the team that lost to Galway United. Those changes included bringing Conor Powell who had been sidelined over the last number of weeks. Paddy Madden returned to the starting line-up partnering Raffaele Cretaro up front and Ken Oman returned as well.

Despite being rooted to the bottom of the table Bray seem to have improved since Eddie Gormley’s departure. They had won just two games under his guidance this season and now they look like a rejuvenated team.

Bohs started the game well, full of purpose and determination. This though, was to be another night where the Champions create tonnes of chances but still had massive trouble finishing them. The first chance of the game fell to Paul Keegan, who had his shot blocked Dave Webster and then moments later Paddy Madden saw his header fly right over Matt Gregg’s crossbar after a lovely cross from captain Owen Heary.

Even though the Gypsies had a fine start they were almost punished for not putting away their chances after 20 minutes. John Mulroy from the right hand side allowed Shane O’Neill to shoot with a wonderful crack of the ball, but he was denied by a fantastic save from former Bray man Chris O’Connor.

Bohs finally made good of their chances in the 31st minute after Ken Oman’s header sent Cretaro clear 1 on 1 with Gregg and the ball was in the back of the Bray net. Great header from Oman, that type of creativity was missed at Dalymount Park over the last number of weeks.

Bray to their credit came out the better side in the second half. On 56 minutes it really should have been 1-1, Derek Prendergast found himself unmarked following a corner, but he couldn’t direct his header downwards.

Bray pushed on from there and Jake Kelly had two wonderful chances within minutes of each other, to bring the visitors level. The first came following a cross on the right that found Massey, he then found Kelly but somehow the 21-year-old somehow managed to miss. Only moments later, he was denied by O’Connor who made a fantastic save.

For all of Bray’s chances, they were punished for not taking then right at the death, Raffaele Cretaro, who totally wasted one or two shots mid way through the half wrapped up all 3 points for the champions. He met a cross from Gareth McGlynn on the right and turned it towards goal, it did take a slight deflection from Shane O Connor but none of the Bohs fans cared. A MASSIVE sigh of relief for Bohs supporters but for the few Bray fans who travelled, more agony.

Bohs saw out the rest of the game quite comfortably and move back to third in the table but they are still five points off leaders Shamrock Rovers.

Bohemians: C O’Connor, O Heary, C Powell, G Cronin, B Shelley, K Oman, G Burke, P Keegan, P Madden, K Brennan, R Cretaro SUBS; M Rossiter, J Byrne, M Quigley, G McGlynn, B Murphy

Bray: M Gregg, D Webster, S Houston, S O’Connor, D Prendergast, G Dempsey, D Zambra, D O’Connor, S O’Neill, J Mulroy, J Kelly SUBS; C Tresson, I Tuohy, J Kavanagh, C Shields, D Massey

8 impressive trys secured a comprehensive victory for the England Lionhearts over Ireland Wolfhounds on Saturday evening at Young Munster Rugby Club in Rugby Leagues 4 Nations competition.

The Wolfhounds started brightly and almost went in for the first score of the afternoon on 6 minutes. In a movement that started with great control from Rob Stapleton, Brian Flanagan found himself with plenty of room and was almost over for the try but he knocked on short of the line and the opportunity was lost.

It didn’t take long for the Lionhearts to respond from the early pressure from the Irish and they themselves created a great try scoring chance in a move that started with some great ball through the hands from Dan Gregory to Barry Walker who rather impressively passed it out wide for Jimmy Baldwin who was forced out into touch by the Irish defence.

The pressure kept coming from the visitors and were awarded for their patience 2 minutes later, once again Dan Gregory was proving decisive running most of the pitch on his own before offloading to Alex Rigby securing the first try of the evening which was converted by Gregory.

The English were then piling on the pressure and credit to the Irish they were making all the big hits they needed to keep the Lionhearts at bay, The Irish were also forcing some errors and were creating some good chances themselves, but it was the final touch that was letting them down, and it seemed every time there was a scoring chance the ball was knocked on.

20 minutes into the game the Lionhearts had registered their second try of the day, Ireland’s defence let up on the halfway line and Barry Walker ran almost un opposed for the line, a great try which was converted again by Gregory.

From there the English really switched it on and their experience proved. Only 2 minutes later The Lionhearts had yet another try, Rob Masson went over after a fine dummy pass from Jimmy Baldwin, this time Gregory did not convert.

Just on the approach to half time Ireland were in with a shout of securing their first try, Wayne Kelly almost went over after some great movements from the Irish but he was forced out into touch and another fine Irish opportunity was gone.

Right before the break England registered another try, Ollie O’Mara ran a good 10 yards before finally offloading to Jack Claydon who went over for the try, Gregory once again converted. Irelands Wolfhounds were showing complacency at times and the inexperience was showing, an inspiring half time talk from the new coach was needed as England went into the break leading 22-0

The Wolfhounds came out in the second half showing more signs of determination to score and were almost straight away in for a try, Stuart Lee and Richie Jones doing very well to get the Irish into a good position. However the English turned over that Irish chance and right from the counter attack ran in another try. Barry Walker running totally un opposed and another fine try from the well experienced English.

The best move of the evening came right after that from the Irish. Some great phases and ball through the hands but once again that in experience was showing as they couldn’t finish their chances, the English turned the ball over and Alex Rigby ran in for what looked like a definite try but the referee Neil Aspey ruled that the ball had been lost forward and Wayne Kelly was straight in to gather the ball and The Wolfhounds were straight back on the counter attack. Wayne did very well to get  out of the danger zone and managed to get the ball away to Brian Flannagan who ran in a fantastic try, great effort which was converted by Stuart Lee and it was good to see Ireland finally had points on the board.

A heroic comeback looked on moments later, Flannagan from the half way line offloaded to Andy Todd who ran straight over for the try. Another fine movement and attack from the Irish and it was again converted by Lee.

Perhaps from there The Wolfhounds got too over confident after scoring two trys in quick succession, they let their defence slip midway through the second half and England were in for yet another try, Dan Gregory was having a fantastic game and he was awarded for that with a try of his own which he then converted.

The Lionhearts scored two more trys late on to kill off the game, if it wasn’t already dead beforehand. The first of which coming from Andy Gray, no not the sky sports reporter, but the try was not converted by Gregory. The second and last try came from Dan Stubbs after a great few phases of play converted by Gregory and thats where the game came to an end.

A very brave performance from the Irish considering some of the in experience in the team and also the new coach but the English experience really proved and deserved every try they got. The Final score 44-12.

Angel Di Maria scored which in fairness wont go down as goal of the season to give Argentina a 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland this evening at the first international match in the new Aviva Stadium. The game will be remembered by many as possibly the worst football game the Republic have played in the last few years, and if it wasnt for myself and Bob McKenzie’s live coverage of the game we probably would have been bored into a coma.

After what was an awful first 20 minutes which failed to see anything positive from either team, the visitors went into what at first sight seemed like a controversial lead. Straight from an Argentinian goal kick the ball landed at the feet of Gonzalo Higuain who flicked it to De Maria who lobbed it over Shay Given. At first sight it looked like it was miles offside, but on the video replay Richard Dunne played Di Maria onside so the correct call was made by the referee and his assistant.

The Argies bossed the game from then on in terms of  possession and restricted Ireland to half chances the odd time they arrived on a night of pure frustration for not only captain Robbie Keane, who was winning his 100th cap, but for the 45,000 supporters who came to witness what everyone thought was going to be a masterclass display, despite the game being a friendly.

Because Irish Hospitals are still at stone age times, Ireland manager Giovanni Trappatoni, who will have been recovering from surgery earlier that afternoon could not watch the match live because there was no Sky Sports, Sportspeak offered to leave a computer by his bedside so he could listen to our live coverage but Trap would in the end have to settle for highlights on the terrestrial television, he wont have been too pleased to stay up to watch them.

Despite the loss and the awful footballing display there was an impressive debut for Keith Tracy who was involved in most of the desperate attempts to score late on but he did well against the best players in the world. Following a rousing pre-match reception, Keane endured a tough night on the pitch, but could have made up for it if he had not uncharacteristically spurned a late chance.

With Marco Tardelli replacing Trapattoni in charge, Ireland worked hard but could not provide the guile to match the endeavour. Messi gave the 45,200 fans a glimpse of his talents as early as the ninth minute when he skipped past John O’Shea, but his lob sailed over the bar.

Republic of Ireland: 1 Given; 2 McShane, 4 O’Shea, 5 Dunne, 3 Kilbane (20 Cunningham ’57); 7 Fahey (18 Treacy ’77), 6 Green, 8 Andrews (15 Gibson ’68), 11 Duff; 9 Sheridan (17 Keogh ’57), 10 Keane.

Subs not used: 16 Westwood, 12 Foley, 13 Kelly, 14 O’Dea, 19 Stokes, 23 Murphy.

Argentina: 1 Romero; 4 Burdisso (18 Zabableta h/t), 2 Demichelis, 13 Samuel (19 Coloccini ’84), 6 Heinze (3 Insua ’72); 15 Banega, 14 Mascherano, 8 Gago; 7 Di Maria (17 Gutierrez 75), 9 Higuain (22 Milito h/t), 10 Messi (21 Lavezzi ’58).

Subs not used: 12 Andujar, 5 Bolatti, 11 Tevez, 16 Aguero, 20 Rodriguez, 23 Pastore.

Booked: Heinze

Attendance: 45,200.

Listen to tonight’s show from the Aviva Stadium with Sportspeak comentators Bob McKenzie and Dan “Pitchside” Pitcher.
 

Shamrock Rovers 3- 0 Bohemians

The hoops had gone ahead on 23 minutes from a well taken goal from Dan Murray who was unmarked in the area after Tommy Stewart put a lovely ball in for him and they went into the break with a goal lead. 13 minutes into the second half Rovers were reduced to 10 men after Pat Flynn went through Garreth McGlynn for a shortcut, a straight red was the decision from referee Dave McKeon.

The home side didn’t let that bother them though, and kept pushing for a second and got it on 62 minutes. Gary Twig went sprinting onto a Aidan Price Ball and shot the ball past Barry Murphy to send the home fans into a frenzy, this his 9th goal of the season.

This ground has been a curse for the league champions, indeed they have yet to collect a single point here since this place opened

The introductions of Jason Byrne and Raffael Cretaro did very little for Pat Fenlon and so it proved with minutes to go Billy Dennehy stepped up and slotted home an easy goal and a great finish. Pat Fenlon could only watch on as minute by minute his hopes of retaining for a 3 in a row diminished infront of him.

Shamrock Rovers ended level on points with St Patricks Athletic but Pats have a far superior goal difference, they travel to take on Drogheda while Pat Fenlons men have a home tie with Galway United next Friday

Once again the Final score Shamrock Rovers 3 Bohemians 0.

The 4th August 2010 will always be remembered as the day Manchester United played in the first game in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The scene was set the stadium filled with green seats, quickly turned red and we were about to witness history, with some of the best players in the world playing a League of Ireland selection.

Listen to match reactions from Michael Owen, Namanja Vidic & Johnny Evans.
 

As expected Manchester United threatened early on and it was almost the man who has recieved so much media attention around his off the feild antics, Wayne Rooney who almost scored as he darted past Brian Shelly from Bohemians on the right hand side, Rooney pulled the trigger but just like his form in the world cup, so close but yet so far away.

St Pats net minder Gary Rogers showed exactly why Damien Richardson picked him by pulling off a few fantastic saves from Rooney and one from Gibson but in the 13th minute all that hard work put in by the defense almost went to waste when Rooney put across a ball which seemed well defended by Gavin Peers but he gave it straight to Ji-Sung Park, who riffled it into the back of the net.

The Airtricity side did have one or two chances but none inside the box.

The “Red Devils” put themselves further in front on 25 minutes, once again the partnership between Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney was working very well, Rooney from the right shot but was saved by Rogers in goal but Owen was quick on the rebound and it was 2-0.

From there the Airtricity team really turned it on. Joseph Ndo, the former Cameroon international was causing problems for Uniteds defense, a few clever balls to Killian Brennan and Ryan Guy, but it was clear that only something spectacular from the home side would see them score. A moment of total genius did happen towards the end of the first half which put a mighty smile on the face of Sir Alex Fergeson and brought a massive cheer amongst the fans, it was Ryan Guys spectacular throw in combined with a summersault, he did the same against Bohemians in Tallaght in the Setanta cup a few months back, and the chants “Rory Delap your havin a laugh” were heard right around the stadium aswel as “Sign em up Fergie”

The fans who came to support United, all 44000 of them were certainly getting their moneys worth because the first touches of the second half lead to a third goal. Good work on the right from Valencia through to Chicharito and his very first touch and shot went right into the roof of the net, nothing Rogers could do about it.

United weren’t prepared to let this Airtricity League team have any room or any chance and 3-0 was not enough for Fergeson’s men, and within 15 minutes after the third goal United doubled that lead, and it seemed a little sad that the Irish people were loving the fact that an English team were hammering an Irish side, a sad night for Irish football it had to be said.

The first of those goals from Vanencia, after he dribbled past Powell and finished with aplomb. Another good goal. The second was a great finish from Park after Evans played him in. And the third which was the sixth goal, was from Evans, only had to tap in after sloppy defending from a corner.

On 78 minutes the Airtricity side finally scored allbeit a consolation goal but Dave Mulcahy is the first Irish player to score here. Shelley passed short to him and he finished easily. Great goal which in fareness brought a massive roar around the crowd.

Ofcourse having a 5 goal lead was still not enough and a seventh goal came from the spot. Nani made sure that United kept their 6 goal advantage and a massive beating for this Irish side but they will have learnt from that for a possible next time which wont to our Irish lads any harm 7-1 the final score

Match Details:

Airtricity XI: G Rogers, B Shelly, C Powel, G Peers,K Peers,K Oman,S Williams, P Keegan,P Madden,J Ndo,K Brennan,R Guy SUBS; G Doherty,G O’Brien, C Kenna,R Ryan,D Mulcahy,K Sheppard

Manchester United: T Kuszczak, J Evans, C Smalling, N Vidic, J O’Shea(C),A Valencia,M Carrick, D Gibson, J-S Park,W Rooney, M Owen; B Amos, Nani,D Fletcher, Chicharito, D Berbatov

Referee: Alan Kelly (Dublin)

Attendance: 49,861

Sporting Fingal left it very late to salvage a point in the Morton Stadium against Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers, but if it wernt for the many mistakes from Fingal it could have been 3 points, but a cracking game none the less.

Sporting Fingal came into todays Dublin derby with Shamrock Rovers in need reigniting their league campaign following last weeks draw with St Patricks Athletic and the previous weeks loss to Drogheda United. Shamrock Rovers knew that 3 points were needed to stay up there with St Pats but needed to take it easy so Michael O Neill would have a fully fit squad heading to Italy for their Europa League second leg tie with Juventus.

The opening 10 minutes were very quiet from both sides. Fingal got the first chance after 2 Minutes when Gary O Neill had a shot going in but it was fingertiped over the bar by Alan Manus in the goal. Fingal were patient in those opening stages and that paid off on 11 minutes, when O Neill floated a nice ball to eamon Zayed who had no difficulty in putting it past Manus for the opening goal.

A minute or two later the Tallaght men had nearly leveled the score when James Chambers found himself with plenty of space on the halfway line and ran through to the box, Quigley had come out of his goal to the edge of the area, Chambers tried to curl it around him but it just went wide.

Rovers equalized on 34 minutes Craig Sives volleyed in from a James Chambers corner after Ger O'Brien was forced to concede the corner following a James Chambers free in. A great goal and just what what they needed too.
That goal seemed to calm down any nerves but in saying that it seemed to kill off the half aswel, there wasnt anything spectacular to report and very few chances either. Michael O Neill will have been happy with his teams attitude going into the break considering their bumper week which includes a home game with Bohemians next Sunday in Tallaght, after of course the second leg tie with Juventus.

Sporting Fingal started the second half very well, they were once again patient and wernt giving away the ball and on 50 minutes it once again paid off, Ronan Finn had a cracking shot saved by Manus, but the Hoops keeper stumbled it and Gary O'Neill got on the ball and lashed it into the back of the net to put fingal 2-1 up, massive mistake from Manus. O Neill was proving instrumental setting up chances aswel as the first Fingal goal. On 62 minutes after scoring his goal O Neill set up Zayed again but he hit it just wide of the post but defiantly had Manus beaten in the goal could have and really should have been 3-1.
Fingal will be asking questions about why their final touch wasnt working, especially on 76 minutes, as the rain was pouring down in Santry Conan Byrne found himself in trouble so he passed back to Shaun Williams, who couldn't control it. Gary Twigg robbed him of the ball and raced in for a cool finish to level the sides once more.

Despite it being a horrible day weather wise, it was turning out to be a great day for Rovers. Fingal on 80 minutes were badly punished for letting the hoops have too much procession, Rice with a great goal. He shot low from outside the box into the far left corner and Quigley couldn't reach it. 3-2 Rovers. This was nothing more than Rovers deserved and it looked like a Fingal comeback was unlikely.

Or was it… on 86 minutes Ronan Finn burst into the area and fired a shot past Manus in the goal, it appeared like Manus didnt know where the ball was, great goal but very sloppy goal keeping to help ensure atleast a point for Liam Buckleys men.

Sporting Fingal: D Quigley, G O'Brien, L Fitzgerald, S Williams, K Browne, E Zayed, C Byrne, R Finn, G O'Neill, A Kirby, S McFaul SUBS B Gannon, O Cahill,G Crowe, K Dawson, B Clarke

Shamrock Rovers: A Mannus, A Price, C Sives, D Murray, E Stevens, R Bayly, C Turner, P Kavanagh, G Twigg, T Stewart SUBS; D Murphy, B Dennehy, S Rice, S Bradley, P Jennings

Referee: Anthony Buttimer

Attendance 1433

 
Drogheda United picked up only a 7th win of the season at the Morton Stadium this evening thanks to a 2-1 win over Sporting Fingal, in a game which saw 3 goals, 3 red cards and more importantly for Drogheda, 3 points they so badly needed for new coach Brian Donnelly.

Sporting Fingal manager Liam Buckley rang in the changes from the side that lost 3-2 to Portuguese outfit Maritimo last week. Infarct Buckley made 8 changes in total for this league game against depleted Drogheda United. Conan Byrne playing his 107th game on the trot was amongst those who kept their place in Fingal's starting team.

The opening stages were in one word, awful. Drogheda had the first chance through a free kick  after Colm James brought down Mick Daly 10 yards away from the box. The free was terrible as McMahon shot straight over the bar. Fingal themselves had a chance on 3 minutes, keeper Paul Skinner mis-kicked a Clarence, Conan Byrne took it off him, Byrne tried to shoot but the ball was taken off him and cleared well.

A very dull and boring opening period was sparked into life on 18 minutes. Eamon Zayed, Fingals leading scorer scored, after Eoghan Osbourne failed to clear a ball at the edge of the box, Zayed dispossessed him and shot past Paul Skinner. Assistant referee Martin Maloney failed to spot that Zayed was offside, but thats no surprise as no League of Ireland game is complete without a howler decision from a referee or linesman!

Peter McMahon had a number of chances to draw the drogs back level. On 24 minutes, he slid a ball down for John Flood to chase, McMahon worked himself into the box ready for the cross but his shot went well wide of the post. He made up for all his chances and misses on 39 minutes after he got his team level after Colm James tried to challenge John Flood but before he could make the challenge Flood had it away to McMahon who fired past Darren Quigley in goal.

Just before half time Sporting Fingal were reduced to 10 men. Keith Quinn fouled Alan McNally, it was quite a harsh sending off as the referee didn't realise he had already been booked  until after he gave him the yellow card, the referee had no other choice to produce the red card.

The first 10 minutes of the second half were equally as bad the the opening stages of the first, but on 59 minutes it was a case of shoulda, woulda and coulda as Mick Daly  put in a lovely ball for Glen Fitzpatrick who almost had the ball in the net but Quigley got a slight touch to keep it out and Conan Byrne fired ashot out of the box to clear a real chance that brought a glimmer of hope to the strong enough travelling support down.

It just wasnt looking like Drogheda's day, the post denied Fitzpatrick, but it came back to the hands of Quigley, but he must have thought the ball had gone in and he almost dropped it over the line but just centimeters from the line he managed to keep it in play.

Liam Buckley was clearly desperate for the 3 points so he took off Conan Byrne and Olie Cahil who clearly wernt going to get the winner for the home side. Former gypsie Glen Crowe who scored in the Europa League qualifying game last week made way for Cahil and Alan Kirby.

On 77 minutes the hope that one of Buckleys subs would score almost happened. Alan Kirby raced onto a ball from Glen Crowe, Kirby  took it himself into the box where Crowe was waiting but he decided to go himself but Paul Skinner had a comfortable save.

With about 10 minutes to go Drogheda themselves were reduced to 10 men after John Flood fouled Kevin Dawson right at the edge of the area, flood got his second yellow and it was 10 on 10. Alan Kirby took the free which was deflected wide and out for a corner. Before the corner was taken referee Derek Tomney was called over to the Drogheda dugout by his fourth official and a red card was shown to sub Damien Brennan for what could only be as a result of hurling abuse at the officials.

Just as the game was coming to an end on the 87th minute Drogheda scored, after a bit of messing about out side the box between Mick Daly and Glen Crowe, Alan Mc Nally  out of no where worked free with the ball and put it in the net to silence the Fingal fans, 2-1 Drogheda and this was looking like a vital 3 points for the Louth side who were second from bottom going into this game.

Right at the death it was last chance saloon for Fingal from  a corner from Alan Kirby which was headed to Williams who tried to controll it and as he went to shoot he kicked Mick Daly and the ref awarded the free to Drogheda and that was indeed the last play of the game 3 points Drogheda needed but still remain  second from bottom, Sporting Fingal who play Maritimo on Thursday in Dalymount Park stay 4th on 33 points and really needed to win to take some momentum into that game 2-1 the final score.

Sporting Fingal: D Quigley, C James, J Frost, S Williams, B Gannon, K Browne, C Byrne, K Quinn, E Zayed, K Dawson, O Cahil SUBS; L Fitzgerald, A Kirby, G Crowe, B Clarke, G O Brien

Drogheda United: P Skinner, C Treacy, A McNally, E McGill, D Meehan, J Flood, E Osbourne, M Daly, G Fitzpatrick, R Brennan, P McMahon SUBS; P Murphy, D Brennan, J Duffy, R McEntegert, K Ross

Wolves began their preparations for their opening game of the new season against Stoke with a comfortable win over League of Ireland champions Bohemians.

The champions started very well and almost caught the visitors on the hop, Jason Byrne worked a lovely ball to Aaron Greene but  his shot lobbed over the bar.

Moments later there was a first goal. From a Wolves corner from Ronald Zubar, Jody Craddock got his head to it and it flew past Chris O'Connor in the goal and Wolves took the lead only after 6 minutes. An early goal to give the 200 odd fans who travelled over something to cheer about but it was a totally un inspirational opening period and that goal was their only shot on goal in the first 20 minutes

Bohs had another golden opportunity on 21 minutes and really should have scored. Jason Byrne making his first start since returning from injury worked his way into the area and tried to launch the ball over the  keeper but got an un lucky bounce and it just went over the bar.

Bohs from then were putting pressure on the Wolves defence and once again managed to break them down. Lee Dixon was putting in an impressive performance and was certainly trying to claim his place on more starting teams, on the 25th minute he caught the entire Wolves defence napping and smashed a shot off Hennessey and out for a corner but the keeper did well to claim the ball coming across. Pat Fenlon said earlier in the week that this game was only going to be a run out for Wolves but credit to the Bohs team they really were causing problems.  Wolves went in leading 1-0 at the break.

The second half started the way the first finished with no pace at all, although this was only a friendly both teams could have put alot more of an effort into the game. It wasnt any surprise that Wolves had the first goal scoring chance of the second half and it was Stephen Fletcher but he shot well wide of goal.

Bohs had a good penalty shout on 52 minutes he was working up a good shot on goal and he was pulled off the ball by Andy Keogh in the box right infront of referee Richie Winter, but the atrocious referee clearly still hadn't made a switch to Specsavers waving play on and it allowed Wolves to clear their lines.

Wolves second goal arrived straight after that penalty claim, Kevin Doyle put a through to Stephen Fletcher who to his credit hit a beautiful shot into the net.

On 72 minutes Mick McCarthy decided he would confuse the living daylights out of everyone including journalists in the ground by bringing on his entire bench, Van Damme, Jones, Craddock, Berra, Doyle, Fletcher and Jarvis all came off replacing them, Elokobi, Halford, Ebanks Blake, Mujangi Bia, Edwards, Vokes and Foley. Then to make it easier for everone 10 minutes later after everyone in the ground figured out who came off and on, Monaghan native Aaron McCarey replaced Wayne Hennessey in goal.

Last kick of the ball was a third goal for Wolves, from a corner substitution Geoffrey Mujangi Bia got it into the back of the net. And that was where the game finished.

Bohemians: C O'Connor(GK), M Doherty, O Farrell, G Cronin, J McGuinness, M Rossiter, L Dixon, S Traynor, A Greene, J Byrne, G Burke SUBS; C Sexton, S Keeley, R lopes, Y Laro, J Dwane, C Forrester

Wolves: W Hennessey, R Zubar, J Van Damme, D Jones, J Craddock, C Berra, A Keogh, K Henry, K Doyle, S Fletcher, M Jarvis SUBS; G Elokobi, A Mc Carey, R Stearman, S.E Blake, G Halford, G.M Bia, S Vokes, D Edwards, K Foley,S Ward

Bohemians 2 (Keegan 28, Oman 59) – 0 Sligo

Airtricity League of Ireland Premier Division Champions Bohemians have moved up to third in the league table, thanks to a hard faught and well deserved 2-0 win over Sligo Rovers in Dalymount Park this evening.

Bohemians came into this game with tonnes of confidence after their win over TNS here in Dalymount Park on Tuesday, and right from the whistle were on fire and straight away had a great chance on goal. Mark Quigley put in a through ball to player of the month Paddy Madden who raced down the pitch and put a ball in for Raffaele Cretaro, who waited for Madden to get back into the box and Maddens shot wide, an excellent start from Bohs.

Sligo themselves who were aiming for third with victory tonight also started well. Gavin Peers but a ball down the left hand side for former gypsy Joeseph Ndo who crossed it to Alan Keane his shot well saved by Barry Murphy but out for a corner, which Ndo took but that was safely into the arms of Murphy. An exciting first five minutes in Dalymount.

Both sides were playing really well but when Darren Quigley put in a ball into the box for Conor Powell there was a lapse in concentration in the Sligo defence, Sligo keeper Brush tried to punch it away but that punch came off Gavin Peers and almost into the net, Brush got a second fist to the ball to clear the danger.

Sligo made up for that hiccup moments later when Eoin Doyle ran to the edge of the box on the left hand side and put in a lovely cross to John Russell but his headed attempt went wide.  Sligo took momentum from that and really pushed for an opener Alan Keane from the right crossed in for Amond who smashed his shot off Murphy in goal and out for a corner, from the corner the bohs defence cleared the area.

On 28 minutes the league champions took the lead, Mark Quigley ran down the left drawing in the Rovers defence, he then found room to cross to Madden who slid it to Paul Keegan and the ball was only going one place, great goal and from there Bohs started to pick up pace and start passing properly again.

With 5 minutes to go to half time Bohs could have and really should have been 2 up. John Dillon took too long to turn and pass a ball away from Peers, Paddy Madden intercepted it and raced to the edge of the area and released it to Cretaro but the ball ran too much away from him and the chance was lost. Bohs managed to kill off the rest of the half and although they were leading, manager Pat Fenlon will have had loads to say at the break about the amount of ball Bohs gave away and also about the chances that could well have been goals. 1-0 was the score at the break.

It took 10 minutes into the second half for either team to threaten the goals and on this ocasion it was Bohs. Raffaele Cretaro worked his way into the box lobbed over Richard Brush who had come out to him and it looked a certain goal but he gave the lob a bit too much and it bounced over the bar, heart in mouth stuff there.

Moments later Bohs had a second and a well worked and truly deserved goal as well. A Quigley free kick lofted in to the back post was met by the head of Ken Oman and the ball somehow slipped in between Brush and the post.

From that goal the game starting to die off with bohs knowing it would be extremely difficult for Sligo to score 2 or even 3 goals for the win and that 3 points were in the bag, pity it had to die out because it was an entertaining game and a great advert for the league.

This though didnt mean Sligo wouldnt try and give their 200 fans who travelled something to cheer about and kept pushing at the Bohemians defence but couldnt find or produce a good final touch. Joseph Ndo was seemed a little desperate to prove himself against the club whom he helped win the league last year but perhaps this Bohs team knew him a little too well.

Bohs saw off the game and took the three points they needed. They now sit third in the table, a turn around of sorts following a miserable start to their season, 3 points well deserved for Pat Fenlons men. Paul Cook would have been very disappointed considering his team bossed possession for most of the first half and really threw everything they could at the champions but it wasnt to be.

Bohemians  B Murphy(GK),O Heary, C Powell, R Higgins, B Shelley, K Oman, G McGlynn,P Keegan, P Madden, M Quigley, R Cretaro SUBS; J Byrne, K Brennan, J Mc Guinness, C O’Connor, G Cronin

Sligo R Brush(GK), A Keane, I Davoren, G Peers, J Lauchlan, R Ryan,J Dilon, J Russell, J Ndo, P Amond, E Doyle SUBS; D Ventre C O’Grady,M Mc Goldrick, G McCabe, C Kelly

Spain 1 ( Iniesta 116)

Netherlands 0

A game that had been hyped to the heavens was a real damp squib as the occassion seemed to get to two of the best footballing sides in the world. The Spanish just about deserved to win it although the Dutch showed superb steel defensively to stop the Spanish having too much joy. The joy came in the closing seconds of extra time as Andes Iniesta netted the goal that made the Spanish the world champions the first to win the trophy after losing their opening game & the first european side to win it on another continent.

The  first clumsy tackle of the evening came only 2 minutes in from  Robin van Persie as he caught Sergio Busquets, and the Dutch seemed to have been controlling the opening stages very well.

The first chance of this World Cup final came on the 5th minute, Xavi whipped a free-kick in from the Spanish right and Sergio Ramos bravely got there first, powering a header goalwards that the big Dutch stopper does well to turn away to his right.

Iker Casillas admitted he was feeling nervous in the build-up, and there are hints some of his team-mates were too as only on the 12th minute  Sergio Ramos nearly threw the ball straight to Dirk Kuyt only for Carles Puyol to intervene. At the other end, Ramos went past Dirk Kuyt only for John Heitinga to whack away inside his own six-yard box, and a moment later David Villa volleyed into the side-netting from an angle on the left.

After 15 minutes you got a real indication that this wasnt going to be a classy game on 16 and 18 minutes we had our first yellow cards, no messing around from Howard Webb.  Mark van Bommel committed his first foul of the evening , going in late on former Barca colleague Carles Puyol. Robin van Persie is then booked by Howard Webb for a late challenge on Joan Capdevila, his second of the night. Then, Webb flashed yellow at Carles Puyol for catching Arjen Robben on his ankle. By the looks of things these wernt going to be the only yellow cards handed out by the Englishman.

The Dutch were giving the ball away a bit too much. Spain though hadn’t quite got into their very best rhythm, in losing so much possession the Dutch were getting very frustrated, and the most obvious booking of the final, Mark van Bommel lost his head for a second and slid straight through the back of Andres Iniesta. No choice for Howard Webb there, the Spaniards wernt exactly keeping their cool, Sergio Ramos was cautioned for fouling Dirk Kuyt. Webb’s life getting harder by the second in Johannesburg.

This game started to look very rough and it was indeed looking like a horror show, with the amount of stoppages and yellow cards issued, and the cards just kept coming,  with only 29 minutes gone in the game 4 players had been noted in Howard Webbs book, and Nigel de Jong became the fifth and it really should have been a straight red, for a chest-high boot on Xabi Alonso. At this stage the game had yet to see a first real chance for either team.

There were far too many stoppages for the game to flow properly in the first half. The blame by no means could be pointed at Howard Webb, but it was getting quite niggly. He gave a free-kick for a non-foul on Arjen Robben, before the Dutch almost score when the ball takes a horrible bounce as they tried to give it back to Spain after an injury stoppage. Iker Casillas is at full stretch to feather it behind, but the Netherlands gave the corner straight to the Spanish captain.

The opening stages of the second half saw alot more control and passing and at last some chances.  straight away Arjen Robben turned beautifully away from Xabi Alonso inside the Spanish half, but his slide-rule pass to Robin van Persie was just too strong for the Arsenal striker. Good start to the second half and a good change in the pace of this game.

It appeared to be all Holland in the second half. The Netherlands’ turn to attack as Gregory van der Wiel did well to get forward down their right, but his cross along the six-yard box was a good 10 yards ahead of any Dutch forwards and Spain cleared comfortably. It’s a little livelier, though.  Spain had yet to but in any threats on the Dutch goal.

On 52 minutes Arjen Robben hit a speculative left-footer from 30 yards, but Iker Casillas was paying attention and saved low down to his left.  Moments later Giovanni van Bronckhorst was booked for sticking his arm out and bringing Sergio Ramos about 25 yards from the Dutch goal. You could feel Howard Webbs first red card was looming.

On 56 minutes John Heitinga kicked David Villa after the ball had gone and Webb had no choice but to flash yellow once more. The players were not making this easy. The Spaniards were furious. Moments later Andres Iniesta fouled Wesley Sneijder and this time Howard Webb kept s his cards in his pocket. Webb had done well, most of the yellows so far had been warranted. In fact, he was probably trying hard to keep it 11 v 11. The players certainly weren’t.

It took an hour for the first substitution to be made Pedro was taken off for Spain and tricky Sevilla winger Jesus Navas came on in his place. Seconds later, Robin van Persie headed Dirk Kuyt’s cross from the Dutch left over, under pressure from Carles Puyol.

Biggest moment of the match came just over the hour mark. Wesley Sneijder, on the halfway line, managed to slip a pass forward that Gerard Pique slightly misjudged and suddenly Arjen Robben was clean through. Time seemed to stand still as Robben got in on his trusty left boot, but after picking his spot Iker Casillas made a brilliant save with his legs.

After Arjen Robben’s miss, a Spanish corner found Sergio Ramos unmarked, six yards out in the middle of the area, but he could only power a header over. A minute later he still had his hands on his head.  Spain were cranking it up a bit at Soccer City, they after 80 minutes looked the likelier of the two teams to nick a late winner.  Some gaps were starting to open up for them, and even Xavi was pushing forward more.

Definite gaps appeared. Andres Iniesta jinked his way into the Dutch area down the left and he is only prevented from shooting by a desperate though excellent challenge from Wesley Sneijder.  There wasnt much time to rescue something from this game in the regulation 90 minutes before it going to half an hour of extra time and possibly penalties, but only one more chance came in the 90.

Arjen Robben did Carles Puyol for pace, burning past the defender as they chased a flick on into the Spanish half and with Puyol trying to haul Robben back, he stayed on his feet, only to be met by Iker Casillas, who raced off his line to gather. Robben raced up to Howard Webb and demanded a free-kick – to be fair to the Bayern winger, he was penalised for staying on his feet there. So that was it for the 90 minutes and both sides took a break before an extra half an hour of play.

There was certainly more intent from both sides in the opening stages of extra time as neither would have wanted the game to be settled on penalties.  Straight away though, the Spanish bench were furious because they wanted a penalty for John Heitinga’s foul on Xavi inside the box. Howard Webb pointed to the corner spot instead. Moments later, it was Cesc Fabregas’s turn to be distraught. He ran on to a perfectly weighted through ball from Andres Iniesta and it looked to the whole world he had  to score, but the Arsenal captain’s shot was blocked brilliantly by Maarten Stekelenburg.

OHH JESUS!!!!!  on 104 minutes Jesus Navas got into space down the Spanish right and surged into the area – his shot took a wicked deflection off Gio van Bronckhorst and flew into the side-netting. Could’ve gone anywhere.  That was it for the first half of the extra time and it was mind boggling to how it had ended 0-0.

It was only a matter of time, but was controversial. Andres Iniesta plays a one-two and latched on to the return, but he went down under a challenge from Heitinga, who was shown his second yellow of the game by Howard Webb, the first he has given in the competition but the question remained was it going to be his last . Xavi slamed the resulting free-kick over the bar.

On 113 minutes Arjen Robbenwas flagged offside and the Spaniards crowded around Howard Webb trying to get him booked for playing on after the whistle. It’s unseemly and unnecessary. The game desperatly needed a goal.

And it came. Fernando Torres got the ball on the left and cliped a cross into the box. It was half cleared to Cesc Fabregas and he found Andres Iniesta in the area – the little Barca magician took a touch before volleying past Maarten Stekelenburg. He whips his shirt off and the Spaniards went  mental. Was that the goal to win Spain the World Cup for the very first time. 2 minutes were added on at the end of the half hour and the Spanish were desperate to keep the ball.

Spain scored the latest goal ever in a world cup final, they also became the first team who lost their opening game to go on to win the competition. At times this seemed like a horrible game but it did pick up in terms of pace as time went on. At the end of the day a truely deserved victory for officially now the best footballing nation in the world.