League of Ireland Premier Division: Shamrock Rovers 2 (Honohan 39, Noonan 41) Bohemians 3 (Devoy 70, Tierney 81, Brennan 96)
It was disaster for Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght as Bohemians substitute Rhys Brennan pulled off the unthinkable, scoring in the 96th minute to take all three points from a game when his side had trailed 2-0.
The story of this Dublin derby appeared to be written by half-time, after wonderful goals from Josh Honohan and Michael Noonan edged Rovers towards the top of the Premier Division.
Bohemians under Alan Reynolds were all at sea, as visiting supporters among a healthy 8,471 attendance had to listen to the Rovers crowd yell: “You’ll be sacked in the morning, sacked in the morning!”
Bohs creative midfielder Dawson Devoy conjured one back in the 70th minute with a deft touch and lovely finish before Ross Tierney equalised with nine minutes remaining.
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Colm Whelan’s clever flick invited Tierney to steam into the box and get his shot away just before Daniel Cleary’s full-blooded tackle.
Then, amazingly, the 18-year-old Brennan brought a small section of the house down with his superb winner in injury-time.
“We’re in this together,” said Reynolds afterwards. “We know there is noise outside but it’s irrelevant to us – we’re tight, we’re strong and that will help.
“To beat these at Tallaght, I don’t think it’s been done since 2019, so to do it is great. Our season has been patchy but it’s a new series now and we’re two games into it and two wins, and the aim is to win on Friday again [when St Patrick’s Athletic go to Dalymount Park].”
There we were, on Easter Monday afternoon, waiting for Shamrock Rovers to take control of a feisty contest. Bohs were dangerous early on, despite starting without a striker as Whelan was benched and Lys Mousset is still injured.
Mousset arrived over the winter with a promising, yet equally concerning back story. The former France under-21 striker made 99 Premier League appearances, scoring nine goals for Bournemouth and Sheffield United from 2016 to 2021, before his slow descent into obscurity.
An Achilles tendon issue has kept the 29-year-old out of Bohs last three match day squads but he has not started a game since the loss to Cork City on February 28th.
Meanwhile, Rovers’ young signings over the past two seasons – Honohan and Noonan – created and finished their own chances to give Stephen Bradley’s side a 2-0 lead.
The goals happened in quick succession, landing like haymakers and prompting plumes of green smoke to rise from the Rovers fans behind Kacper Chorazka’s nets.
Honohan smashed a shot off the post before opening the scoring after 38 minutes, when he cut inside John Mountney and powered past Devoy before his low effort beat Chorazka.
In response, Bohs stormed forward only to be sucker-punched by Honohan’s quick thinking to release Noonan.
The 16-year-old striker still had 60 metres to cover before claiming his first League of Ireland goal. It was a collector’s item. Noonan left James McManus in his wake and as Leigh Kavanagh backed off, the Republic of Ireland under-19 international dribbled into the box, turned on to his left and buried a shot in the bottom corner.
The teenager disappeared in a green haze, mobbed by his older team-mates.
“The goal had a bit of everything, pace, power and quality at the end,” said Bradley. “He’s 16, we need to mind him, but he has an elite mentality.”
Bohs refused to accept their fate as Devoy and Tierney goals seemingly salvage a point from their cross-city rivals.
Brennan had other ideas after being freed by another Whelan assist, following up Ed McGinty’s parry of his initial right-footed shot to nail a left-footer that stunned The Hoops crowd into silence.
Next up for Rovers is Shelbourne this Friday – a third straight derby with just one point banked after the 2-2 draw against St Pat’s on Good Friday.
“We need to address it, we cannot pretend it didn’t happen,” said Bradley. “We are all accountable, players and staff. Basic errors, the goals were so soft. It cannot happen.”
Shels go to Tallaght on Friday a point behind third place Rovers after a brace from Galway United’s Moses Dyer resulted in a 2-2 draw at Tolka Park while Drogheda United stay top of the table following a scoreless draw with St Pat’s at United Park.
Shamrock Rovers: McGinty; Cleary, Lopes, Grace; Matthews (Grant 85), Byrne (Nugent 73), Watts (O’Sullivan 85), Healy, Honohan; Greene (Burke 73), Noonan (Gaffney 79).
Bohemians: Chorazka; Mountney (Whelan 67), Grehan, Kavanagh, Flores; McManus (Morahan 46), Devoy, Rooney; Tierney (McDonnell 89), Clarke (Buckley 67), Parsons (Brennan 52).
Referee: Robert Harvey.
