Come here to me!

The text of one of the banners displayed by Bohemian F.C supporters in the Shed, directed at the Football Association of Ireland.

It’s rare you’ll see a tackle that will horrify a stadium the way Mark Quigley managed to last night. Disgusting is a word that comes to mind instantly.

Perhaps ‘Quigo’ couldn’t take the abuse he’d been receiving so lavishly from Saints supporters this season (In fact, even after the Setanta Cup Final was lost, it was anti-Quigley chants that could be heard in the ground), or perhaps he’s just a complete head-the-ball, but whatever made him launch into an almost criminal tackle on Gareth Coughlan is beyond me. For any player to suffer a broken leg in such circumstances is tragic.

Talking to Bohemian F.C fans after the game, many of them felt the same. Nobody wants to see that sort of carry on, and Mark Quigley, his ma, and anyone who drinks with the lad should be ashamed. The fact he hasn’t been able to deliver on the pitch for Bohs hasn’t been wasted on anyone either.

Now, the rest of the match.

Four goals, and all scored in the first half. I’ve yet to see Pats come back from behind this season, and the collective ‘feck it anyway’ in the stadium when Jason Byrne got his name on the score sheet very early on was a sort of early note of surrender I thought. Giovanni Trapattoni and Marco Tardelli there and all, to see us lose at home, less than a week after the Setanta Cup final episode.

39,42,44.
One,two,three.

Amazingly, within the space of five minutes we were on top going into the break. Derek Doyle, Paul Byrne and Stuart Byrne stunning the stadium with three goals that will hardly be contenders for the MNS goal of the month, but more importantly went into the net.

Two banners emerged from the shed as the teams came back onto the pitch for the second half. The first, FAI.lure, has been seen before by many Irish football fans, famously appearing alongside the Delaney Out banner of a thousand snapshots. Alongside it however, the Bohs faithful unveiled a new effort reading Gavin Out, a reference to one of the Football Association of Ireland resident clowns, Fran Gavin. Fans anger with the Association at present is rising, and such a visible sign of discontent was welcomed by most Pats fans in the area where I was standing. If I could read the banners from behind our goal, there’s no doubt Trapattoni’s F.A.I minders could too.

Bohs really didn’t look like coming back into the game at any stage really, and the ref didn’t seem interested in following the match at all, costing them on several occasions. Gary Rogers, the Saints number 1, picked up a back pass for example, driving the shed into a rage. No doubt we’d react the same to such half-arsed decision making if it was going against us. The second half of the game was by no means an exciting affair, and just dragged on. The crowd around the ultras at Inchicore, based in the new stand, jumped up and around like they’d die if they stopped, and Trapattoni snuck out at around seventy minutes, no doubt convinced of the merits of purchasing a Richmond Park season ticket. Much to their credit, and like the Galway United supporters mentioned in an earlier post, the Bohs supporters remained vocal in the second half. ‘All Ireland Champions’ rang out from the Shed, while the Camac and new stand chanted ‘Qugio, what’s the score?’ as the clock ticked down.

Pats fans away to Dundalk. A small group of lads have managed to bring a new sense of atmosphere to the stand behind the goal in recent times, matching the new found confidence on the pitch.

Ultimately though, that tackle will leave a sour taste. Coughlan has been a solid player on the pitch for the Saints, and he was unfortunate enough to be on the wrong side of a man with a short fuse. The standard of refereeing in this League really must improve, and perhaps such a spectacle being broadcast on live television is a good thing in the long-term.

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