Alan Reynolds happy for Bohemians to ride luck in derby triumph over Shamrock Rovers

Alan Reynolds acknowledged that lady luck was on Bohemians' side in the latter stages of their Dublin Derby victory over Shamrock Rovers, but the Bohs manager said his team deserved their victory.

The Gypsies had elected to give up home advantage at Dalymount Park for a showpiece game for the SSE Airtricity League, and it paid off handsomely.

Ross Tierney's first-half goal from close range was enough to secure the points on offer against their fiercest rivals, while the attendance of over 32,000 was an all-time record for the league.

"It was the first game of the season but it had a kind of cup final feel do it," Reynolds said afterwards.

"The Dublin derbies are more than just a game. Lose and it's the end of the world; win and you're on top of the world so we're delighted.

"We worked hard and we had to dig in at the end of the game, the last 15 or 20 minutes.

"We've been back [since] December and we had to dig in in December when nobody is watching and you're running hard in bad weather.

"It stood to us near the end of that game. We rode our luck a little bit at the end, a couple of times, but I thought in the first half we could have got another one or two.

"It's a start for us, 35 games to go. If we could finish up in here like we started the season I'd be a happy man."

Reynolds named four new signings - Niall Morahan, John Mountney, Connor Parsons and Lys Mousset - in his starting team with Parsons looking the pick of the bunch, particularly in the first half.

Much of the build up surrounded Mousset, having played in the Premier League as recently as 2021, although the Frenchman hadn't played a competitive game, due to injury, since May 2023.

"You can see Lys needs work," Reynolds acknowledged when asked about the striker.

"If