He who scores firsts wins - Bohs' formula for success
Bohemians have come back to the top of the League of Ireland Premier Division early in the 2023 season and they have done so by staying in front.
In his first season at Dalymount Park, Declan Devine and his side have been the success story of the year so far. They just hold a lead of four points but in a competitive league where only five points separates third from seventh, they have done well to stay clear at the summit for all bar two weeks.
They are having their best start since their remarkable 2008 league-winning season. Even then they had only two more points after 13 games, 30 rather than the current 28. Only once since 2017 has the season's champions had more than 28 points at this stage.
What has been most notable about this year’s Bohs has been their ability to maintain leads after scoring first. In doing so, they have turned a weakness into a strength.
Bohemians have scored the first goal in 10 of their 13 games to date, the joint-most in the league with Shamrock Rovers. They have converted 80% of those leads into wins. Only St. Pat’s have a better percentage, but they have only scored first four times. Meanwhile, rivals Shamrock Rovers have only won 60% of the games in which they found the net first.
Team
SCORE FIRST - WIN
SCORE FIRST - DRAW
SCORE FIRST - LOSS
SCORE FIRST - TOTAL
SCORE FIRST WIN %
BOHS
8
1
1
10
80%
CORK
2
2
0
4
50%
DERRY
6
2
0
8
75%
DROGHEDA
3
2
0
5
60%
DUNDALK
4
1
0
5
80%
ST. PAT’S
4
0
0
4
100%
SHAMROCK ROVERS
6
4
0
10
60%
SHELBOURNE
3
2
1
6
50%
SLIGO ROVERS
4
1
1
6
67%
UCD
1
0
2
3
33%
This is a major turnaround from the last two years at Dalymount Park. In 2022, the Gypsies took a lead first in over half of their games, 22. Only Shamrock Rovers (25) did so more often. But just 50% of the time they went on to win, a rate in which only Finn Harps
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