St Pat's continue European quest at raucous Richmond Park

St Patrick's kept up the pressure on Dundalk in the battle for third place with a comfortable win over Bohemians on a balmy autumnal evening at Richmond Park.

FULL MATCH DETAILS

Early goals in either half, one from Serge Atakayi and the other from substitute Mark Doyle, reflected on the scoreboard the superiority of the home side.

James Clarke gave Bohs hope that quickly evaporated when substitute Tunde Owolabi made sure of the points.

Bohs weren't bad, but the home side are hitting their peak and they could yet have a big say in the title battle between Shamrock Rovers and Derry City.

The game fizzled out in the second period, which was predictable, but the neutral needed Bohs to stay in the contest for longer than they could manage.

It had, of course, been a quite remarkable week and a half off the pitch for Bohs, coming towards the end of a bit of a nothing season for the club on the pitch.

Keith Long had been the league's longest-serving manager. Alan Reynolds seemingly turned down the chance to succeed him; Ian Ryan was out then in then out again, in the Wexford dugout tonight for a dead rubber against Galway. If such existed on Long's replacement, it's improbable Declan Devine would have even been listed in the betting.

Outside the ground, getting off the 40 bus, one Bohs fan quipped to this reporter that he'd prefer Devine to Ryan but "if Pep Guardiola got the job there would be somebody giving out".

For an opening 45 that was not exactly peppered with obvious goalscoring opportunities, it was absorbing stuff, the hosts' swagger befitting their form; Bohs, however, look like a team that could go places in the future, and Devine must be pinching himself that he has been afforded such an opportunity in the capital.

The opener