Dundalk earn a deserved draw as Bohemians’ lead at the top is down to a point
Dundalk wasted no time in rubbishing the gloomier predictions on their return to the Premier Division, but this performance was the clearest rebuke yet.Bohemians’ defence was given its strongest test yet this season and the strain finally showed when Gbemi Arubi cancelled out Patrick Hickey’s first-half opener.As far as Dundalk opportunities went, goalkeeper Kacper Chorazka probably coughed up the softest one he faced in conceding just before the hour.Busier than in any of the league leaders’ other seven games this season, he pulled off a number of fine saves to prove that it wasn’t just his towering defenders that were responsible for the Gypsies’ miserly ways at the back.The game was just five minutes old when he made probably the stop of the night to deny Harry Groome, who looked certain to score from a deflected Eoin Kenny centre.Meeting the ball at the penalty spot, he held his head in his hands as Chorazka, racing from his line, somehow got a hand to the effort to push it over his bar.He got lucky when Arubi’s cross from the right evaded the outstretched leg of Daryl Horgan, and was headed over from five yards at the back post by Harvey Warren.That chance came at the stroke of half-time, and it gave Lilywhites boss Ciaran Kilduff a little extra ammo for his team-talk at the break.Dundalk came out all guns blazing and tested Bohs’ Polish goalkeeper through Robert Burns and Tyreke Wilson - a shot and a direct free-kick that were pushed around Chorazka’s left-hand upright.So it will likely eat away at the goalkeeper that he was beaten by Arubi, practically on his goalline, with 59 minutes on the clock.Up to that point, the netminder had conceded only twice in seven and a half games, with both of those goals coming deep into injury-time against Shamrock Rovers, with Alan Reynolds’ side three-up.It came from a long Keith Buckley ball forward that substitute Sean Spaight did well to control and keep in play, under pressure from Jordan Flores.He knocked it into the centre and Arubi outjumped Chorazka less than a yard from goal to nod the ball through his hands and into the net.Dundalk deserved it. They had that early chance in a very open and entertaining opening, that saw Colm Whelan go close after just two minutes.He showed great control to take down a Ross Tierney ball over the top, and then a deft touch to take it inside Mayowa Animasahun, but his shot let him down as it was hit straight at goalkeeper Enda Minogue.After new signing Zane Myers ended a mazy dribble with a scuffed shot, and Dawson Devoy sent a free-kick over the bar, Bohs took the lead through Hickey’s second in three games.Devoy played a quick free down the left to Markuss Strods and the US-born defender got his head to the ball ahead of Warren to send the ball past Minogue.Hickey could have scored another from a Strods corner, before that stroke-of-half-time chance that fuelled confidence within the away camp.Deserving of their point, they pushed for all three, and Arubi was denied by an excellent Chorazka stop at the back post on 61 minutes, before the keeper then pushed away an angled Kenny effort.A Flores free-kick and a Hugh Martin effort in injury-time could have robbed Kilduff’s side of the draw, but they held firm.Bohs: Kacper Chorazka; Darragh Power, Patrick Hickey, Sam Todd, Senan Mullen (Harry Vaughan 74); Dawson Devoy, Jordan Flores; Zane Myers (Connor Parsons 60), Ross Tierney, Markuss Strods (Adam McDonnell 60); Colm Whelan (Hugh Martin 86).Dundalk: Enda Minogue; John Ross Wilson, Mayowa Animasahun (Sean Spaight 51), Harvey Warren, Tyreke Wilson; Robert Burns, Keith Buckley; Eoin Kenny, Harry Groome (Declan McDaid 68), Daryl Horgan; Gbemi Arubi.Referee: Rob HennessyWant to see more of the stories you love from the Irish Mirror? Making us your preferred source on Google means you’ll get more of our exclusives, top stories and must-read content straight away. To add Irish Mirror as a preferred source, simply click here.Click here to sign up to our sport newsletter, bringing you the top stories and biggest headlines from Ireland and beyond.
