James Clarke bags brace for Bohemians to climb to second
'There's interest in him,' confirmed
Bohemians
manager Alan Reynolds when asked recently about James Clarke's future at the north Dublin club.
'I'd love to keep him, but he's a 24-year-old lad who probably has ambitions of going and playing across the water.'
Everyone can see why Clarke might pack his bags and head to England. He took the headlines away from Douglas James-Taylor, who scored his first goal for Bohemians since arriving from Drogheda United, hitting a brace to sink
Galway United
worryingly close to the relegation zone.
Bohs climb to second in the
Premier Division
, eight points behind Shamrock Rovers with a game in hand. Galway sit third from bottom.
READ MORE
All three goals came in the second-half, as a blazing sun set over Dalymount Park.
There was 21 minutes on the clock when Robert Harvey whistled for a hydration break. Most players emptied a bottle of water over their heads.
Usually, in the League of Ireland, the unofficial 'first quarter' stoppage is due to a goalkeeper requiring medical attention. He almost always recovers. With the thermometer showing 27 degrees at 8pm, Harvey was not taking any chances.
Timeout. Nobody wants a player hospitalised with heat stroke.
Galway's Robert Burns comes up against Bohemians' Dayle Rooney. Photograph: Dan Clohessy/Inpho
The unusually warm week took a toll. It was slightly cooler at Tolka Park on Wednesday when Shelbourne beat Linfield in the Champions League, and on Thursday at Richmond Park when St Patrick's Athletic had Hegelmann of Lithuania's number in the Uefa Conference League.
Friday was a scorcher all across Dublin. It initially levelled the playing field for a Galway United squad that is still reeling from Moses Dyer's midseason departure to the more lucrative Cambodian league.
With American midfielder Patrick Hickey injured, John Caulfield's team returned to the scene of Dyer's best night without the two men who accumulated 14 of their 27 goals so far this season.
Back in March, Dyer rocked the Reynolds project at Dalymount with two sensational finishes. Trinidad international Malcolm Shaw has arrived in place of the New Zealander. Seconds after the water break, he shot wide with an overhead kick.
Shaw's power had Cian Byrne on notice all game. Byrne is well known to the opposition, having just returned from a six month loan spell at Galway to replace Seán Grehan, who departed Bohs to further his promising career at Doncaster Rovers.
It being July, the comings and goings are constant. Rumour has it that Bohs could sign Hickey if Clarke leaves.
A midfielder by trade, Clarke started up front alongside James-Taylor; Caulfield employs an unapologetic low block so Reynolds responded by pushing three attackers up on the five-man defence.
Galway's Robert Burns in action against Bohemians at Dalymount Park. Photograph: Dan Clohessy/Inpho
Clarke drew an early save from Galway's Welsh goalkeeper Evan Watts but it was the visitors who created the better chances as David Hurley hit the post before Jordan Flores blocked a volley from Shaw.
There was another stoppage before half-time when Bohs' defensive linchpin Rob Cornwall limped off to be replaced by Leigh Kavanagh.
Mercifully, an evening shade descended for the second-half when it took James-Taylor 100 seconds to open his account for Bohs. Kavanagh fed a low ball into the English centre forward, who turned and punched a shot past Watts from outside the box.
Watts is not easily beaten and he denied Clarke with an acrobatic, left-hand save before the Meath man secured all three points for Bohs in the 62nd minute. Dawson Devoy's clever run and cut back for a first-time finish seemed to happen in slow motion.
Bohs third, Clarke's second, came 20 minutes from full-time after Garry Burke gave him far too much space to turn on to his right foot and shoot.
Bohemians:
Chorazka; Byrne, Cornwall (Kavanagh 39), Flores; Devoy, Morahan; Rooney (Mountney 85), Tierney (Whelan 77), McDonnell (Buckley 77); Clarke, James-Taylor (Parsons 85).
Galway United:
Watts; Esua, Slevin, Cunningham (Piesold 67), Burns, McCarthy (Tollett 83); Bolger, Borden (Buckley 67); Hurley (Brouder 67); Walsh, Shaw.
Referee:
Robert Harvey.
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Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Galway boss issues FAI Cup warning to players, outlines transfer window problems
John Caulfield has warned his Galway United players that they could face embarrassment in the FAI Cup next weekend if they are not at the top of their game against non-league Tolka Rovers. Caulfield played and managed in the Munster Senior League after a successful League of Ireland career at Cork City. So he knows that Tolka Rovers will be up for the game, particularly as Galway haven't won in their last four outings and haven't scored in their last two. 'I think it's a great game for Tolka Rovers, coming from non-league football, that I've been in for a long, long time,' said the former Cork City boss. 'Tolka Rovers are a massive club in non-league, and I think it's a glorious opportunity for them, and they'll see it that way. 'We will show them all the respect. The bookies will probably put us as favourites, but we need to play well and the last number of weeks we haven't played well, and if we don't we'll be knocked out. 'I think the brilliant thing about the Cup is a non-league team, while they might be out of season, in my experience in non-league with Avondale, we might have been out of season but we were still very fit lads. 'Okay, not maybe to the level of League of Ireland, but we were still fit lads and I'd expect the same from Tolka.' Click this link or scan the QR code to receive the latest League of Ireland news and top stories from the Irish Mirror. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Caulfield has been busy in the transfer market already this summer, bringing in Trinidad and Tobago striker Malcolm Shaw, English midfielder Axel Piesold, and former Shamrock Rovers and Cardiff City midfielder Aaron Bolger. He has lost in-form striker Moses Dyer, while the end of Cian Byrne's loan spell saw him line out for Bohs on Friday against his old teammates. The Galway boss is eager to do some more business, but says it's a tricky time of year to bring in players and expect them to hit the ground running. 'It's difficult mid-season,' he said. 'I'll always say it's hard for us to get players to Galway. 'The problem for us at the moment is a lot of them haven't played since May. If we can get to the middle or end of August, fine, but it's that conundrum where we are trying to rush boys in and you have lost players who have played the last six or eight months and who were flying fit. 'These lads are very good, you can see that, but if you are that little bit off, you get done.' Despite his rustiness, Shaw showed some good touches at Dalymount Park, and wasn't far off scoring with an overhead kick in the first-half. 'He has a lot about him, to be fair,' said Caulfield. 'We see him in training, we see him finishing and he just needs something to go in for him. 'But it is difficult. When it doesn't happen, everyone keeps referring to (Moses) Dyer. But to be fair to Malcolm, if he was here since January, with a full pre-season in him, I have no doubt that he would have a number of goals. 'He will score goals, I have no doubt about that. But it's just one of those where it's a difficult situation and we just have to dig in. 'Some of our more experienced players are probably going through a bit of a rocky patch, and that can happen.'
The 42
3 hours ago
- The 42
'Robbie will have players bouncing. He doesn't bring negativity or make it all about him'
GET A LOAD of Bernard Flynn, hopping with excitement. If things were different, he might have been out there on the sideline this Sunday, on Robbie Brennan's shoulder as he was with Kilmacud Crokes. There's no delicate way to put this, but his face didn't fit. His previous critiques were not appreciated in certain quarters. However, he has held his counsel and he will continue to do so. With Meath colours strapped to everything bolted or concreted down, everything else melts away. It doesn't matter. Meath. Are. Back. So back. You best believe. 'Meath will be there whenever we are gone and whether we win or lose. You look at what is happening in the county now and the belief the young lads have. I'm 60 last week and I haven't seen it in years,' says Flynn. 'I'm thrilled and delighted to see what's happening. When have you last seen a Meath team really buying into something?' And it needn't end any time soon. He assembles his arguments and counterpoints that accentuates the possibilities of Meath and diminishes Donegal. 'There's a ferocious pressure on Donegal. On Jim McGuinness and bringing back Michael Murphy. I think we have a serious chance. A serious chance.' He's on a roll. Go with him. 'Look at (Oisín) Gallen since Murphy came back? How many of the forwards have improved? He's such a powerful leader and figure that maybe too much has gone through him. I didn't think he would have played so much football and I am not sure that's the right thing for them to win an All-Ireland. If you were going into an All-Ireland final and Michael Murphy is your main man, then I wouldn't be disappointed if I was the opposition manager.' The spotlight is shone on his own. 'You look at the difference in our players. The smiles and the confidence. We had Andy McEntee and Colm O'Rourke, Banty McEnaney before that, but it hasn't been easy for a lot of those players, good players. 'There is an atmosphere now that is the right atmosphere. One thing about Robbie is that he will have players bouncing. There is fun, there is craic. He doesn't abuse players or bring negativity or make it all about him. He genuinely doesn't and I think that's been massive for those lads. Massive.' **** 35 years ago, he was one of those boys of summer. A player in his mid-20s, a side-parting almost as impressive as his sidestep and Vil Kilmer cheekbones. Meath and Donegal met in the All-Ireland semi-final. There were no false hits or sneaky jabs. Instead, it was honest brutality. But brutality none the less. Donegal had them warned in a way. The week before the match, a young Irish Independent journalist Vincent Hogan went to The Great Northern Hotel and breakfasted with the owner, and Donegal manager for the third time, one Brian McEniff. Advertisement For a few weeks since they had beaten Armagh in the Ulster final, a whole slew of young journalists had the road to Bundoran flattened when they were told to come on right ahead to Donegal. For many it was their first time in a place that operated on a different time zone. The pace of life was slow, the conversations slower, the pints thicker and faster. According to 'Sam's for the Hills', the definitive study on Donegal football of that time by Dónal Campbell and Damian Dowds, two themes emerged in all the pieces; that Donegal was a gorgeous county, but they had no chance against Meath. During Hogan's breakfast and interview, McEniff was the subject of no less than six interruptions with telephones trilling. Some were business calls, others were offering advice on how to handle Meath. One woman from Wicklow had made a phonecall to McEniff, advising him to make sure his players jumped higher than the Meath men. 'Can you believe it?' asked McEniff. In this era of some intercounty managers being, ahem, 'sponsored', McEniff might have been the busiest man you could ever encounter. Married to his wife Cautie of Cork, he was also a father of 10. Can you imagine the chaos? And yet within his hotels he moved among the people, paying casual compliments as ice-breakers, taking calls, occasionally knocking out a stanza on one of the pianos as he passed. Nothing beats playing, they say. As talk turned to Meath, McEniff looked across the golf links attached to his hotel and the Atlantic swell and said, 'No question, I'd give all of this away just to be able to play against Meath. 'Christ, I'd give an arm and a leg to play in that game. I'd give everything.' Brian McEniff. Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO / INPHO Later, Hogan went and attended a training session in Ballybofey and moved among the players. Donal Reid – the inheritor of McEniff's No 5 jersey, told him, 'I suppose it doesn't really matter what we say, people just won't believe it. But there's something different this time. We're actually dying for this game to happen.' How times change. Donegal ended up being the one county this week that did not give any media access. As for watching a training session, you'll recall how they erected a 'privacy fence' to keep anyone from watching their training sessions ahead of last year's preparations. Back to the game. After victory was secured, Meath players felt the press did them no favours. David Beggy said to reporters after, 'It was crazy for you fellows to write off Donegal like that. They came at us as I knew they would and they did not stand on ceremony. I wonder do people appreciate how hard it was out there? We got absolutely nothing without a fight.' Flynn himself told reporters: 'I'm sore, very sore. Above all the games Meath have played over the last few years, seldom has our character put more to the test than on this occasion. 'They had us on the rack but I'm convinced the spirit and heart in this team is greater than at any time over the last four years.' It wasn't all one way. In 'Sam's for the Hills', Declan Bonner recalled, 'Tony (Boyle) and me went for the first high ball that came in. As I went for it, Mick Lyons came across me and took me out of it. I remember thinking that if I wanted to play at this level I would have to start learning pretty quickly.' Some Donegal lads knew the ropes. Martin Shovlin was a man renowned for a pain threshold so high it was invisible to the naked eye. He won man of the match but nobody shipped more punishment. Barry McGowan said, 'I warmed up for Martin Shovlin two or three times after tackles that would have killed an ordinary man. He had treatment and was taken off on a stretcher each time.' Martin Shovlin. ©INPHO ©INPHO Anthony Molloy said, 'That would have been one of the most physical games we ever played in. I saw Shovlin's shin bone, but he just got up and played on.' Put it down to our addiction to nostalgia or the fact that the national broadcaster had three lead Gaelic football analysts in Pat Spillane, Colm O'Rourke and Joe Brolly who played up to the time when men were men and sheep ran scared. The punishing and attritional nature of football back then became glorified and fetishised. If you're into that sort of thing – and the vast majority of us are – then Flynn had one of the greatest tales of ultra-violence. It was a night in Páirc Tailteann and the four-game saga with Dublin in '91 was coming into focus. A team meeting a few nights previous carried the menacing message that training had gone soft. That it came from Mick Lyons provoked a few gulps. So there's Flynn in training skipping around on the top of the turf. He shimmied by Lyons and felt a thump. Words were exchanged and Flynn felt if the opportunity presented itself, he would let Lyons – yes, Mick Lyons – have it. 'Anyway Mick did it again and I turned around and hit him as hard as I could,' said Flynn. 'Next thing, all I could see was blood. I split his nose down the middle. I spent the rest of that training session looking around, left, right and centre. I genuinely had a fear that I was going to wake up in hospital.' After the session, he had to go to the dressing room. It was a silent room. Flynn went to the showers and found himself a spot where he could monitor those coming in. Lyons came into the steam and Flynn had his fist closed. Lyons threw his arm around Flynn and started congratulating him for his courage and nastiness. Flynn attempted an apology that was waved off. Lyons went into the shower and shampooed himself, the suds and the blood producing a pink foam. It wasn't until he was in his car that he could breathe easy. It got them to a certain level. It might have been to their detriment. He is living proof. Flynn celebrating with Colm O'Rourke. Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO / INPHO **** In 2009, Flynn was the first to push back on this stuff. By then he had spent 15 years in constant pain from his exertions on the football field. He took his first pain-killing injection in 1987 for his hip. At 44 he had a hip replacement. For years and years he felt the jab of a needle to get through Leinster and All-Ireland campaigns. Into the hip and into the ankle. He was one of the lucky ones, though. Teammate and surgeon Gerry McEntee had advised him to take out health insurance and keep up the payments. He had the backing to get an operation, carried out by Dr Kieran O'Rourke, a brother of Colm. After the hip operation, Dr O'Rourke told him he would need another operation: a knee replacement as it had become so unstable. 'We thought it served us well years ago. You know what? It actually cost us,' says Flynn now. Up against Mick Galvin in the 1994 series against Dublin. ©INPHO ©INPHO 'That Meath team we had, because of that attitude, we won two All-Irelands and we should have won a third or a fourth. And it was all to do with pressure and that mad lunatic stuff in training. We killed each other, we hopped off each other and were as thick as fuck. 'Honestly, I am one of the few actually spoke out and said it cost us. I love Sean Boylan. We are a close bunch, but if I told you the stuff we got up to, you would not believe it. The training matches were worse than we ever had. It was vicious and ferocious. 'It got us to a level, but I'll tell you what, it was some price to pay.' Which brings us back to that 1990 All-Ireland semi-final when he broke Donegal with his 2-2. His first shot came back off the post and hit Donegal goalkeeper Gary Walsh on the back of the head. The second arrived late on and he sold his trademark jink and laced the ball across Walsh to the net. He got his share of punishment that day too. Related Reads 'I couldn't miss out' - Meath star battles back from serious leg injury 'There will be a huge appetite to go again' - Galway's recovery from shock All-Ireland exit Kerry knock Armagh off their perch as they dump champions out of race for Sam 'I will not tell you a lie, I broke my sternum. Martin Gavigan caught me right down the front,' he recalls. 'It was the hardest day I ever had. The physicality that Donegal brought probably cost them. But I knew they were coming. 'If you watched the full game, it wasn't a great game of football. It was a pissy, slidy day. But the honest hitting in that match was as hard as I ever felt.' Donegal were so hopped up and eager that their football never got going. They hit 13 wides to Meath's three. Meath were left in rag order for the All-Ireland final. The semi-final took a lot out of them and they lost the final 0-11 to 0-9 to Cork. And yet, they emerged from the battle with an admiration for Donegal. 'A great bunch of lads. Donegal, a great honest bunch with serious talent,' insists Flynn. 'I didn't realise what a brilliant human being he was. He was the vice-captain in Australia then for the Compromise Series a few months later. You ask anybody, the respect that man had among the Jack O'Shea's and some of the greats; Paul Curran, Eamon Heary, Keith Barr, Bomber Liston, Martin was magnificent in that series as a leader and as a human being. What a man.' **** Back to Sunday. He's talking himself into a frenzy. He thinks, with some reason given his player of the month status, that Jordan Morris is the one to watch. 'He was Meath's best player in the league. I think he's nearly unplayable right now and he is only coming back ten weeks after that injury. Whoever gave a dusting to Johnny McGrath like that?' he asks. 'I don't think Donegal have a man to mark him. 'If you look at Shaun Patton in the first half, Monaghan got so much right. If Meath are there or thereabouts with fifteen minutes to go, I think they will win it. The pressure on Donegal, the pressure on Murphy and McGuinness, individually, I look at Donegal's second half against Galway last year, that's in their locker. It's in their locker. 'There is a little chink in them. If Meath can hang in, I promise you…' The county is awash with green and gold. The optimism and belief is back. Meath are back. **** Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
John Caulfield backs new Bohemians star to ‘be the difference' in Gypsies challenging for League of Ireland title
JOHN CAULFIELD has tipped Bohemians to challenge for the title but reckons Galway United need time to find their groove again. The Tribesmen were well beaten by Bohs on Friday night and have won just two of their last 12 games. 2 Bohemians beat Galway Utd Credit: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile 2 John Caulfield backed them to challenge for the title Credit: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile Alan Reynolds' side are still eight points adrift of Shamrock Rovers but Caulfield believes they are in the mix. Caulfield said: 'They are going for a league title. You can see their recruitment, you can see they have some fantastic players. 'They got Douglas James-Taylor up top and they paid top dollar for him, and fair play to them. He'll get them goals and that could be the difference between them winning the league and not. 'I suppose the brilliant thing is everyone thought it was only Rovers, but now it's Rovers, Derry and Bohs, and that's great for the league.' Read Mor on Bohemians Bohs did not pay a fee for James-Taylor to Walsall. Galway got €60,000 from Phnom Penh Crown for their top scorer Moses Dyer whilst another regular, Cian Byrne, returned to Bohs after his loan spell ended. And Caulfield believes it will take time for their reinforcements to show their best. On Friday Malcolm Shaw made his third start upfront, Aaron Bolger his first whilst Axel Piesold made his second appearance off the bench - but they signed after a period of inaction. Caulfield said: 'There have been a number of changes to our team and we are struggling to score a goal. 'I suppose we are asking Malcolm Shaw to get up to speed, he hasn't played since November, he started last week. Most read in Football 'He has a lot about him, to be fair. We see him in training, we see him finishing and he just needs something to go in for him. 'But it is difficult. When it doesn't happen, everyone keeps referring to Dyer. But to be fair to Malcolm, if he was here since January, with a full pre-season in him, I have no doubt that he would have a number of goals. League of Ireland mascots compete in charity race in Naas 'He will score goals, I have no doubt about that. 'I've tried to push these guys. Obviously young Bolger came in for 70 minutes and was great for us. It's a difficult time of year when some of your players go and you are bringing in players who haven't played since May. 'Piesold came on and did OK. 'Hopefully we will get more in but it's difficult mid-season, it's hard for us to get players to Galway. 'The problem for us is a lot of them haven't played since May. If we can get to the middle or end of August, fine, but it's that conundrum where we are trying to rush boys in and you have lost players who have played the last six or eight months and who were flying fit.' Caulfield is also looking for more from others. He did not point the finger at anyone in particular but ex-Ireland international Greg Cunningham struggled against James Clarke. He said: 'Maybe some of our more senior players are down on their confidence, going through a bit of a rocky patch. That happens and it's up to us to try and turn it around. 'I don't want to identify anyone. Overall, we didn't track runners. But I think in the bigger picture it's a situation where the second and third goals were too easy.'
