A game that swung enormously on a Ross Tierney red card ended in an otherwise impressive Bohemians being still not safe from the drop and Stephen Kenny's Saint Patrick's Athletic somehow in the title debate.
Bohs bossed the first half, making Pat's look far from the league's in-form team, but shortly afterwards Tierney picked up a second booking, fouling Chris Forrester, who had Saints in front by the hour mark – this before further goals from Jake Mulraney and skipper Joe Redmond.
Dawson Devoy's reposte with a minute left illustrated Bohs' improving spirit but they deserved more than this.
It is now in Saints' hands to finish above faltering Derry; they need three more wins at least – as well as Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers dropping points – in the most ludicrously erratic title race imaginable. It just might happen.
This game summed up the basket-case season we'll be so sad to see the end of. Bohs could still get relegated yet they were full of swagger in the opening half, strangely dominant – but they still managed to lose, and Kenny will reflect on a night in which Pat's were poor 11 versus 11 but managed a way to win in a canter.
Jamie Lennon is one of the best in the Irish business and his suspension-reasoned absence gave Aaron Bolger the chance to shine. One wondered beforehand: what did Stephen Kenny say to motivate the former Cork City midfielder, who would surely face a demanding night dealing with Devoy?
Saints began with such purpose as befitting a side incredibly still in the title race but they should have been behind on six minutes. The wizardry of Dayle Rooney's left peg invited Tierney to score but he could only watch in agony as Tom Grivosti cleared off the line.
No sooner had play settled down and the brilliant Brandon Kavanagh was denied at the back post at the other end; Mulraney's gorgeous corner-kick resulted in a Forrester volley being cleared away for another corner, both of them putting Kacper Chorazka under real duress.
On 16 minutes, an ever-more confident Bohs won a penalty. Devoy did well to link up with Tierney whose cross had danger all about it; Saints failed to clear and Carl Alex Sjoberg chopped down Rooney. Devoy's penalty, alas, was the sort that will be saved if the keeper picks the correct side – Joseph Anang did – but Anto Breslin's clearance off the line from James Clarke's apparent formality was heroic.
Rooney, perhaps the game's most influential player in the opening quarter, rued that his chance on 21 minutes invited him to shoot with his weaker right foot and over; Saints, strangely subdued now, were really lucky to be level.
A clever corner routine, Saints again having been stretched, saw Devoy feed Archie Meekison; the scorer of a cracker Friday in Derry saw his shot meet a crowded area.
Tierney then had Grivosti faltering and the Scouser could only take him down and a yellow; Anang was equal to the free-kick as Bohs' dominance grew.
Devoy was as persistently troubling for Pat's as his namesake John was all those years ago for the British state. The maestro fed Tierney but Bolger made a superb despairing block and he again made a vital intervention to quell a Bohs raid seven minutes shy of a break Saints needed badly.
Surely Saints could only improve in the second half?
All changed, changed utterly, four minutes in. Tierney, deservedly booked in the first half for a foul on Sjoberg, saw another yellow after hitting Forester late. It was unfortunate but it was a merited red and Saints could now only sense blood.
Breslin then put it on a proverbial plate for the hitherto anonymous Aidan Keena; the Westmeath man could only head straight at Chorazka, the Pole no doubt accepting he was in for a busy night thereafter.
Circumstantial evidence would suggest Chorazka was not especially hurt when he went down on 55 minutes, with Breslin having a proper go at him and understandably so; the farcical normality of players taking a break in these circumstances – referee Rob Hennessy compelled to allow them – leaves a bitter taste.
The inevitable happened a minute shy of the hour mark as Forrester accepted the incentive to have a go at the edge of the box and Chorazka had no chance due to the unfortunate connection made by defender Jake Carroll.
Meekinson then had Anang scrambling to see where his parry ended up – just to the right of the post – before Mulraney nearly put Saints two up, Carroll making a fine clearance.
Bohs refused to buckle and Clarke worked Anang midway through the second period.
But Pat's pretty much made sure of the points on 76 minutes, Mulraney lashing home from a corner to prompt hundreds of Gypsies to exit the ground.More followed with eight minutes on the clock as Redmond glanced home Elbouzedi's free-kick, Saints briefly having a better goal difference than Shelbourne's and closing in on Shamrock Rovers', though Devoy's consolation was reward for Bohs' defiance.
Is all of this really happening?
Bohemians: Kacper Chorazka; Cian Byrne, Jordan Flores, Jake Carroll, Paddy Kirk; Archie Meekison (Alex Greive 65), Adam McDonnell (Filip Piszczek 77), Dawson Devoy, James Clarke, Dayle Rooney (Brian McManus 85); Ross Tierney.
Saint Patrick's Athletic: Joseph Anang; Carl Alex Sjoberg (Ran McLaughlin 46), Joe Redmond, Tom Grivosti, Anthony Breslin (Al Amin Kazeem 80); Aaron Bolger (Kian Leavy 75), Chris Forrester, Brandon Kavanagh (Romal Palmer 80); Zak Elbouzedi, Aidan Keena (Michael Noonan 89), Jake Mulraney.
Referee: Rob Hennessy (Limerick)
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