Cathal Dervan, Editor
Move over #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld, there’s a new hashtag in town, Dublin town to be precise. After Monday night’s drama in Tallaght, this is a marketing suggestion that is well worth pursuing - #GreatestDerbyInTheWorld.
Okay, so it may seem a little far fetched when compared to other games that would lay claim to that very coveted title. United against City of all the charges in Manchester. Celtic against Rangers in Glasgow. Inter versus AC in Milan. Dundee v Dundee United in, you guessed it, Dundee.
There’s even an Irish twist on El Classico in the Midlands derby this Friday night when Longford Town host their nearest neighbours Athlone in a game of huge significance to both their First Division seasons.
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Poles to go…
Those games listed above are all fixtures that mean something extra special to the supporters of all the clubs concerned. In their own right, they are every bit as important and as unique as the meeting of Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians was to the Hoops and the Gypsies of North and South Dublin on Monday.
But any of those games will do well to match what was a triumph for League of Ireland football in general and the most renowned Dublin derby of them all this time around.
This was a pivotal match wrapped around a title race that has been intriguing for weeks now, a game that neither side could afford to lose as the likely destination of the 2026 league crown becomes ever clearer.
It was a game hyped up by all connected with our domestic league and it turned out to be a game that delivered on all fronts.
Consider the crowd for a start. On a night when Virgin Media, who’ve done a great job all season, beamed the action from Tallaght live into our living rooms, Rovers v Bohs attracted 10,208 fans to the best stadium in the league.
On a night when Premier League football was live on Sky Sports, albeit Coventry at home to Newcastle, Rovers and Bohs attracted the biggest crowd ever to attend Tallaght Stadium for a competitive game.
On a night when the schools were back and workplaces were only closing, Dublin’s biggest rivals drew the crowds and delivered an experience to match.
Monday night’s game had a bit of everything but let’s start with the genius that is Graham Burke. If he doesn’t win Player of the Year this season, there is something wrong. How he isn’t earning Premier League millions in England every year, even now at 33, remains a mystery.
Like Bohs legend Jackie Jameson before him, Burke has that uncanny ability to hold the ball up in the tightest of spaces, conjure something magical out of nothing and hit a killer pass or a sweeping shot on goal with the ease of a magician. His performance on Monday night was worth the admission money alone.
He wasn’t alone. Bohs played with verve and passion, Rovers hit them hard when it mattered and the game ebbed and flowed like the Liffey itself.
How Bohs didn’t score as they dominated the first 20 minutes of the second-half is beyond me. How they conceded so sloppily five minutes after Ross Tierney’s deserved 71st minute equaliser will be beyond them.
Even when the game was over and Dylan Watts’ reward for his industrious night came via the winning goal, there was more drama to come as tempers flared, punches were thrown and the bragging rights for the final Rovers-Bohs derby of the season were celebrated a little too zealously for some.
Much has been made of the ‘melee’ that prompted four red cards for those caught misbehaving in that post game scrap but, as Eoin Doyle said so well afterwards, a derby match demands that rattiness, that edge.
Without it, it will be as useless as a half and half scarf on sale at Dalymount or Tallaght when such fixtures arrive. It may have looked unpleasant but it was no more than the occasion had threatened all night.
As for the impact of the Rovers win, let’s just say they took two massive steps forward in the title race this past week with wins at home to Drogheda and now Bohs that have put the League of Ireland trophy firmly back in their grip.
It is theirs to lose once again - and they’ve already recovered from that scare once this season. They won’t be caught twice.
With the international window well and truly closed now, our Merseyside based pundit Kevin Bannon returns to Let's Talk Football to discuss the Manchester City story that just won't go away - and he tells editor Cathal Dervan why the Sky Blues should be kicked out of the Premier League.
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