Bohemians take early lead in IAFA National League

​Bohemian FC took and early lead in the IAFA National League picking up 5 points at Roadstone on March 10th. A 1-1 draw with Cork City followed by a emphatic 5-0 win against local rivals Shamrock Rovers sees Bohs top the league after the first round of fixtures. 

Shamrock Rovers 1-1 Cork City (Wall, Murphy)
In the opening game of the season Cork took an early lead against hosts Rovers. Ruairi Murphy took advantage of a defensive mistake and poked past Patrick Hutton to give Cork a 1-0 lead at the break. Rovers struck back in the second half through Alan Wall who weaved his way through the Cork defense to level things up. 

Cork City 1-1 Bohemian FC (Cahillane, G. Hoey)
In the second game City met Bohemians and again took the lead. Kevin 'Butch' Cahillane struck a long range free-kick past Bohs keeper James Conroy. Cork could have been 2 up but Murphy's effort came back off the upright. The Dublin side equalized in the second half as Garry Hoey's strike deflected past the Cork keeper. 

Shamrock Rovers 0-5 Bohemian FC (Boyle x5)
The final fixture on the day saw the league's two Dublin sides meet. Rovers controlled the early part of the game but failed to convert their first half chances. The game then turned when James Boyle dinked past Hutton on the counter attack. Boyle made it 2 before half-time capitalizing on poor Rovers defending. Ireland's leading goalscorer was on top form and netted a further three times in the second half. 

More than 20 amputees were involved on the day as the IAFA National League kicked off in earnest. The next round of fixtures will take place in Cork on April 7th. The fist fixture will kick off at 2pm. All support is again welcome and any amputee interested in the game should check it out. Full fixture details will follow in the coming week.

Check out some goal-mouth footage taken by Bohs and Ireland goalkeeper James Conroy below for an alternative look at the opening day of our National League.