Crankiness was in danger of taking over at Dalymount Park after a stodgy first half showing that looked to have given Derry City the platform to a third win in a row.
But the introduction of Ross Tierney and a tactical switch from Alan Reynolds changed the game and created the situation where his Bohs group were deflated to finish with just a solitary point – especially as they played against ten men for the dying stages.
It means their winless run extends to eight matches with these protagonists now shaping up like European contenders as opposed to title challengers.
The lack of consistency in their play was evident in the flow of this encounter.
Bohs went with a starting selection that suggested they were favouring a positive approach with Douglas James-Taylor and Colm Whelan paired up top.
Barry Cotter of Derry City in action against Senan Mullen of Bohemians
LOI Review – Friday, May 1
Derry, by contrast, went with the central midfielder heavy approach that worked in Celtic Park last Friday with a narrow structure giving Tiernan Lynch plenty of bodies in the engine room.
It worked for them in the opening half, with Bohemians signposting that they wanted to get the ball forward to James-Taylor and Whelan when possible but they weren’t getting much change from the visiting rearguard and the locals couldn’t really gain consistent possession in threatening positions. Their 4-4-2 was easily snuffed out.
Derry were by no means brilliant, yet they were more compact on a surface that looked a bit dry after a warm week.
The opener summed up the story of the half with Derry’s wide array of midfield men involved. Darragh Markey’s busy nature earned him a smack from Sam Todd as he played a pass forward to Adam O’Reilly whose ball across the area was greeted by a right footer from James Olayinka that Kacper Chorazka should have done better with.
Some Bohs fans voiced their displeasure at the break and a change was inevitable with Ross Tierney replacing James-Taylor in an attempt to address the imbalance in the middle.
He made an instant impact, with Derry less capable of predicting what was coming from the Gypsies with Tierney buzzing around and an early break led to a brave Carl Winchester tackle that ended his evening.
Lynch brought on Cameron Dummigan and looked to be moving to a back five but as that was being processed by his players, Bohs scored with the assistant referee keeping his flag down as Markus Strods raced onto a Whelan chip and finished confidently with his right foot.
While Chorazka made a vital save from Brandon Fleming in the aftermath, all the momentum was with Bohs and Derry looked to slow the game down and make changes in an attempt to regroup.
For all the Bohs pressure in that period, Eddie Beach wasn’t too busy with promising Bohs passages breaking down before the penalty area, although Whelan and Tierney were enjoying their interactions.
The introduction of Michael Duffy and Dipo Akinyemi gave Derry fresh impetus going forward that halted the Bohs gallop and the final quarter looked set to be cagier than the third until a second yellow for O’Reilly put the pressure back onto the guests.
Bohs had ten minutes plus stoppage time to make it pay; they avoided a sending off of their own when Patrick Hickey caught a through ball thinking it was offside but escaped with a yellow.
Derry were galvanised by the setback, though, and while they had to ride their luck somewhat in the closing minutes, Bohs lacked the quality to unlock the door.
Monday’s derby with Shelbourne might just dictate the mood for the road ahead.
Bohemians: Chorazka, Power (Harpur 87), Hickey, Todd, Mullen (Byrne 76); Strods (Parsons 87), Devoy, Morahan (McDonnell 76), Rooney; James-Taylor (Tierney 45), Whelan
Derry City: Beach, Cotter, Stott, P McClean, Fleming; O’Reilly, Winchester (Dummigan 51), Markey (Doherty 78), Olayinka (Duffy 67); Clarke; Thomas (Dipo 67)