The 10-women of Bohemians hang on to earn a point after an eventful 2-2 draw with Wexford Youths at Dalymount Park this evening.

Ellen Molloy and Mia Dodd both scored in the first half before Katie Malone grabbed her first goal for Bohemians after her move from DLR Waves earlier this year.

Rachael Kelly was dismissed midway through the second half and was replaced by Meadbh Ryan who saved a penalty by Ellen Molloy on her Bohemians debut, but was beaten by a second spotkick late in the game, converted by Wexford captain, Kylie Murphy.

The first ‘chance’ of the game came from a looping cross from Niamh Prior which looked to be dipping under the Wexford crossbar and caused Nix to scramble to palm the ball away from the goal.

The deadlock was broken before the ten minute mark when Emily Corbet’s initial shot was saved well by Bohemians’ skipper, Rachael Kelly. 

The ball was recycled back to the edge of the box where Ellen Molloy, who had only recently returned to the team after an ACL injury, picked her spot and fired into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

The first half was slightly starved of genuine chances on goal, but Katie Lovely did create one out of nothing as she fired a shot towards the Wexford goal, bringing a brilliant save out of Nix.

And speaking of creating something out of nothing, Mia Dodd did just that in the 33rd minute with a stunning strike. Dodd picked the ball up well outside the box on the right hand side before unleashing a venomous strike which dipped just over the outstretched arms of Nixs to level proceedings.

The early stages of the second half were played in the middle of the park as both sides struggled to assert dominance over the other.

Just after the hour mark, Bohemians took the lead thanks to Katie Malone’s first goal in a black and red shirt. Tidy play between Fiona Donnelly and Malone saw Donnelly poke a pass past the defence, allowing Malone to curl a beautiful effort into the bottom corner.

The game changed again in the 72nd minute courtesy of a moment of madness from Rachael Kelly who came out to claim a through ball meant for Abbie Brophy.

There looked to be no danger as Kelly met the pass in plenty of time but somehow the ball spilled into the path of Brophy, leading to Kelly taking her down - conceding a penalty and being shown a straight red card.

Meadbh Ryan came on for her debut in less than ideal circumstances to face Ellen Molloy from the penalty spot and heroically dived to her right to save the shot, denying Molloy her brace and keeping her team’s lead intact.

It looked like Bohemians were going to hold on at the end of the game after facing immense pressure from the away side, but a handball in the Bohs box by Fiona Donnelly in the 88th minute gave Wexford a lifeline.

Kylie Murphy stepped up to the spot and fired past the heroic Ryan who could do nothing about the second penalty of the match.

Wexford had a chance to steal all three points near the end with a Corbet header, but her effort flew over the bar and the game finished as a draw.

Bohemians remain a point ahead of Wexford in fifth on 28 points after this result with both sides within touching distance of Galway, who have two games in hand on Bohemians but have played the same amount of games as Wexford.