The Gypsies should have taken the lead inside the opening minute when Killian Brennan’s free-kick found Owen Heary at the back post but the captain’s precise pull-back was headed wastefully over by Ger O’Brien from six yards.

After Mark Quigley had shot over from a promising dead-ball situation on eight minutes, Dundalk’s top scorer found the target from Nathan Murphy’s left-wing cross seven minutes later but Barry Murphy dived to his right to parry away Quigley’s effort to safety.

The visitors continued to show greater attacking initiative and in the 18th minute, Murphy was once again called into action as he comfortably gathered Johnny Breen’s volleyed effort after Greg Bolger had made a threatening run into the heart of the Bohs’ defence.

After an enterprising opening, the game fizzled out for the remainder of the half with both sides guilty of numerous misplaced passes and a general lack of invention with a repeat of last Friday’s stalemate looking increasingly likely as the game progressed.

O’Brien threatened sporadically down the Bohemians right but there were insufficient bodies in the box to unduly trouble a Dundalk defence that eased its way through the opening half.

Both Breen and Quigley warmed the hands of Murphy within seven minutes of the resumption but the poverty of the attacking play on both sides was a constant cause of frustration for the 1,100 in attendance.

It took the controversial sending-off of Dean Bennett in the 76th minute for two consecutive yellow cards to enliven proceedings and four minutes later Quigley had Murphy scrambling with a 30-yard free-kick that whistled past the netminder’s right-hand post.  

Finally, the hosts began to show some genuine attacking intent with substitute Christy Fagan and Brennan both testing Peter Cherrie from distance but there was an inevitability to the 0-0 scoreline after ninety minutes.

After a similarly uneventful first period of extra-time, the game finally sprung into life when the hosts eventually broke the deadlock in the 108th minute.

Brennan and Rossiter worked a short free-kick routine with the latter’s cross-come-shot diverted superbly beyond Cherrie by Anto Flood from eight yards.

BOHEMIANS: Murphy; Heary, Burns, Price, Rossiter; O’Brien (Buckley, 66) Bayly, Cronin, Brennan, Flood; Downes (Fagan, 85).

DUNDALK: Cherrie; Madden, Bennett, C Byrne, McHugh; Breen, Bolger, Ward, Murphy; Quigley, Griffin (J Byrne, 66).

REFEREE: T Connolly (Dublin)