Derry City fell to sixth in the table with their defeat
Derry City fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Bohemians at Dalymount Park on Friday evening.
A Dayle Rooney penalty that was awarded with less than a minute on the clock was the difference between the sides in Dublin.
The Candystripes finished the game with ten men and they are now winless in their past three games.
This result combined with victories for St Patrick's Athletic and Shelbourne sees them drop down to sixth.
Tiernan Lynch's plans were immediately thrown out of the window when Rob Hennessey pointed to the spot just seconds into proceedings when James Clarke's strike was adjudged to have been handled by Mark Connolly.
It looked to be a harsh call but Rooney didn't care and he dispatched a perfect kick high to Brian Maher's right. Derry did ride out that early storm and did not take on any more damage but struggled to respond at the other end.
Michael Duffy managed to get to the by-line on the left and whipped in a dangerous cross but it was flicked away well by Rob Cornwall.
At the other end, Kevin Holt did well to block Ross Tierney's strike and the Scottish defender was breathing a sigh of relief when his giveaway was not punished by Clarke who dragged wide.
The former Drogheda man had another good chance just a minute later but couldn't keep his effort from the edge of the box down.
The Candystripes had the last chance of the first half in stoppage time when Duffy laid the ball off nicely for Paul McMullan but Crystal Palace loanee Sean Grahan bravely diverted his shot away.
Dayle Rooney's penalty was awarded with 38 seconds on the clock
Despite a triple change for the away side at the break, Alan Reynolds' hosts started the better in the second half too and had the first chance.
Jordan Flores met a corner at the front post but his powerful header flashed wide. Having survived that, the visitors went up the other end and felt that they should have had a penalty of their own when Bohs captain Dawson Devoy leaned into Paul Mullen in the box.
The Derry bench was apoplectic and their frustration grew when Mullen nodded Ronan Boyce's cross over just before the hour mark.
Having already lost Shane Ferguson to injury in the first half, Lynch had more bad injury luck in the second half when half-time sub Ben Doherty limped off having only returned from an a injury layoff last week.
His replacement Robbie Benson was involved immediately and was fortunate that the referee believed his foul on Tierney was outside the box. The former Dundalk man then came inches away from a leveller shortly after but, under pressure from Niall Morahan, couldn't connect with Adam O'Reilly's inviting ball across the box.
The visitors were in the ascendency and another replacement Dom Thomas caught McMullan's delivery flush with a volley but Grahan was in the way again as he cleared off the line.
However, their task was hindered as Benson's eventful evening continued in the worst way. With eight minutes remaining, he was shown a second yellow card less than 25 minutes after coming on.
That and Mullen's caution for a dive shortly after summed up a frustrating evening for the men from the Brandywell as, despite Carl Winchester stinging the palms of Kacper Chorazka in stoppage time, they enter the international break on back-to-back defeats.
Next up is a home game against Galway United on 13 June.
