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14th April 2018
05:09pm BST

Those that have attended Dublin derbies in the past will be well aware of the extra security presence at these games, but it's been two years since I last went to a match between Bohemians and Rovers, and I was still startled by the sheer volume of Garda presence given the number of fans expected.
An hour before the match, I stood at the traffic lights waiting to cross the N81 and counted 20 police officers that I could see from where I was standing.
Some were directing traffic. Others patrolled the paths. Four officers were mounted on horses just down from the entrance of the Maldron Hotel, while another four gathered just outside the away entrance with German Shepherds nestled by their sides.
I hadn't even crossed the road yet and it already looked like I was approaching the aftermath of a riot rather than the start of a football match.
International football matches can attract a similar variety in police presence, but Tallaght Stadium has a capacity of 6,000 people. The Aviva Stadium seats 51,700 at capacity.
The biggest concern among Rovers fans before the game was how could their side win games with two underperforming goalkeepers.
The biggest concern after the full-time whistle was what will happen outside the grounds after a 99th minute winner and a fight in the Main Stand?
The Bohemians bench emptied after the full-time whistle and the Bohs players had walked over to the corner of the Main Stand to celebrate Darragh Leahy's 99th minute winner with their ecstatic fans, while over in the East Stand, the Shamrock Rovers players stood and clapped their supporters to vitriolic abuse from a significant number of their fans that chose to hang around.
Some applauded the player's efforts, others headed for the exits, while dozens of fans took the opportunity to let their side know exactly how they felt about their latest derby defeat.
It seems like their voices did not fall on deaf ears either.
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"Where the f**k does he think he's going?" A Shamrock Rovers Ultra asked a fellow fan as Hoops manager Stephen Bradley made his way towards the tunnel.
"He needs to explain himself after that. He better show his face in the [club] bar after. It's not good enough."
As the Ultras took down their banners and paced back and forward behind the advertising boards, the Bohemians fans swiftly reminded them of how a game they were once leading got away from them.
"1-0 and you f**ked it up! 1-0 and you f**ked it up! 1-0 and you f**ked it up!"
"110%" a Rovers fan muttered to himself while taking down a banner.
Just before I exited the East Stand, I spotted a middle aged Rovers fan slumped into his seat while his friends stood a couple of metres away from him talking to each other.
The man's shoulders had dropped by his side, his elbows were parked firmly on his thighs and his hands were held together while he looked off into the distance - disengaged from conversation, sitting in silence, hurt by what he had seen.
A 99th minute winner in favour of your biggest rivals can do that to people.
When the stadium emptied Gardai effectively ensured that both sets of supporters would not meet in the streets following the match - like they had in the stands less than an hour earlier - as blue lights shone like beacons around The Square in Tallaght.
Gardai on bikes tailed teenagers running around the car park and the nearby Luas stop, Bohemians fans sang until there was no one left there to listen to them and one Rovers fan summed it up best while standing in front of me in the queue at McDonald's.
"How was the game?" his friend asked him.
The boy stepped forward to speak, put one finger on his glasses to move the frames closer to his eyes before letting out a deep sigh followed by a heavy inhale.
He could not find the words to do it justice.
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