A wretched week for Bray Wanderers was capped by a controversial defeat in the FAI Cup semi-finals at Dalymount Park when a succession of borderline refereeing decisions put paid to the holders in a stormy tie.
As the FAI got their dream final of Shelbourne v Bohemians the first time the League's oldest clubs have ever met in the Blue Riband Bray were left feeling the victims of a Cup conspiracy.
Their build-up to the semi-final was affected by the FAI's hard-line stance on Jason Byrne's one-game suspension but, if anything, the sorry episode, and Bohemians' role in it, served to inspire them.
Belying their First Division status, Bray stretched Bohs for long periods of a roller-coaster, full-blooded tie, in which there were a refreshing 23 goal-chances, 12 to Bray, and the underdogs didn't deserve their cruel fate.
That they crashed out was due, in no small part, to a poor performance by Dublin referee John Feighery, who has established a reputation for calm, assured handling of high profile games.
With Cup fever raging in Phibsboro, Feighery made two critical errors which cost Bray the match, their hold on the Cup and a money-spinning entry into next season's UEFA Cup.
Feighery's failure to send Avery John off after he had felled Ciarán 'Tarzan' O'Brien with a blow to the face was, quite simply, astonishing. Feighery was on top of the incident but decided that a yellow card was sufficient.
With the tie evenly poised at 1-1 approaching half-time at the time, Bray would have had buckets of time to press home a numerical advantage. Instead, John went on to have the proverbial blinder as he rescued Bohs repeatedly in the second half.
If that was bad, worse was to follow for the holders as the tie exploded in controversy with 20 minutes to go when Bray were firmly on top.
After a highly debatable offside was called against the outstanding Colm Tresson, who had timed his run beautifully to beat the Bohs' defence, Bray looked to taken a potentially decisive lead in the 71st minute.
A sliced clearance from John was spooned by Bohs 'keeper Michael Dempsey, who was challenged for the breaking ball by 'Tarzan' O'Brien. There was minimal contact and the ball fell to Tresson in the box who gleefully slammed his shot into the net.
But Feighery adjudged that O'Brien had fouled the 'keeper, although TV replays showed later this was not the case.
To compound Bray's misery, Bohs then lifted the siege, broke upfield, and scored the winning goal through Ray Kelly. Predictably, Bray boss Pat Devlin shot from the lip afterwards as he reflected on the cruellest of Cup exits.
"We were judged, sentenced and found guilty before a ball was kicked today," he fumed.
"We received unfair treatment from officialdom off the pitch all week, and it was the same on the pitch today.
"The decisions out there were the worst I've ever seen. Avery John punched Ciarán O'Brien; it's a blatant sending off offence but he gets away with it. We then had a perfectly good goal disallowed.
"Those decisions have cost us the Cup and a place in the UEFA Cup," he added.
At the final whistle, Devlin refused to shake hands with Bohs manager Roddy Collins, clearly angry at what he felt was an unwelcome and unnecessary intrusion by Bohs into the Byrne affair.
"I offer my congratulations to the Bohemians players and their supporters for getting to the final. But to the people who run Bohemians Football Club, I say shame on them for the way they behaved this week.
"And to the people who run the FAI in Merrion Square, I say shame on them for their actions, too."
Asked whether he felt there was one rule for the bigger clubs, and another for the smaller one, Devlin replied: "It's about time the small clubs stood up and were counted."
Collins accepted there was an element of 'controversy' about the disallowed goal. Of John's punch, he quipped: "I've thrown better ones than that and not got sent off."
Under the smile, Collins knew just how close a call this was for the Gypsies.
"A lot of things have been said about me this week but Jason Byrne's suspension was not down to Roddy Collins. I'm disappointed that the kid didn't play. The bottom line is that we have qualified for Europe and that was our target at the beginning of the season."
After falling at this round five times in the past ten years, Bohemians broke from the traps with the intention of blowing Bray off the park. A sweetly-struck shot by Kevin Hunt from the edge of the box in the sixth minute, following a surging run down the right flank from Paul Byrne, suggested this was going to be their day. But Bray regrouped, switching to 4-4-2 from 3-6-1, and set about a rescue mission. Moving Tresson from sweeper to midfield gave Bray a platform to build on.
Mick Doohan, Jody Lynch and Ciarán Ryan had all gone close before Bray's equaliser arrived on the half-hour. When Dempsey spilled a Barry O'Connor shot that was heading wide, 'Tarzan' O'Brien forced the rebound back across goal and Tresson was there to smash the ball into the empty net.
The second half was virtually all Bray but they were caught cold when Gareth O'Connor cut in from the left, and fired a stinging shot on goal. John Walsh parried O'Connor's effort but there was Kelly to pounce for his fifth goal of this Cup campaign as Bohs, not without several scares, squeaked through.
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TEAMS:
Bohemians: Dempsey; Vaudequin, Maher, O’Driscoll, John; Byrne, T. O’Connor, Hunt, G. O’Connor; Kelly, Crowe. Subs; Brunton for O’Driscoll 25; Caffrey for Vaudequin 75; Swan for Crowe 80.
Goals: Kevin Hunt 6, Ray Kelly 71.
Bray Wanderers: Walsh; Gifford, Doohan, Lynch, Farrell; Tresson, Keogh, Dodd, Ryan; K. O’Brien, B. O’Connor. Subs; P. O’Brien for Ryan 73; G. O’Brien for Dodd 80.
Goals: Colm Tresson 30.