Premier

Markets Field
04 Jul 2015

Eyes Wide Shut
McEvoy and Clarke in aerial battle
pic: Limerick Leader

An invaluable win on their first visit to the redeveloped Markets Field for the Seagulls puts some clear water between them and the relegation zone.

Having suffered the loss of a second Manager during the week, Bray fielded new signing Peter Cherrie in goal, and stand-in coach Adam Hanlon had to promote himself to the bench when skipper David Cassidy was unable to take the field.

Not the most promising of starts, then. By way of contrast, Limerick's Ian Turner was fit to start, having missed last week's outing.

But without seeming to get out of first gear, the Seagulls easily dominated the first period, as witness their four corners in the opening four minutes.

Limerick had the first couple of half-chances, Cherrie claiming a high cross from Seán Russell at full stretch beyond his far post, and Turner skied having received Dean Clarke's pass.

The second half started in stuttering fashion with neither side appearing to settle, but on the hour Seán Harding got a second caution and the resultant red card.

Bray, however, were slow to take advantage of their numerical superiority and it wasn't until the final seconds of normal time that substitute David Scully fired a 25m free round the wall and past Conor O'Donnell.

Three minutes of time added weren't enough for the home side to restore an equality that had seemed within their grasp until the dying minutes.

Conditions in the Limerick venue were bright and breezy, as was Bray's opening, which saw early action by both Peter McGlynn and Gareth McDonagh, both of whom performed admirably throughout the evening.

In the middle of the series of corners, came a long cr0ssfield ball by Ryan McEvoy which McDonagh was unable to keep in play, and as the shock of the Seagulls start began to fade, Russell threaded a ball up the left for Clarke, but Hugh Douglas intervened to clear.

Shortly after Cherrie's first action the home side had the first of several fairly credible penalty shouts during the encounter when Clarke went down in the area, and minutes later Shane Duggan shot straight at the new Bray keeper.

Douglas had the next half-chance for the visitors 18 minutes in but headed high after an ambitious deep crossfield pass from McGlynn found him marauding forward, and John Sullivan, playing in the hole in front of the defence with McEvoy in a 4-2-3-1 formation, was spreading briskly if a little erratically at times.

In a swift Bray counter-attack minutes later, McGlynn tried his luck from distance, but O'Donnell was ready, and McDonagh should really have seen Ralph Pieper's flag for his pre-emptive run a couple of minutes after that.

It was one of a number of debatable decisions that at times disrupted the efforts of both teams.

Bray seemed to be favouring a close-quarters approach to marking, which didn't give the Blues much opportunity for strategic play.

Just inside the half-hour, Cherrie punched to clear a Shane Tracy effort, the ball eventually falling to Duggan whose shot drifted narrowly past the far post.

A Harding free following a foul on Clarke also came close, while at the far end McDonagh, having rightly been called offside, moved quickly after the free to fire a cross that Robbie Williams stuck a toe at and and almost turned into the Limerick net.

Ten minutes to the break and Limerick were scrambling to clear after a flag-kick, which they achieved with the help of a free out.

McGlynn sent a 20m free from the left narrowly over O'Donnell's bar, and the next Bray attack, facilitated by a poor clearance, was snuffed out with more vigorous tackling.

Emerging for the second period, the Seagulls conceded an early corner and saw Tracy with the first chance of the half.

The visitors' Chris Lyons thought he had been brought down unfairly in a tangle with Aidan Price and O'Donnell, but referee Rob Harvey didn't. Price needed attention, and after going down without contact seven minutes later left the fray.

But Wanderers play lost some of its edge for a time, and a Lee-J Lynch corner found Paul O'Conor free, though his header flew just past the far post.

Lynch himself put the ball harmlessly wide in a follow-up to his next flag-kick.

Limerick were taking the game to their visitors for now, but two more corners inside the hour came to nothing.

After Michael Barker raced up the left to beat Harding - but not O'Donnell - Lynch hit a fierce drive that rocketed to safety off Cherrie's feet.

Harding's second yellow was earned by another ill-judged tackle on McGlynn, who had already been fouled four times in the match.

Despite their disadvantage, the next plausible opportunity fell to the hosts when Russell was down in the area. It wasn't entirely clear whether Harvey's resultant card was brandished as a result of dissembling or dissent.

Price's replacement, Paudie O'Connor, was displaying good reading of the game, and twice in short order he moved smartly to dispossess McGlynn in a threatening run.

McDonagh tested O'Donnell, who batted away his shot ten minutes from time, and with five left Bray sub Emeka Onwubiko was the next to shout for a penalty after he was shouldered to the ground.

There was no lasting damage, as he brought a fine save from the Limerick netminder with a crisp drive, following a cheeky backheel by Sullivan, that O'Donnell barely reached at the bar.

It was a foul on Graham Kelly following the second of two more Bray corners that brought Scully to the dead ball, and O'Donnell, having placed his wall, failed to police the open side where the Bray sub placed his shot.

It could be argued that Bray's win was a little less than convincing, given the dismissal, but their overall performance was the better of the two.

Mícheál Ó hUanacháin

Bray Wanderers: 50 Peter Cherrie; 20 Hugh Douglas, 12 Niall Cooney, 5 Alan McNally (c), 2 Michael Barker; 10 Ryan McEvoy, 15 John Sullivan; 13 Peter McGlynn, 24 Graham Kelly, 23 Gareth McDonagh; 18 Chris Lyons
Subs: 3 Jack Memery, 4 Daniel O'Reilly, 7 David Scully (for McDonagh 84), 11 Adam Hanlon (for McGlynn 79), 17 Peter Durrad, 19 Emeka Onwubiko (for Lyons 71), 22 James O'Donnell
Limerick: 1 Conor O'Donnell; 2 Seán Harding, 5 Aidan Price, 3 Robert Williams, 11 Shane Tracy; 7 Ian Turner, 6 Paul O'Conor, 8 Shane Duggan (c), 14 Seán Russell; 9 Dean Clarke, 28 Lee Lynch
Subs: 12 Darragh Rainsford (for Turner 70), 16 Prince Agyemang, 22 Kieran Hanlon, 24 Paudie O'Connor (for Price 56), 25 Seán McSweeney, 29 Jason Hughes, 30 Tommy Holland (gk)
Referee: Robert Harvey