DERRY CITY

2-3

BRAY WANDERERS

McEneff 65 pen

McCabe 28

Jarvis 84

Greene 43

Clancy 93+

Premier

Maginn Park
31 Mar 2017

Both teams lined out
in 'McBride 5' T-shirts

There was plenty of emotion in Maginn Park tonight, but precious little mercy.

The first half play may have belonged to the Candystripes, but the scoreline was all Seagulls.

And it took a well-judged penalty twenty minutes into the second period to give the northerners a hint of light in the distance, Aaron McEneff scoring from the spot.

Another twenty minutes, and Dean Jarvis beat Peter Cherrie in the final minutes of the game, apparently rescuing a point for the home side.

But Tim Clancy went forward for a late late Bray corner and placed it past subsitute Derry keeper Eric Grimes, for Bray's first away victory over Derry in more than fifteen years.

The lowering presence of the Maiden City, which has overhung so many of the home side's past fortress performances, was absent tonight, and Bray took full advantage.

An early combination of a McEneff feed and a Rory Patterson finish failed to deliver, the striker finding only the side-netting.

Aaron Greene dragged his shot wide after Dylan Connolly's flick had created the chance.

And though the Derry striker brought a splendid save from Bray's Peter Cherrie on the quarter hour, his finger-tip touch pushing the ball to the bar, it was evident that Patterson wasn't at full fitness and he made way a half hour into the match.

Meanwhile, McCabe had made the best possible use of a 20m free, won at the end of a previous Derry corner breakaway, and curling the ball past Doherty, who himself wasn't looking fully fit.

The home side were stung into retaliation, Lukas Schubert bringing another good save from the Scot, and Curtis's header from a McEneff corner sailing not far over the bar.

Despite a Josh Daniels effort from a corner ten minutes from time, Derry's territorial dominance was made to look trivial when after another counter-attack Mark Salmon's pass following a long ball from COnor Kenna two minutes from the normal break found Greene at a narrow angle, though he found enough space to beat Doherty.

Cherrie was in action more than once after the break before he was eventually beaten, notably stopping Nathan Boyle's powerful strike.

But when McEneff was brought down in the area sufficiently blatantly for Referee Derek Tomney to point to the spot, the injured party recovered sufficiently to blast the penalty past the Bray keeper.

Curtis and Schubert both had chances for the home side before tactical substitutions had an opportunity to take effect, but though Jason Marks had an 81st minute opportunity, the serious tactical chances fell to Curtis, and he failed to take them.

Jarvis didn't: after a lovely run up the left hand side he lobbed over Cherrie to make it all square, with what must have seemed like bare seconds left. There was more, though.

And in time added, with the single point looking more and more like a home purchase, Clancy did a classic defender's rush forward and profited from a failure to clear the corner. which followed Salmon's free.

Compiled by Mícheál Ó hUanacháin

Bray Wanderers: 1 Peter Cherrie; 2 Hugh Douglas , 4 Conor Kenna (c), 12 Conor Earley, 21 Tim Clancy ; 5 John Sullivan, 8 Mark Salmon; 16 Dylan Connolly, 6 Keith Buckley, 11 Gary McCabe ; 9 Aaron Greene
Subs: 5 Derek Foran, 14 Jamie Aherne, 15 Alan Kehoe (for Earley 38 inj), 17 Gerald Pender, 22 Darragh Noone (for McCabe 80), 23 Jason Marks (for Buckley 74), 93 Lee Steacy (gk)
Derry City: 1 Gerard Doherty (c); 2 Conor McDermott , 3 Dean Jarvis , 4 Aaron McEneff , 6 Nicky Low, 7 Barry McNamee, 9 Ronan Curtis, 16 Nathan Boyle, 29 Lukas Schubert, 30 Aaron Barry
Subs: 8 Harry Monaghan, 10 Joshua Daniels (for Patterson 32 inj), 13 Eric Grimes (for Doherty H/T), 14 Rory Holden, 23 Ben Doherty, 24 Scott Whiteside, 31 Mikhail Kennedy (for Boyle 66)
Referee: Derek Tomney

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