Premier

Dalymount
20 Jul 2018

It would be a foolhardy Bray fan who approached Dalymount Park tonight with anything other than the deepest forebodings.

In a sense, the wonder was that the game was going ahead at all. Leave aside the technicality that strike action had not yet taken effect, the undoubted animosity between players and club, the loss of another Manager and six valuable players - what sort of atmosphere was that to play a game of football in?

The outcome indeed was a continuation of the off-field nightmare that had marked the earlier part of the summer.

When Keith Ward netted offside within sixty seconds of the whistle, it may not have been an augury, but it was certainly an omen.

All Bray knew the quality of Daniel Kelly, and it was no surprise that he beat his former team-mates to open the scoring and then double his new club's advantage a quarter of an hour later.

Dinny Corcoran got the third from the spot, still inside the half-hour, and Kevin Devaney made it four with a classy strike from distance.

It was another setpiece that brought the next score, a Ward corner flicked back to Cornwall to head home.

When a penalty was awarded against Bray minutes later, a clamour from the home fans saw the former Seagull taking to the spot, and his former netminder denying him.

It was less than justice for the Wicklow footballers, whose boast must be that in spite of everything, they were there, and they played football.

Mícheál Ó hUanacháin

Bray Wanderers: 29 Evan Moran; 27 Dragos Mamaliga, 5 Seán Heaney, 4 Conor Kenna 31 Seán Harding ; 6 Paul O'Conor, 14 Rhys Gorman; 11 Jake Kelly, 21 Gary McCabe (c), 12 Dylan Hayes; 9 Gerald Pender
Subs: 18 Calvin Rogers (for Mamaliga 63), 22 Darragh Noone (for J Kelly 63), 24 Jake Ellis (for Hayes 73), 25 Cian Walsh, 26 Byron O'Gorman, 28 Alex Rafferty, 40 Mark O'Connor (gk)
Bohemians: 1 Shane Supple (c); 29 Andy Lyons, 4 Dan Casey, 5 Rob Cornwall , 3 Darragh League; 27 Daniel Kelly , 19 JJ Lunney, 16 Keith Buckley, 11 Kevin Devaney ; 10 Keith Ward; 9 Dinny Corcoran
Subs: 6 Dan Byrne (for Cornwall 65), 12 Danny Grant, 14 Patrick Kavanagh, 17 Cristian Magerusan (for D Kelly 76), 18 Ian Morris (for Buckley 84), 23 Paddy Kirk, 30 Seán Hogan (gk)
Referee: Neil Doyle