Dr Tony O'Neill Trophy

ALSAA
24 June 2006

Bray's Under-21s returned to form with a convincing defeat of Bohemians this morning, goals by Stephen Roche and substitute Maurice Dunne leaving the Gypsies with no comeback in poor conditions under the take-off trail at the airport.

In a scoreless first half, the visitors made the initial running, though by the last quarter of an hour Bohemians were pushing them hard, Mick Mooney blasting over from close range with only the keeper to beat after a poor clearance effot from Luke Nixon.

David O'Sullivan's shot just after the half hour was usefully deflected for Bohs keeper Keith Gallagher after Wayne Byrne had beaten the home defence just outside the area, and both sides failed to hit the target in the final minutes of the first period, despite a good free by Shane Fitzgerald which had to be cleared away for a corner by the Bray defence.

Bohemians looked like they had been fired up during the interval, and Keith Kelch had to clear off the line within two minutes after Roche had failed to contain the nippy Philip McDonagh, and the home side won three corners in fairly quick succession, but couldn't make anything of them.

Just after the hour mark, Paul Dunphy's shot came off the far post, and Willie Tyrrell made a vital headed clearance off the line when Bohemians pounced on the rebound.

Then Bray won a free deep in the right hand corner, and when Dunne's dead-ball was headed against the post, it was Roche who got his head to it and flashed it past Gallagher.

With the substitution of John Broderick for Darren Lacey, manager John Finnegan shuffled the pack a little, promoting Wayne Byrne from his midfield berth to partner Lacey.

The home side failed to make good a couple of fairly easy frees before Byrne launched a run up the left, beating two men before he crossed for Dunne, who was lying in wait outside the area and made no mistake with a sweet drive to the net.

The hosts were on the defensive now, and their only remaining scoring chances of any significance came when Fitzgerald blasted a 25m free over, and McDonagh, having done the hard work around the defence, shot straight at Alan Young.

In the third minute of time added, Bray won a free for a foul on Dunne, but having made sure the wall was the required ditance from the shooter, referee Derek Tomney decided he had seen enough, and blew for full time.

Mícheál Ó hUanacháin

Bray Wanderers: 1 Alan Young; 2 Ronan Ivory, 4 Luke Nixon, 5 Willie Tyrrell, 3 Willie Murphy; 11 Stephen Roche, 8 Wayne Byrne, 6 Keith Kelch, 7 Ross Zambra; 9 Darren Lacey, 10 David O'Sullivan
Subs: 12 John Broderick (for Lacey 69), 13 Robert Manley (for Byrne 81), 14 Niall Merriman (for Zambra 59), 15 Michael McCann (for Roche 81), 17 Maurice Dunne (for O'Sullivan 59)
Bohemians: 1 Keith Gallagher; 2 Niall O'Reilly, 18 Sean Faye, 5 Kenny Browne, 3 Connor Powell; 7 Shane Fitzgerald, 20 Mark Healy, 6 Mark Sheridan, 17 Philip McDonagh; 9 Paul Dunphy, 10 Mick Mooney
Subs: 12 Aidan Crowther (for Mooney 90), 14 Sean Keys
Referee: Derek Tomney