UCD's ten match unbeaten run came to an end in disappointing fashion with a 2-1 defeat in Bray this evening. After equalising shortly into the second half, UCD had most of the possession before being hit with a sucker punch from 18-year old Bray debutante Gary McCabe on the break, and the Seagulls held out for the a win which sees them move to within a point of the College with two games in hand.
With yet another centre-mid injury - Paul Crowley this time - Brian Shortall was deployed in the number 6 position as the only change from the team which drew with Derry last Friday. Bray had former Students Clive Delaney and Alan Cawley, although Stephen Hurley was ineligible under the terms of his loan deal.
And it was Cawley and Delaney who wer to combine for the opening goal on 20 minutes, with the latter heading in a corner delivered by the former.
Having gone behind, UCD came more into the game - Paul Byrne had a shot blocked away by his own strike partner a few minutes later, while the best chance of the half came on 37 minutes, when Byrne released his namesake Conan for a free run on goal, but his shot was well saved by Steve Williams, and the loose ball was ultimately headed behind for a corner.
Bray had the first attack of the second half and could have scored from it, when a short corner routine resulted in a cross which was headed inches wide of former Seagull Matt Gregg's far post. And Bray were to pay for their miss within 60 seconds, as UCD went straight up the pitch to equalise. Conan Byrne's trickery on the right saw him get space and send in a low cross, Paul Byrne and Conor Sammon contrived to send in a shot on goal, which Williams spilled straight to Derek Doyle to poke him from six yards.
Back on level terms, UCD took the game to their hosts as they looked for the lead goal. The best opportunity came on 60 minutes, when Conor Sammon set Shane McFaul up for a shot from the edge of the area, but some excellent Bray defence saw the shot blocked away to safety.
And within ten minutes of that chance, Bray were 2-1 up with pretty much their first chance since the 46th minute. McCabe was the protagonist, finding space on the left of the UCD box before getting past a couple of tackles and firing home past Matt Gregg into the far corner, although Gregg did get a hand to the ball.
Gregg nearly gifted Bray a security goal when he came out of his box to clear, but succeeded only in conceding a free inside the D. Receiving only a yellow for his transgression, the free was ballooned over the bar.
As the game ticked on, UCD got the upper hand mroe and more, and on 78 minutes came ultimately their best chance for an equaliser when a good move culminated in Greg Bolger receiving the ball on the edge of the area; his shot was straight at keeper Williams, but he will be disappointed with his effort given that Derek Doyle was in acres of space on the overlap.
Four minutes later, a mis-hit from Conan Byrne nearly caught Williams out but, as what appeared a wild pass suddenly went to dip under the bar, Williams palmed over the top of his goal.
UCD went 3-4-3 for the last few minutes in an attempt to emulate recent games against Longford and St Pat's and grab a late equaliser for a 2-2 draw. Paul Byrne had the last chance for the Students when, after good work from Doyle on the by-line, the ball came to him ten yards out, but his shot was blocked away for a corner. Bray cleared the corner and spent most of the three minutes' injury time running down the clock in the corner, although they did force one excellent save out of Matt Gregg with a shot on the turn from the edge of the area which was well turned over.
UCD - Gregg; Mahon (Forsyth 87), Bermingham, Kenna, McNally; Shortall (Bolger 65), C Byrne, McFaul, Doyle; Sammon (Purcell 82), P Byrne
Booked - McFaul; Gregg
Disappointing result but decent performance, especially in the second half.
The key to this game was the forst goal - really bad to concede like that and left us chasing instead of comfortable at 0 -0 at half time.
Sammo was excellent for 20 minutes in the second half - Kenna slightly off his best - McFaul another good game - Shortall did well. The Bray winger (did he score the winner ?) looks really good.
DB Cooper is alive !
I thought we did just enough to merrit the win. UCD had more of the ball but we created more of the good goal scoring chances A quite entertaining match in all fairness, normally Bray / UCD game sare brutally boring. The ref was just terrible, some of his decisions were just shocking - hw he didn't send Matt Gregg off is beyond belief, he absolutely cleaned Franco out out it in the box yet gave a free kick outside the box and a yellow card. Anyway, i'll always find something to moan about :-) a wins a win.
College look like a very good side this year, fancy them for the cup.
Better crowd than i expected as well.
Wasn't able to make the game but it was a poor result. Going by what's being said we aren't able to create any chances at the moment.
How did Shorthall do CM? I can't understand why Bolger didn't start.
Do you know what the official crowd was or are you just estimating?Originally Posted by BrayUnknowns
Also six games without a league win is disgraceful.
We made some. We need a bit more bite in midfield.
He did okay, but he's a far better defender. Bolger was muck when he came on.How did Shorthall do CM? I can't understand why Bolger didn't start.
I imagine he's going on how full the ground looked. I know a good crowd in Belfield without knowing how many people are there. We were estimating 600-700 ourselves, but it's easy to get it wrong in another ground.Do you know what the official crowd was or are you just estimating?
Yip that's Gary McCabe and he scored the winner. He's 18, signed from Crumlin and AFAIK can play on the wings or up front. He got his first start in the previous game against Sligo and did very well and obviously justified his selection again this week.
I'm not sure but I think Franco may have been offside, it was touch and go anyway and the linesman gave the benefit of the doubt to the attacker, perhaps the ref thought that a red would have been harsh after the touch-and-go offside went against UCD.
Officials don't tend to cover themselves in glory when Bray play UCD (The linesman out in Belfield, Pip Keogh hauling down the UCD attacker at 3-2 and geting away with it
etc), it's probably just because we won but I thought the referee handled the game well enough - not a lot of decisions that defy logic and leave you pulling your hair out (which happens reasonably often). I reckon you could count the official's errors from this game on 2 hand's ..... that's an improvement on recent Bray - UCD encounters
Who was your number 7 the other night? I thought he was easily your best player.
Extratime.ie
Yo te quiero, mi querida. Sin tus besos, yo soy nada.
Abri o portão de ouro, da maquina do tempo.
Mi mamá me hizo guapo, listo y antimadridista.
Conan Byrne methinks
DB Cooper is alive !
Do you have to remind us of that? We're the ones who should be obsessing and going on about that incident.Pip Keogh hauling down the UCD attacker at 3-2 and geting away with itIt was the cup quarter final 2005 and it was Damien Dupuy hauled down.
Conan has been excellent this season. Not the fastest but he has great close control.
I thought the draw would have been a fairer result but that's not how football works. Bray were very hard to break down at the back, it was annoying to see us of all teams throwing high balls on top of Delaney.At times, particularly the start of the 2nd half we played some nice stuff.
I'm still shocked by it cos it has to be the worst refereeing decision I've ever seen. It was just terrible.Do you have to remind us of that? We're the ones who should be obsessing and going on about that incident.
Extratime.ie
Yo te quiero, mi querida. Sin tus besos, yo soy nada.
Abri o portão de ouro, da maquina do tempo.
Mi mamá me hizo guapo, listo y antimadridista.
Small teams suffer those decisions all the time. You get used to it or stop watching the game
Highlights on Bray website- click. Scroll down and it's on the right. Double click for full screen.
Defending was poor for both goals. Nobody marking Delaney. Also I hoped we learned how to take corners after that. Mahon was shocking for the second.
Nothing about being a small team, just a shít ref. Why do you think everytime something bad happens there has to be something sinister about it?Small teams suffer those decisions all the time. You get used to it or stop watching the game
Matt Gregg shouldn't have been beaten by McCabe's effort either.
Top marks to Bray for having decent footage on their website.
In fairness it was hit like a rocket. Still if he had tried to use his legs he could have stopped it.Matt Gregg shouldn't have been beaten by McCabe's effort either.
Oh I don't know what about not being awarded any penalty kicks for two years?
That doesn't happen to the Cork City's , Derry City's , Bohs, or in recent years
Shelbourne for that matter. We don't have clout like some clubs in this here League.
whatever.
They spend more time in the opponents' box than we do and are more likely to gain a penalty.
Poor Student
Even UCD spend enough time in opponents penalty areas to get 1 penalty a year! The point I was making was up to the Waterford game we had not been awarded one in two years. During that two years we were denied a blatant one( Even Wanderers fans thought it was a bang to rights UCD penalty) in the FAI Cup away to Bray . A game we lost 3-2 on the night. A not insignificant..NON penalty award I am sure you will agree! It just seems to be that it doesn't matter as a referee if you give a poor decision against UCD or someone of our stature. The game is less likely to be shown on TV and the incident is less likely to get much notice outside of the people actually at the game hence no consequences. They seem to concentrate better when the club involved is more influential.
Certain clubs in the past have been able to request that they never have certain referees officiate their fixtures again.
Last edited by CollegeTillIDie; 07/06/2007 at 7:36 AM.
So being in the penalty area entitles you to a penalty?
The refs are just crap. Stop trying to make it out to be an inferiority complex or victimisation.The point I was making was up to the Waterford game we had not been awarded one in two years. During that two years we were denied a blatant one( Even Wanderers fans thought it was a bang to rights UCD penalty) in the FAI Cup away to Bray . A game we lost 3-2 on the night. A not insignificant..NON penalty award I am sure you will agree! It just seems to be that it doesn't matter as a referee if you give a poor decision against UCD or someone of our stature. The game is less likely to be shown on TV and the incident is less likely to get much notice outside of the people actually at the game hence no consequences. They seem to concentrate better when the club involved is more influential.
Schumi please lock this thread.
Posting Permissions
Quote
Bookmarks