Immediately there was talk of touching wood and banana skins. Football folk are superstitious by nature so my pre-match forecast that a couple of early goals would secure the points sent manager Pat Devlin in search of timber. This, incidentally, is not easy to find in the modern dugout but he eventually succeeded and the early goals duly materialised. Given the gulf in quality between the two teams it was a fairly safe bet but in soccer you never know. When City visited the Carlisle in May only a late penalty save from Chris O’Connor secured maximum points.
For this latest encounter Wanderers were without the suspended Wesley Charles so straight 4-4-2 was the shape of the day, with Tresson partnering O’Hanlon in the centre of defence and club captain Jody Lynch on the bench after long term injury. In midfield the interest in increasing the influence of Robbie McGuinness saw the former Pats man moved inside, with Forsyth and Ciaran Ryan on the flanks. With Gormley rested, the captaincy went to Stephen Fox, a fitting tribute to an unsung player whose consistency has been a valuable asset to Bray throughout the season.
The Seagulls started brightly with Zayed and Flood looking too sprightly for a ponderous visiting defence. After two minutes they combined to force a corner on the left, then Farrell put in a long cross from the left that Flood headed wide. Kilkenny came back and, when a clearance rebounded from Comerford, Hutchinson struck the loose ball over. Long was next in action, moving smartly to block Shanahan’s shot after a long throw from the right.
But with nine minutes gone Wanderers were waltzing through the Kilkenny defence to open the scoring as if it were a practice match. Fox fed Forsyth, a shimmy from Zayed past the keeper and all Flood had to do was touch the ball into an empty net. Forsyth nearly added another shortly afterwards when McGuinness sent him through but keeper O’Neill was too fast off his line. Before the quarter hour Zayed showed him how to do it, cutting in from the right through acres of space to plant the ball past the advancing keeper. Six minutes later Forsyth crossed from the left for Flood to show a surprisingly delicate touch that left Fox with space for a clinical finish low into the right corner of O’Neill’s net. The goal of the day for the man of the match.
The Kilkenny defence were largely spectators for all this. If you’re going to play that square so far up the pitch the back four is courting disaster against strikers with pace. With the veteran Rea recalled from the coaching staff to partner Mark Andrews at the heart of their defence, the problem was magnified. By the time Kilkenny had seen the error of their ways the game was over with almost seventy minutes left to play.
Even so Kilkenny might have fallen further behind when a searching through ball from Fox found both Flood and Zayed contenders. A brave sortie from O’Neill at their feet prevented a fourth goal. Moments later a slick free kick from Ryan facilitated a shot from McGuinness that was deflected for the alert Flood to head in at close range but straight at the keeper. Three minutes later a terrible ball from Niall Andrews left Rea like a beached whale but Flood could only quarry a corner from the opportunity. Such was the lack of marking in the City defence that Fox was able to miss Farrell’s long throw but still see Flood first in to flick the loose ball on to the roof of the Kilkenny net.
Walsh’s only call to arms before the interval came when O’Hanlon could only get a faint impact on a back header and the Bray keeper had to be brave at Niall Andrews' feet.
The second half was largely a non-event, with much of the interest invested in whether Limerick could retain a slim lead over Finn Harps. There was little incentive for Bray to risk the three goal advantage and the Kilkenny defence had tightened up on the basics. Those in the crowd who wondered aloud why the Seagulls couldn’t run up a rout had obviously never played in a game such as this – or had forgotten what it’s like.
Walsh had only one shot to deal with, when a poor clearance from Tresson was smacked back by Comerford to fizz in front of the Bray keeper. He absorbed the ball without losing his footing. In the visitors' only other opening, a free kick from Maher, was completely missed by the unmarked Andrews and surprised the equally unmarked substitute Guidera into a weak close-range header into the side netting.
Otherwise the traffic was towards the Bowl end where O’Neill was kept busy getting out to through balls and thwarting a tame close-range effort from Zayed. City’s bad luck with injuries continued with Jimmy Shanahan leaving the pitch after fifty two minutes with a foot injury bad enough to prevent him putting any weight on it, but it got worse in the final minute of scheduled play when full back C J Delaney was stretchered off with what looked like a serious ankle injury. It added an anonymous five minutes to what might be termed the action but nothing to the score.
So the banana skin went in the bin and, with Limerick holding on in Ballybofey, Bray went clear at the top of the division as the season moves to its close. Walsh got his third successive shutout and Zayed his fourth goal in those three games. More of the same during the final three fixtures and the Seagulls are almost certainly back in the Premier Division next term.
Brian de Salvo
Bray Wanderers:
1 John Walsh; 4 Keith Long, 2 Colm Tresson, 5 Graham O'Hanlon, 3 Maurice Farrell; 11 Paul Forsyth, 7 Robbie McGuinness, 8 Stephen Fox (c), 6 Ciaran Ryan; 9 Eamon Zayed, 10 John Flood
Subs: 13 Chris O'Connor, 14 Jody Lynch, 15 Michael Lawless (for Long 83), 16 Colm James (for Ryan 83), 18 Kieran O'Brien (for Flood)
Kilkenny City:
19 David O'Neill; 2 Michael Hutchinson, 5 Brendan Rea, 4 Mark Andrews (c), 3 CJ Delaney; 7 Michael Comerford, 8 Damien Raggett, 6 Craig Maher, 11 Ian Barry; 10 Niall Andrews, 9 Jimmy Shanahan
Subs: 12 Joe Watson (for Barry 50), 13 Graham O'Flaherty, 14 Conor O'Neill (for N Andrews 71), 15 Stephen Guidera (for Shanahan 55 inj), 16 Darren Burke (gk)
