Bray started this match as if they were determined to make a mark, and got corners on each wing within two minutes, neither of which Robbie McGuinness managed to make into a real opportunity.
The game, featuring an unfamiliar looking Rovers line-up (unsurprisingly, given their close season clear-out), then turned into an intriguing aerial battle which the visitors seemed constantly to be winning only to lose the ball once it came down to earth.
Their Cameroonian striker, Maya Dumont, a former under-18 and under-21 international, made his presence felt from start to finish, and should adorn the senior division in some style during the season. Four minutes in, he pounced on the ball in space he should not have been given, but his cross for Robinson wide on the right missed both its target and the defence.
For the Seagulls, McGuinness was a constant danger to the away goal, shooting over as early as the eighth minute. That miss was followed up after the goal-kick by a Rovers free which curled invitingly into the area and was prodded by a stray foot into goalkeeper Keith Rushe's grasp.
But it was the home side which struck first, at the end of what had seemed an unpromising foray. Kieran 'Tarzan' O'Brien fed the ball across the goalmouth to Ian McGrane who cut it back into the path of Kevin Grogan, who gratefully accepted the invitation to sidefoot home his maiden goal for his new club.
The visitors' Keith O'Halloran fired high and wide shortly after the re-start, and thereafter the offside flag frustrated a number of teasing attacks at each end.
On 20 minutes, a high cross from Colm Tresson floated too far forward and into the clutches of former Cork City reserve keeper Noel Mooney, from whose long clearance Dumont raced forward only to be marked off it by Wesley Charles, whose defensive work was this week only occasionally ignored for attacking expeditions.
Just after the half-hour, Dumont - having for once evaded Charles - let fly a scorcher which would almost certainly have reached Bray Head had Maurice Farrell had time to avoid it, but his failure to get out of the way was judged by referee Hancock to constitute a hand-ball offence, and Stephen Gough duly converted the spot kick.
The outrage was not confined to the home fans, and apart from suggestions that he himself should don a different shirt, Hancock was loudly advised to ensure better visual separation between the teams - Rovers in their navy away strip, and Bray sporting their forest green home jerseys.
The ever-dangerous Dumont managed to muscle his Caribbean marker off the ball minutes later, but his low shot was wide of the near post, and a Hoops corner just before the break was just cleared by the Bray defence at the second chance.
On the play, the home side deserved to feel they had the better of the first period, the wayward decision-making the only factor leaving them starting from scratch again.
It was little surprise that Bray re-emerged wearing their much-loved green-and-white stripes after the break, and none at all that they re-started in attack mode, winning the ball at the end-line only for the pull back to fly too close to Mooney.
Equally, Rovers were up for business, and Rushe's kick to clear as Dumont was bearing down on him at speed was brave - despite the offside flag which had already defeated the attack.
The home side was playing some well-coordinated and stylish football, Grogan and Quinn looking good in front of Lawlor and Ryan, who had replaced O'Brien just after the last had won a corner following good work by the first.
A sequence of substitutions well beyond the usual Devlin reformation magic, however, and the game began to lose shape. A Shamrock Rovers' attack is never over until the ball is back in their own half, and several times, incomplete clearances were almost punished by a vigilant front pair.
In fact, Rushe was the busier of the two keepers in this period, saving well from frees by both O'Halloran and Dumont.
In the final quarter-hour, however, the home side looked the hungrier, and their close attention to the Hoops' goal may be an indication of good times to come.
Substitute Graham Lawlor, under close attention, shot high but gained a free which came back to McGuinness from the wall, and was duly returned, this time to skim Mooney's cross-bar.
With ten minutes left, newcomer Scott Gilchrist made a good run up the left and was unlucky to see his shot go wide of the far post, while in the final five minutes Ciaran Ryan was only narrowly off target with a free kick. In injury time, Wesley Charles was dispossessed as he came forward with another of his solo runs, and good defence ensured that Rushe wasn't unduly troubled by a last attack as the whistle blew.
Mícheál Ó hUanacháin
Bray Wanderers: 1 Keith Rushe; 8 Graham O'Hanlon, 5 Wesley Charles, 4 Jody Lynch (c), 3 Maurice Farrell; 6 Gerry Quinn, 2 Colm Tresson, 7 Robbie McGuinness, 11 Ian McGrane; 9 Kieran O'Brien, 10 Kevin Grogan
Subs: 12 Billy Manley (for Farrell 68), 14 Stephen Gifford (for O'Hanlon 60), 15 Colm James (for Quinn 76), 15 Ciaran Ryan (for McGrane 55), 17 Graham Lawlor (for O'Brien 54), 18 Scott Gilchrist (for Grogan 68), 19 Paul O'Reilly (for Tresson 72)
Shamrock Rovers: 1 Noel Mooney; 2 Stephen Gough, 4 Jason McGuinness, 5 Terry Palmer (c), 3 Keith Doyle; 7 Shane Robinson, 11 Gavin McDonnell, 6 Keith O'Halloran, 8 Trevor Molloy; 9 Liam Kelly, 10 Maya Dumont
Subs: 12 James Reilly (for Robinson 83), 14 David Mooney (for Kelly H/T), 15 Paul Caffrey (for O'Halloran 78), 16 Mervyn Travers (gk), 17 Marc O'Brien (for McDonnell 78), 18 Pat Deans (for McGuinness 33), 19 Derek Treacy (for Dumont 83)
Referee: Damien Hancock
Did anyone make it to the game ? could'nt myself, any use ?
15/03/2004, 6:23 PM
A face
Demonte stakes claim
Demonte stakes claim
Bray Wanderers 1-1 Shamrock Rovers
Cameroonian striker Maya Demonte looked busy during Shamrock Rovers’ friendly draw with Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds on Sunday, although it remains to be seen whether he has done enough to be offered a contract offer from the Hoops.
Manager Liam Buckley gave trialist Demonte 83 minutes and the No.10 was a real handful before making way for midfielder Derek Tracey.
