Bray Wanderers 1 (O'Brien 21) Kildare County 1 (Zeller 13)
STRANGE place, Bray. You realise that on your way there. Dublin concrete suddenly changes to Wicklow countryside without warning.
Amongs the boat bows, wide streets, big pensions and wandering beards you don't expect trouble. Yet at 7.45pm last Friday under the calming glow of the Carlisle Ground floodlights, a war began.
This was the most bruising of battles between two of the sides staring face on with promotion hopes. What a game!
Some sceptics have said Kildare sat high and mighty due to the easiest of league starts. Within minutes of kick-off they knew this was a different class. Just 24 seconds in, Kieran 'Tarzan' O'Brien tore down any white flags with the brutality you expect from the nickname. The centre-forward forced a brilliant save from Danny O'Leary from distance; County were fortunate the rebound didn't fall to Colm Tresson.
The Seagulls were left to rue two glaring misses that would have lifted them into second. The first of those arrived just 90 seconds later. John Flood flicked on a Maurice Farrell cross and Tresson somehow headed over from three yards.
Kildare were under siege but on a rare venture across half way they hit the front. Alan Byrne laid the ball off to Shay Zeller and the winger signalled his return from injury, crashing a low drive from the edge of the box to the bottom corner.
Ger O'Brien found time to shoot way over before Wanderers deservedly equalised. Phillip Byrne's absence left County susceptible in the air all night long so it was no surprise the goal came from an aerial attack. This time it was Stephen Gifford who crossed from the right and O'Brien, alone on the penalty spot, powered a header past O'Leary.
The hope given by Zeller was rapidly deteriorating and seemed all but gone when referee Dan Deady awarded the home side a penalty on 28 minutes as Flood fell all too easily under a Ray Kenny challenge.
Eddie Gormley stepped up confidently but to the delight of the huge travelling support, O'Leary brilliantly tipped the ball around the post.
After that the game opened up and the remaining hour was a rollercoaster. Robbie McGuiness beat Alan McNevin to a Zeller cross that would surely have restored the lead whilst a Shane Harte header was easily dealt with by Australian goalkeeper Chris O'Connor.
It was to be the Celbridge man's last action as he left the field with ankle knock that will rule him out for up to two weeks. Ger O'Reilly had to seek attention for a cut to the face as things got rough.
Eddie Gormley ended a game-long spat between himself and Alan Byrne with a challenge that left the Kildare number six needing x-rays on an injury that will rule him out for a month. Eric Hannigan was fuming afterwards.
"It was a disgraceful tackle, absolutely disgraceful. He knows how I felt about it, everybody does. But that's football, these things happen."
That challenge may not have ended Gormely's participation but it did lead to the dismissal of Pat Devlin after a disagreement with Barry O'Connor and Gareth Cronin.
Half time came at the right time but the interval did little to calm tempers. McNevin and Farrell both received yellows for separate incidents. Hearts were racing in the stands and O'Leary did little to help, flapping at a Tresson cross, Cronin doing well to charge down Ciaran Ryan's resulting effort. Pressure was growing on The Thoroughbreds but they nearly snatched another against the run of play as O'Connor did brilliantly to turn away his namesake's header. McNevin nearly won the second penalty of the night as he was ironed out by McGuinness on the edge of the penalty area. O'Connor again went close, heading the free across the six-yard box.
But these were half-chances, unlike Wesley Charles's in the dying moments. Watched by his St. Vincent and Grenadines international manager, he left the bench to find himself on the end of a Gormley cross but just like Tresson had done in the opening minutes, headed over the simplest of chances.
Four minutes of injury time elapsed but County hung on and scraped an invaluable point.
"It was a good game but a little bit messy.The football wasn't as flowing as I thought it would have been given the pitch" a relaxed Hannigan said afterwards. "We didn't play our best football, but mind you, we've had to make several changes since last week and several more within the course of the game. I'll settle for a point, you'd take that when you play away against the top sides." Devlin was not so happy. "We'd enough chances to win a fast and furious game. I was sent off for nothing, that's it. It followed from Eddie's tackle. Like in any team game the two of them went for the ball. There was no malice in it whatsoever.
"On the positive side the effort was great and we were up against a side that played well. I think they've done very well, they've got a good group of players together, they're very competitive and they're in with a chance of finishing near the top."
To do that they'll need luck. So far they haven't had that and this season is beginning to mirror the injury crisis of 12 months ago. Thankfully this season the squad is bigger but it is already becoming stretched.
Kildare left the battle of Bray with casualties but most importantly they yielded no ground.
Bray Wanderers: Chris O'Connor, Stephen Gifford, Maurice Farrell (Gerry Quinn 86) Jody Lynch, Graham O'Hanlon, Eddie Gormley, Robbie McGuinness, Colm Tresson, Kieran O'Brien, John Flood, Ciaran Ryan (Wesley Charles 72).
Kildare County: Danny O'Leary, Ger O'Brien, Gareth Cronin, Ray Kenny, Keith O'Brien, Alan Byrne (Ryan O'Donnell 42), Shane Harte (Peter Rogers 38), Shay Zellor, Martin Reilly (James Igwilo 90), Barry O'Connor, Alan McNevin.
