Wanderers 3 - 0 Cobh - Match Report

Inside the first minute of this tie, handball was given against the Cobh attack, and if ever there was a sign of things to come this could have been it – except, of course, that a Bray defensive error let Cobh's Terry White into his left top corner a moment later which, with Robert Brosnan looking dangerous from the start, sent an ominous message.

Seven minutes in following an error by Peter Cuthbert, Eamon Zayed had a chance, but he underhit the ball and the visitors' goalie was able to retrieve the situation.

He was given no such leeway a minute later, when Colm Tresson, playing in midfield, raced around the back of the Cobh defence to receive a long cross-field free kick from Kevin Grogan and side-foot it back across the keeper.

But for periods thereafter, Bray looked as if they were playing to hold their advantage, and it wasn't until Brosnan flashed a shot narrowly wide of Chris O'Connor's post that the home side shook themselves awake again.

A sustained attack spanning both wings, however, failed to find the final way through, and shortly afterwards Bray conceded the first corner of the match, which came to nothing.

Kevin Grogan took Bray's first such in the 22nd minute, a short pass returned for a cross which was eventually put out for a Bray throw. Robbie McGuinness received and rounded his marker for a speculative shot from 35 metres, which went narrowly over.

The Cobh midfield and defence appeared to have marked McGuinness as a danger man, and he was rarely short of two claret and blue shadows, sometimes more. It was no surprise when he required attention on the half-hour, and less when he was substituted moments later.

Stephen Fox was next to attempt to find the net, shooting narrowly wide after a threatening passage of play, during which a shot by Ciarán Ryan was cleared by the Cobh defence.

A corner given to Bray when Zayed had been last to touch the ball was only the most obvious of several dubious decisions in the course of the evening – but as it happened, Keith Long's shot was missed by Paul O'Reilly, in the best scoring position, and Tresson's header was high and wide.

White had the visitors' next attempt, but found only the welcoming arms of O'Connor.

As the time wound down, Owen Conlon was the second player in referee Eddie Barr's book, for a challenge on substitute Maurice Farrell (Dave Moore, dealing similarly with McGuinness, had preceded him).

In injury time, following another good cross-field pass and a well-placed cross, Grogan had another chance, but his shot was taken cleanly by Cuthbert, following which Ryan made a great solo run having intercepted a Cobh cross in space.

In the final action of the half, O'Connor joined Conlon and Moore after taking Brosnan down just outside the box, but the short free and subsequent strike found him ready and well-positioned.

The first real action of the second half started when Tresson was judged to have obstructed an attack outside the box. The wall and the rest of the defence stood up well, blocking several shots until Grogan latched onto the ball and sped upfield, but his cross for Zayed was blocked by the Cobh defence and the ball fell kindly for the keeper.

A good passage of play by the visitors followed, opening with a corner judged to have been conceded by Farrell, who grew more and more frustrated as the game went on.

A second corner by Moore fell to James Cummins, whose shot was deflected, and a free given against Farrell 30 metres out near the sideline was switched across to Brosnan, but his header was taken by O'Connor.

Not for the first time, a questionable offside flag ended Grogan's next attack, and another Moore free from 30 metres was knocked low by Brosnan, but failed to deceive O'Connor.

Grogan made the running on the next attack, won the free as he squared, and took it himself – but so did Cuthbert, who also dealt with a speculative shot from Keith Long but could do nothing after a Bray interception was fed forward to Grogan who squared to Zayed leaving him to round both Anthony Wolfe and John Andrews, sidestep the keeper who had slipped in turning, and score.

It was perhaps inevitable that Farrell would join the list in Mr Barr's book sooner or later, and he duly obliged with twenty minutes to go. But O'Connor was well able for Moore's free.

A short period followed in which Cobh redoubled their efforts without success, Dave Warren shooting over, substitute Eoghan Lougheed winning a corner from O'Connor and O'Reilly conceding another, while Wolfe had a chance from a short free, but shot tamely at the Bray keeper.

When Farrell and Gareth O'Donovan were both again warned by the referee about their vigorous exchanges, it was surely on the cards – pun intended – that the Bray veteran's appearance would be cut short, and he was taken off with just under a quarter of an hour to go.

O'Connor was lucky to stay inside his area when he dived for the ball and skidded five metres on the greasy surface with it in his arms.

Ten minutes to go – the danger period – and Zayed beats the trap running for a long forward ball, only to be halted in his tracks by another odd flag.

Substitute Billy Manley (twice) and midfielder Stephen Fox both shot over in the next couple of minutes, and while Tresson cleverly dispossessed Lougheed deep in the Bray right. Meanwhile, Zayed was seeing flags again, as Fox raced forward to cross.

Strangely, however, there was no flag when he was actually well offside, by at least three metres, but the ball was too far forward in any case.

Ryan, right in front of the D, scooped the ball high over after a cross fed by Zayed despite the attentions of two defenders. From the kick-out, Zayed then intercepted, ran round John Meade and saw his shot come off the crossbar.

As the added time ran down, Zayed then won a free about 21 metres out, whcih Lawless took short to Ryan. His shot looked too straight at first, but it lifted as Cuthbert dived, and the keeper could only push it to the roof of his net.

It was icing on a cake the Ramblers had never really looked capable of spoiling, though they never stopped trying and a touch of luck in the last twenty minutes might have made a considerable difference.

Mícheál Ó hUanacháin

Bray Wanderers:

1 Chris O'Connor; 2 Stephen Gifford, 4 Colm Tresson, 5 Paul O'Reilly, 3 Keith Long; 7 Robbie McGuinness, 8 Stephen Fox, 6 Michael Lawless, 11 Ciaran Ryan; 10 Kevin Grogan, 9 Eamon Zayed
Subs: 12 Jody Lynch, 14 Billy Manley (for Farrell 77), 15 Maurice Farrell (for McGuinness 32 inj), 16 Ian McGrane, 17 John Flood (for Grogan 84)

Cobh Ramblers:

1 Peter Cuthbert; 5 Gareth O'Donovan, 4 John Andrews, 2 Anthony Wolfe, 3 John Meade; 7 James Cummins, 8 Dave Moore, 6 Owen Conlon, 10 Terry White; 9 Dave Warren, 11 Robert Brosnan
Subs: 12 Michael Hastings, 14 Eoghan Lougheed (for White 61), 15 Chris O'Shea (for Conlon 70)

Referee: Eddie Barr