UCD game review on braywanderers.com
Well worth posting here:
There is a theatrical tradition that a disastrous dress rehearsal precedes a brilliant first night. It’s a fallacy, of course, born of desperation, but Bray Wanderers must be hoping it rings true when hostilities with UCD are renewed next week at the Carlisle with a place in the semi finals of the FAI Cup at stake.
A scruffy scrambled goal from Pat McWalter eight minutes into the second half was sufficient to secure the points that enabled the visitors to leapfrog their hosts in the League table. But the opening eight minutes of the game could have put UCD out of sight with only the woodwork saving the Seagulls on two occasions.
After only five, Anto Murphy, cutting in from the left, placed his low drive across Bray keeper Chris O’Connor only to see the ball rebound from the inside of the far post. And just when it seemed Murphy’s co-striker, Conan Byrne, was on hand to push the rebound into an empty net, the prostrate keeper managed to levitate and snatch the loose ball.
Three minutes later UCD midfielder Stephen Hurley blasted a thirty yard piledriver only for the ball to thud against the underside of the Bray crossbar. Once again O’Connor was first to claim the rebound.
With a man named Conan on the pitch it seemed an epic was in prospect. But just when it looked a clearly superior UCD side had the game by the scruff of the neck, it lost its grip and Pete Mahon had to sweat it out till the final whistle to claim three points that should never have been in doubt.
The Seagulls welcomed back Colm Tresson and Philip Keogh from suspension and, with Jody Lynch’s damaged foot slow to respond to treatment, retained Michael Roche in central defence following his debut in Cork last week. Kevin O’Brien replaced the suspended Colm James in midfield.
UCD skipper Tony McDonnell, who packed up work early against Drogheda with a hamstring tweak seven days ago, was fit to start and he went into his less favoured role in central defence with Conor Kenna, returning from a longer term injury, on the bench. So the Students' only change saw Conan Byrne start up front for Dupuy.
After the explosive start the game settled into mediocrity with Bray’s only first half threat reminiscent of one of those fairground table soccer games with flailing legs failing to make contact after Stephen Gifford’s long throw from the right had caused chaos in a crowded UCD goal area.
No goals at the interval, no changes in personnel either, although the Seagulls should have replaced striker Andrei Georgescu when they switched Fox into his position up front, for the Rumanian went from ineffective in his original role to invisible on the right. When he was eventually subbed after 58 minutes Bray were trailing so the decision to bring on defender Keith Long rather than a genuine wide man in Robbie McGuinness seemed perverse.
The goal, five minutes earlier, was a scrappy affair. Pat McWalter got goal side of young Roche and worked his way down the dead ball line on the left. As Gifford tackled and O’Connor went to ground the ball spun up over the keeper and bobbled into the goal from an acute angle.
The real UCD danger man was Anto Murphy who adds a physical dimension to the technical skills and pace of this impressive young Students squad. He caused problems for the Bray central defenders all evening and, on one occasion, only a resolute tackle from Tresson halted his progress down the right after Murphy had out muscled Keogh and McGovern.
Fox, as always, did his best and was responsible for the home side’s single serious goal effort on 69 minutes when he took advantage of a defence splitting pass from midfield to break free on the right, racing in to fire in a powerful drive that UCD keeper Quigley acrobatically diverted over the bar.
Bray brought on Kieran O’Brien for the anonymous Tyrell three minutes later but the local talisman was unable to repeat his match winning effort of the previous week. With two minutes left he lined up a free kick on the edge of the box but blasted his shot well wide.
It summed up the Seagull’s evening; no shortage of effort, little evidence of skill.
Still Bray, now playing 4-3-3, could have nicked an undeserved victory in the game’s closing stages. First the otherwise admirable Tresson failed to connect with Fox’s fizzing cross from the right in front of an open goal and, in time added, Paul Murphy pulled a good chance wide.
Serious questions have to be asked about this Bray performance, suspect in defence and toothless in attack. Wesley Charles had his critics but his replacement Brian McGovern’s displays seem to confirm Roddy Collins's decision to leave him out of a seriously depleted Shamrock Rovers line up. Suspect in his positional play, McGovern always seems to be playing at the edge of his physical resources and his taking out of Dupuy, which injured both players in the dying seconds, spoke more of frustration than commitment and, off the field of play, could have been classed as assault.
Upfront Zayed was always going to be irreplaceable and with his departure goals for Bray will be hard to come by. Too much has been expected of Georgescu, who was playing junior soccer only last season. As for Paul Murphy, there has to be a doubt that he is a striker at all since he shows little ability to create the half chance and less to finish one. Manchester City, with whom he spent three seasons, list him as a midfield or defensive player where he might be more at home when he attains full fitness after returning to the game from long term injury.
The Seagulls will be hoping that UCD, win or lose Tuesday’s League Cup Final with Derry, will be exhausted by the time they return to the Carlisle for Friday’s FAI Cup quarter final. I shouldn’t bank on it. Peter Mahon has the resources and seems to know how to deploy them.
All the same, I wouldn’t bet on the result. Seven days is a long time in soccer and, as George Bernard Shaw once said, you never can tell. There’s no business like show business. Unless it’s association football.
Brian De Salvo
