Bray Vs Waterford - Match Report

Taken from BrayWanderers.ie

On a night when as much hung on the results from other venues as on the action in the Carlisle Grounds, the Seagulls managed to scrape a win from a contest they looked seriously like losing in the first half, when the visitors ought to have put at least two goals away and Bray offered little in response.

As early as the third minute, from a free by Colm Heffernan, Chris O'Connor had to stretch to palm away Blues' skipper David Mulcahy's header.

And ten minutes in, the Bray keeper performed well to deny first Trinidad & Tobago international Rodney Jack, whose shot he pushed away on the ground, scrambling up to turn out Vinnie Sullivan's foll-up shot.

Heffernan shot over just minutes later, following up from his own corner through a throw on the far side, and O'Connor was in action again when Breen got a head to yet another Waterford corner.

Bray were not idle, though their efforts were less penetrating than their visitors', but it didn't seem that Kieran "Tarzan" O'Brien was offside for a long ball through after Michael Roche and Stephen Fox had combined well in midfield.

Tarzan was in the wars throughout, with the Blues' back four targeting him for some fairly hefty challenges, one of which earned Kevin Doherty a caution.

Waterford looked as if they were going to continue in a similar vein in the second period, with Sullivan shooting over from 12 metres without a defender in sight.

Appearing to be operating simultaneously at both ends of the play, Fox managed an excellent tackle on Sullivan to blunt another attack, and later provded a good ball for Kevin O'Brien who appeared to force a corner off Heffernan after rounding a defender, but a free out was given for the clash that followed.

Just after the hour, Keogh's cross was much too close to Packie Holden in the Waterford goal, and Fox shot well wide following a Bray free taken by Colm Tresson lust behind the centre circle.

Tarzan was another player to go into Damien Hancock's book when he couldn't pull out of a charge for the ball, running late into Pat Purcell.

But some of the steam had gone out of the Blues, and the nearest they came to troubling O'Connor this half was when Grant was bearing down on him from the left, and Tresson, judged his sliding tackle through a spray of lying drizzle to perfection to clear the ball away.

From the eventual goal kick came the single shot the home side had on target in the second half: enough to seal victory in the end, against a side that seemed to have lost their edge when they came out on the pitch for the second time.

O'Connor's long kick out was blocked by Doherty, but Bray stalwart Fox ran on to the ball, tapped it through the gap between Doherty and his skipper, and followed it to fire into the left side of Holden's net from 16 metres.

O'Connor made a couple more good saves before the end, denying Heffernan when he had got through for a long cross-field ball, and taking cleanly when the Waterford winger curled a tempting ball towards his left post.

Grant had the last chance of the match when he shot over in the second minute of injury time.

Hardly vintage football, but for once Bray had a little luck going for them, winning a match their visitors had probably shaded over the ninety minutes.

While the Seagulls are not technically safe yet, in practice that three points probably creates the cushion they needed to ensure Premier action again next season.

Mícheál Ó hUanacháin

Bray Wanderers: 1 Chris O'Connor; 3 Paul O'Reilly, 2 Colm Tresson (c), 4 Michael Roche, 8 Philip Keogh; 6 Robbie Dunne, 7 Paul Caffrey, 5 Kevin O'Brien, 11 David Tyrrell; 9 Kieran O'Brien, 10 Stephen Fox
Subs: 12 Paul Murphy (for Kieran O'Brien 90), 13 Pat Hannigan (gk), 14 Brian McGovern, 15 Andrei Georgescu, 16 Ciarán Ryan

Waterford United: 1 Patrick Holden; 2 David Breen, 5 Kevin Doherty, 6 Pat Purcell, 3 John Hayes; 7 Paul Crowley, 4 David Mulcahy (c), 8 Steven Grant, 11 Colm Heffernan; 10 Vinnie Sullivan, 9 Rodney Jack
Subs: 12 John Lyster (for Hayes 83), 13 Gary Dunphy (for Jack 87), 14 Kenny Brown, 15 Paul McCarthy, 16 Shane Dunphy
Referee: Damien Hancock